All Blacks 2022
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With Moody out, I guess the LH spot will be given to Bower. Does he have the necessary strength and technique to neutralize Tagh Furlong ? I have many doubts about it. Hodgman would be destroyed by the big Irishman at scrum time, so would Norris. So what are the options left ? Karl T ? He can scrummage but against the Oirish, you may expect to make a lot of tackles, so he is clearly not the best at this. De Groot ? I have yet to see him against a first class opposition. Despite his impressive size, I think he punches well under his weight. Due to a lack of mongrel ? Ross ? He did more than holding his own against Tupou but he won't get the same leniency from the ref at scrum time. So who's left ? I could see a starting combo of Ofa T (though he is better THP) and Laulala, with Hodgman (or Bower) and Newell on the bench.
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@booboo said in All Blacks 2022:
And Aled de Malmanche ?
That Jamie MacIntosh was a real talent too.
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Interesting question will be how they structure the make-up of the squad.
They'll surely need:
6 props
3 hookers
4 locks
6 loosies
3 halfbacks
2 first fives
4 midfielders
5 outside backsWhich is 33 players - and then they've got three sort of discretionary spots - one of which is probably another loose forward. If DMac happens to be available, another could be him as a third first five and fullback cover. But, it could also easily be an extra lock, an extra midfielder, an extra outside back, or even a seventh prop.
Wouldn't surprise me if they also pick at least a couple of extras to train with the squad - the likes of Newell or RTS if they don't make the initial selection.
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@Chris-B Interestingly Foster said
“36 [players] for the first squad, that’s sort of a standard Steinlager Series-sized squad, but that can change,” Foster told The Breakdown.
“Maybe it won’t go up, but it could change slightly down based on injuries and who we have left standing after Super Rugby.”
To me that means if, say, ALB is unavailable they may not pick someone to cover him unless they really need to - they are going to tightly focus on who they want. Really any non capped players have got the proverbial ice cubes hope in hell I think
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@ARHS said in All Blacks 2022:
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
@Chris-B DMac has to play NPC before he can be selected
What about for NZ Maoris?
Same rules, I would imagine
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@Machpants said in All Blacks 2022:
@ARHS said in All Blacks 2022:
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
@Chris-B DMac has to play NPC before he can be selected
What about for NZ Maoris?
Same rules, I would imagine
It's to do with how NZRPA contracts work. You must get an NZR contract and play for your province of choice before you are eligible for higher (representative) selection (unless you have a signed Super Rugby contract)
Same situation as TJP had. Let your conttact expire and you have to qualify for a new one. -
@Machpants said in All Blacks 2022:
@Chris-B Interestingly Foster said
“36 [players] for the first squad, that’s sort of a standard Steinlager Series-sized squad, but that can change,” Foster told The Breakdown.
“Maybe it won’t go up, but it could change slightly down based on injuries and who we have left standing after Super Rugby.”
To me that means if, say, ALB is unavailable they may not pick someone to cover him unless they really need to - they are going to tightly focus on who they want. Really any non capped players have got the proverbial ice cubes hope in hell I think
I reckon he'll pick 36 if he's allowed to - unless there's a whole heap of injured players and he's reaching the point in the barrel where he'd have to start picking people who are pretty clearly never going to be test standard.
I think there will be one or two uncapped players. I could easily see Newell making it and maybe a loosehead prop. RTS or Sullivan in the midfield - maybe even TUG. Faingaanuku or Perofeta in the outside backs.
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@pakman said in All Blacks 2022:
On LH much harder. Karl best scrummager, but signed for France. Hodgman superb around field/lineouts but not top level test standard in scrum. De Groot and Bower seem a bit in between. Ross seems good in scrum and pretty useful round field. Norris similar but strengths the other way around.
You've got to think he got the word to leave the year before the RWC
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Re-building the All Blacks pack to reverse the last result against Ireland
The All Blacks pack may need to find more turnovers to combat Ireland's clinical handling. That means forcing them, rather than waiting for them to occur, which are a rarity.
If you want New Zealand’s best performing scrum, it is an all-Blues front row you need with Hodgman/Laulala, Eklund and Tuungafasi. They have the highest dominant scrum percentage of all the Kiwi teams at 31 per cent while conceding the fewest scrum penalties.
At hooker, the option that would give the All Blacks the most punch in defence is Blues rake Kurt Eklund, which is a bold call as few are likely to give him a shot.
He has made 112 tackles at a 93 percent completion rate, with just nine misses whilst generating eight turnovers, six of them at the breakdown from 22 ruck contests. He has only given away two penalties from those 22 ruck contests.
On every defensive metric, Eklund has been better than incumbent Codie Taylor and adds turnover-generating potential.
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@Tim said in All Blacks 2022:
Re-building the All Blacks pack to reverse the last result against Ireland
The All Blacks pack may need to find more turnovers to combat Ireland's clinical handling. That means forcing them, rather than waiting for them to occur, which are a rarity.
If you want New Zealand’s best performing scrum, it is an all-Blues front row you need with Hodgman/Laulala, Eklund and Tuungafasi. They have the highest dominant scrum percentage of all the Kiwi teams at 31 per cent while conceding the fewest scrum penalties.
At hooker, the option that would give the All Blacks the most punch in defence is Blues rake Kurt Eklund, which is a bold call as few are likely to give him a shot.
He has made 112 tackles at a 93 percent completion rate, with just nine misses whilst generating eight turnovers, six of them at the breakdown from 22 ruck contests. He has only given away two penalties from those 22 ruck contests.
On every defensive metric, Eklund has been better than incumbent Codie Taylor and adds turnover-generating potential.
Someone needs to email this to Foster, this is a well written article which makes total sense.
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