Blues 2020
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A very interesting read on Akira
His workload over 2018 and 2019 included 80-minute performances in 28 of his teamâs 32 games, and between 2016 and 2019 he bore the highest workload in attack of any of the players charted above: he contributed 9.4% of his teamâs carries during this period, while also beating defenders the most regularly and making more metres per carry than everyone except Ardie Savea and Dalton Papaliâi. (Ioane averaged 2.1 more carries per 80 minutes than Savea over this period, and 6.3 more than Papaliâi.) This data cannot prove or disprove that Ioane met the standards that the All Blacks selectors were asking him to meet, but it does provide evidence to contradict the assertion that only now is he providing an acceptable level of on-field performance. It is also notable that a number of positive public comments from those selectors and his Blues coaches over the last few years have been largely ignored in the framing of his story. Grant Foxâs acknowledgement prior to the 2018 end-of-year tour that Ioane was âgetting better at the areas he's been asked to improve atâ was published under a headline suggesting that his âstar [was] on the waneâ, and Leon MacDonaldâs comments at the beginning of this season that Ioane had âtrained really well, [and] is fit and hungryâ did nothing to stop his non-selection for the opening rounds of Super Rugby being painted in the same light. -
@KiwiMurph said in Blues 2020:
A very interesting read on Akira
No one ever questioned Akira Ioane's desire to run the ball. It was his refusal to commit to the clean out that clearly irked the AB selectors. There is a lot more to being a loose forward than running the ball.
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@Cantab79 said in Blues 2020:
@KiwiMurph said in Blues 2020:
A very interesting read on Akira
No one ever questioned Akira Ioane's desire to run the ball. It was his refusal to commit to the clean out that clearly irked the AB selectors. There is a lot more to being a loose forward than running the ball.
Sheesh AC, now youâre attacking your cousin on multiple forums. đThe Blues used him as a runner, and like some of us have been telling TSF for the past couple of years they worked him like crazy.
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I have attended the Rennie,Coventry practice sessions on the lovely field at Ruakura.Everything they did was accurate and precise.Some of Coventryâs work with the forwards on a paddock near the railway line was legendary for its intensity.The odd flare up was known to occur.Akira may be benefiting from some of that work.
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you'd have to think watching from the sidelines behind Sotutu and Robinson would have been good for him too!
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Karl T playing off the bench for Takapuna tomorrow, so probably still working through his injury.
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Joe Marchant looks back on his Super Rugby stint with the Blues
As the latest guest on the Will Greenwood Podcast, Harlequins and England man Joe Marchant shares his experience of featuring in Super Rugby for the Blues for six months
Centre of attention
Takapuna Rugby Football Club
