All Blacks 2022
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Phil Gifford: Behind the scenes with All Blacks' former undercover agent
Aussie McLean morphed from defence coach to the All Blacks' anonymous tactical analyst.
McLean also points to the midfield as a reason for the semifinal defeat.
"The other thing is that ever since Ma'a Nonu went we haven't had a really physically dominant person in the midfield.
"Since Ma'a's gone we've had guys who are really good rugby players. But our problem is that most of our midfield players who have been the form players in Super Rugby have been very similar types. You need someone who's the ball carrier, and one who's an organiser. Our great teams have always had centre pairings who are like ying and yang. Walter Little and Frank Bunce, Joe Stanley and Warwick Taylor, Ma'a and Conrad [Smith].
"Ma'a was also a good passer. When I coached him at the Hurricanes I kept wondering, 'Why doesn't he pass more? He'e a really good passer.' But I knew that every person who had coached him knew his great strength was carrying the ball not into contact, but right through it.
"He never got asked to change, because coaches decided we'll use your strength. And in his early days especially, a lot of his self esteem came from rugby, and in rugby his self esteem came from his ball carrying. And God, he was good at it. You'd have tackling practice, and no-one wanted to tackle Ma'a. He certainly used his full range of skills at the back end of his career.
"Now we're seven years on from 2015 and we still haven't been able to establish a centre pairing."
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For the record, I'd have Thomas Umaga-Jensen as the ball carrier at 12 and ALB as the organizer at 13.
There aren't many centres as huge (110kg+) as Thomas in NZ & the man is a beast at just 23 years.
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@kiwi_expat but he is made of glass, he could be the love child of DC and Nonu but if he cant string enough games together to show what he can do does it count?
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@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2022:
There aren't many centres as huge (110kg+) as Thomas in NZ & the man is a beast at just 23 years.
I note that the Highlanders player profile has him at 95 kg. I certainly don't believe that either, and I assume that Thomas and Peter are similar in size? Peter is listed at 102 kg.
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@kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2022:
@kiwi_expat but he is made of glass, he could be the love child of DC and Nonu but if he cant string enough games together to show what he can do does it count?
SBW would get injured every second or third game, that didn't stop Hansen favoring him over others who were possibly better.
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@bovidae said in All Blacks 2022:
@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2022:
There aren't many centres as huge (110kg+) as Thomas in NZ & the man is a beast at just 23 years.
I note that the Highlanders player profile has him at 95 kg. I certainly don't believe that either, and I assume that Thomas and Peter are similar in size? Peter is listed at 102 kg.
Tony Brown said he came back from preseason weighing around 113kg
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@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2022:
@kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2022:
@kiwi_expat but he is made of glass, he could be the love child of DC and Nonu but if he cant string enough games together to show what he can do does it count?
SBW would get injured every second or third game, that didn't stop Hansen favoring him over others who were possibly better.
i dont remember that but at least he made it to the AB's...TUJ cant make it out the super season currently
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@kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2022:
@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2022:
@kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2022:
@kiwi_expat but he is made of glass, he could be the love child of DC and Nonu but if he cant string enough games together to show what he can do does it count?
SBW would get injured every second or third game, that didn't stop Hansen favoring him over others who were possibly better.
i dont remember that but at least he made it to the AB's...TUJ cant make it out the super season currently
Has TUJ played 3 games in a row in the last 3 seasons ?.
I don’t think he has due to injuries.
Hard to pick a guy who has maybe played 5 or 6 games in 3 years due to injuries. -
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@stargazer said in All Blacks 2022:
@gt12 How does that access prevent breaking bones or suffering a concussion?
Isn't he out with a groin injury currently?
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@kiwi_expat I don't recall too many injuries for SBW, especially in the early part of his rugby career.
Always seemed pretty durable, and looked to just be finding his feet and pressuring Nonu for starts and went for one of his league stints.
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@bovidae said in All Blacks 2022:
@kiwi_expat said in All Blacks 2022:
There aren't many centres as huge (110kg+) as Thomas in NZ & the man is a beast at just 23 years.
I note that the Highlanders player profile has him at 95 kg. I certainly don't believe that either, and I assume that Thomas and Peter are similar in size? Peter is listed at 102 kg.
Thomas looks much bigger/heavier than Peter.
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@stargazer said in All Blacks 2022:
@gt12 How does that access prevent breaking bones or suffering a concussion?
Technique, training methods, plenty of ways.
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@bones said in All Blacks 2022:
@stargazer said in All Blacks 2022:
@gt12 How does that access prevent breaking bones or suffering a concussion?
Technique, training methods, plenty of ways.
true, although those are all also needed to just keep up with the international game...let alone overcome existing issues, there is only so much they can do
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@kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2022:
@bones said in All Blacks 2022:
@stargazer said in All Blacks 2022:
@gt12 How does that access prevent breaking bones or suffering a concussion?
Technique, training methods, plenty of ways.
true, although those are all also needed to just keep up with the international game...let alone overcome existing issues, there is only so much they can do
Thanks Cotton 😁 how's it going at the ocho?
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Based solely on current form, the top three THPs are Crusaders Jager, Newell and Williams (in alphabetical order). Laulala, Lomax, and Ta'avao gain virtually no ground in the confrontational phases, and the former two (Laulala and Lomax) are penalty magnets. I wouldn't mind seeing one (or two) of Jager, Newell and Williams, be included in the June squad. They must be given some experience before the RWC.
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@cgrant said in All Blacks 2022:
Based solely on current form, the top three THPs are Crusaders Jager, Newell and Williams (in alphabetical order). Laulala, Lomax, and Ta'avao gain virtually no ground in the confrontational phases, and the former two (Laulala and Lomax) are penalty magnets. I wouldn't mind seeing one (or two) of Jager, Newell and Williams, be included in the June squad. They must be given some experience before the RWC.
Jager is the best TH if our plan is to go back to a worse Owen Franks. My quick look over his stats suggests he has 11 runs for 8 metres from three games. He's a good Super level player who makes his tackles, but he's miles way from being able to contribute around the field, which we desperately need from our props.
