ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’
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You also don’t how some of these guys would have ended up if they’d done thing differently, not that highlanders are always just the best option or anything but it might have been just what he needed to flourish, the right environment, if he’d gone somewhere else we might be talking about him like the likes of Sam Harding
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@rotated said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:
With Aaron Smith it was similar to Whitelock and Read where it was clear at every level he would make it to the next very quickly.
And yet he was on the bench behind Grayson Hart for the NZ u20 team that won the final in 2008
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@majorrage said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:
Not NZ but Michael Hooper was born ready.
Disagree. He spent a lot of his early career imitating Adam Thomson- getting through plenty of work, but not being physically effective. I think he grew into Test rugby with time
but it's a proper thread diversion in an AB thread...
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@bobily2 said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:
@rotated said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:
With Aaron Smith it was similar to Whitelock and Read where it was clear at every level he would make it to the next very quickly.
And yet he was on the bench behind Grayson Hart for the NZ u20 team that won the final in 2008
It's just a patently false statement.
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@mick-gold-coast-qld said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:
and at the Hurricanes Ma'a Nonu had hands like feet at the start!
I always thought hat early on Ma'a had pretty much all the skills but lacked the nous on how to use them. Boy, did he hone those skills & learn how to use them
The bloke who I saw arrive "fully formed" was Sonny Bill Williams¹. I had not seen him play League, I had read the odd article declaring he was no good and I made a point of watching his first appearance for Canterbury in the NPC. What I witnessed was the most exciting natural, complete talent I had seen since watching a young David Campese playing club at Manuka Oval in about 1980.
He had big issues against quality opposition early on. He was pulled at half-time against Wales in 2010 after Jamie Roberts exposed his lack of experience and skills. Great bloke and a credit to the team who could produce a miracle play, but equally do something incredibly dumb.
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I suppose some would argue that George Bridge arrived fully-formed in the sense he just couldn't get any better....
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Conrad Smith. He looked the real deal at 13 from his debut in '04 against Italy and nailed down the 13 jersey for 10 years once Tana the Captain retired.
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@bones said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:
Did someone say Aaron Smith was fully formed? He was pretty damn average when he first hit super rugby and not even half the player he's become when first selected for the ABs. He was just an ok halfback.
Really? My memory may be off, but I seem to recall him getting picked and becoming the first choice halfback within half a season. He always had a very fast pass.
He might not have been as good as he is now, but he didn't have any period of apprenticeship (from what I can recall anyway).
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@bones said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:
Did someone say Aaron Smith was fully formed? He was pretty damn average when he first hit super rugby and not even half the player he's become when first selected for the ABs. He was just an ok halfback.
Are you sure you're not thinking of his early performances for Manawatu? My memory could be wrong, but didn't he make the All Blacks in his first year of Super Rugby? And like Damo said, he was first-choice not longer after that/
I remember him maybe being a bit helter-skelter, but his pass was just so quick that he was a definite AB selection that year.
Edit: Turns out I am wrong. He was with the Highlanders in 2011.
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@bones said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:
Did someone say Aaron Smith was fully formed? He was pretty damn average when he first hit super rugby and not even half the player he's become when first selected for the ABs. He was just an ok halfback.
My first recollection of him was being massively impressed by him in an NPC game.
And frankly, with the exception of the aftermath of toiletgate, I don't recall him playing poorly after that.
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I remember Waikato being well in the lead, only to be torn apart by Manawatu when in the second half a young first five came on. He was incredible. Literally turned a game around in 20 minutes. It was Aaron Cruden.
I also was at an All Black trial in Palmeston North when Norm Hewitt thought he would take on the very green opposition winger one on one. Only to be thrown to the ground like a toy. It was Jonah Lomu he was embarrassed by.
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@victor-meldrew said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:
Conrad Smith. He looked the real deal at 13 from his debut in '04 against Italy and nailed down the 13 jersey for 10 years once Tana the Captain retired.
I watched him play for NZ Universities and he was easily the best player on the park. He was so skinny that we all said something along the lines of ‘if that guy could put on 10 kegs he’ll be the starting center for the ABs’. I’ve never seen a center who just glided along like that as I was too young to see Robertson.
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@dice said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:
@canefan said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:
Cullen hit the ground running
It was a bit too easy for that guy.
That Test against Scotland was a doozie - one of the best you'll ever see. So much good play from both sides in that game and Gregor Townsend's try was out of this world in it's simplicity and execution
