All Blacks 2021
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Sotutu might actually be more under threat than Jacobson. If you aren't a starter you really need to offer versatility.
At the moment he starts or is left out completely because the other guys offer more options from the bench.
He's basically an 8 at SR/AB level and nothing else (he has two starts on a the flank at NPC)
When subs happen at the Blues he stays at 8 and other players shift aroundMaybe finishing a few SR games next year at 7 would help his AB chances? Hard to see him getting any time at 6
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@duluth said in All Blacks 2021:
Sotutu might actually be more under threat than Jacobson. If you aren't a starter you really need to offer versatility.
At the moment he starts or is left out completely because the other guys offer more options from the bench.
He's basically an 8 at SR/AB level and nothing else (he has two starts on a the flank at NPC)
When subs happen at the Blues he stays at 8 and other players shift aroundMaybe finishing a few SR games next year at 7 would help his AB chances? Hard to see him getting any time at 6
or, you know, the AB selectors could fucking identify that the wet paper bag they have at 8 isn't the answer? And then suddenly he's a shout to start
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do other teams swap around their players as much as we have over the last couple of years? or do they largely tick with combs that have performed other than injuries
trying get my head around how valid the idea is they need to be rested as much as they are
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2021:
@duluth said in All Blacks 2021:
Sotutu might actually be more under threat than Jacobson. If you aren't a starter you really need to offer versatility.
At the moment he starts or is left out completely because the other guys offer more options from the bench.
He's basically an 8 at SR/AB level and nothing else (he has two starts on a the flank at NPC)
When subs happen at the Blues he stays at 8 and other players shift aroundMaybe finishing a few SR games next year at 7 would help his AB chances? Hard to see him getting any time at 6
or, you know, the AB selectors could fucking identify that the wet paper bag they have at 8 isn't the answer? And then suddenly he's a shout to start
If I was in charge no8 would be a choice between Sotutu and Jacobson (and Sotutu would be in front)
I think he's under threat with this selection panel though
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@duluth said in All Blacks 2021:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2021:
And Jacobson, who played mainly at 8 is under pressure from Blackadder and Dalton who played mainly 7?
I think he's grouping them together as players who cover multiple loose forward positions. But even that doesn't quite work as Papali'i & Blackadder are both 7/6's and Jacobson best suited to 8 but can also play 6 & 7
What I really disagree was the idea that he could get squeezed for game time at the Chiefs. This year he was almost always at 8 with Pita Gus Sowakula at 6.
If Finau is coming into the mix at 6, Sowakula will miss out, not Jacobson.It was s strange take, as having Sowakula or Finau coming off the bench sounds like the best use of resources.
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@kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2021:
do other teams swap around their players as much as we have over the last couple of years? or do they largely tick with combs that have performed other than injuries
trying get my head around how valid the idea is they need to be rested as much as they are
Do other teams play as much as us?
We've played i think 15 tests since June?
I think England have played 10 all year?But we fucking love to rotate midfielders and loose forwards.
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2021:
@kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2021:
do other teams swap around their players as much as we have over the last couple of years? or do they largely tick with combs that have performed other than injuries
trying get my head around how valid the idea is they need to be rested as much as they are
Do other teams play as much as us?
We've played i think 15 tests since June?
I think England have played 10 all year?But we fucking love to rotate midfielders and loose forwards.
Even worse, we haven't played existing combinations much either, so in some of those tests (especially USA for example), we could have rolled out:
Akira, Paps, Sotutu + Weber, Dmac, Tupaea, ALB
so that at least those players would have some combinations around them in the money making tests.
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2021:
@kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2021:
do other teams swap around their players as much as we have over the last couple of years? or do they largely tick with combs that have performed other than injuries
trying get my head around how valid the idea is they need to be rested as much as they are
Do other teams play as much as us?
We've played i think 15 tests since June?
I think England have played 10 all year?But we fucking love to rotate midfielders and loose forwards.
very true but we still seem to rotate after 1 or even 2 games rather than 4 or 5 say
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because i assume we are still wedded to the whole "can't play 3 games in 3 weeks" thing
Also, because NZ is a fucking long way from everywhere, there is generally a lot of travel involved as well. England in that time may have gone as far as Rome? That's a shorter trip than me going to friggen Brisbane.
I'm not absolving the coaches of mistakes, i am saying the ABs have to deal with a lot of other factors affecting performance
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@mariner4life and yes, this year is a massive outlier with the guys on tour length not seen for 3+ decades.
So they deserve some slack, but that doesnt account for the BS we were served up as AB rugby, consistently the beacon of how rugby can be played...
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2021:
AB rugby, consistently the beacon of how rugby can be played...
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The five under threat imo are Bridge, Havili, Mounga, McKenzie and (to a lesser extent) Taylor. That list was weird to me
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@kiwimurph said in All Blacks 2021:
@duluth said in All Blacks 2021:
At the moment he starts or is left out completely because the other guys offer more options from the bench.
Meanwhile Sotutu was excellent off of the bench in Boks game 1.
Yeah he did play well. It was the only time he was included on a bench this year though.
Jacobson & Blackadder were both used 4 times on the bench. Surprisingly Frizell was used 3 times despite missing loads of tests
(the others were Ioane twice, Cane coming back from injury and Sotutu) -
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2021:
@duluth said in All Blacks 2021:
Sotutu might actually be more under threat than Jacobson. If you aren't a starter you really need to offer versatility.
At the moment he starts or is left out completely because the other guys offer more options from the bench.
He's basically an 8 at SR/AB level and nothing else (he has two starts on a the flank at NPC)
When subs happen at the Blues he stays at 8 and other players shift aroundMaybe finishing a few SR games next year at 7 would help his AB chances? Hard to see him getting any time at 6
or, you know, the AB selectors could fucking identify that the wet paper bag they have at 8 isn't the answer? And then suddenly he's a shout to start
He's there for his mana and highlights. I assume the stats analyst does fuck all too.
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2021:
because i assume we are still wedded to the whole "can't play 3 games in 3 weeks" thing
So the solution to it being hard to play 3 games in 3 weeks is to play with worse players for one of those weeks. Genius. Let's roll out the B team for the final cause the A team has played in the Quarter and Semi.
What's next? It's hard to defend for the full 80 minutes so we'll just do it for 60 minutes?
Seems like such a 2021 "solution" to a problem.
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@yeahtheboys said in All Blacks 2021:
The five under threat imo are Bridge, Havili, Mounga, McKenzie and (to a lesser extent) Taylor. That list was weird to me
Hard to see RM being under threat because realistically there isn't anyone else.
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@yeahtheboys said in All Blacks 2021:
The five under threat imo are Bridge, Havili, Mounga, McKenzie and (to a lesser extent) Taylor. That list was weird to me
Reece dropped off too but he does have a good workrate.
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@crazy-horse said in All Blacks 2021:
@yeahtheboys said in All Blacks 2021:
The five under threat imo are Bridge, Havili, Mounga, McKenzie and (to a lesser extent) Taylor. That list was weird to me
Hard to see RM being under threat because realistically there isn't anyone else.
Stephen Donald: Hold my fritters.
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