All Blacks 2022
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@Tim said in All Blacks 2022:
Will he actually do anything to justify selection? All indicators so no.
Can I ask what indicators?
I know he didn’t go that well last year but didn’t really get a chance so far this year.
I’d give him a couple of games at least to make judgements. -
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
@number9 said in All Blacks 2022:
@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.
Article lost credibility when it suggested that Pat T needed to come back into the side.
One of the most frustrating AB's ever, for me. Love what he's done with the Blues captaincy and their renaissance and while he's played a handful of good games in Black, he's just so inconsistent. I think Romano's probably a better bet.than Pat T
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@Tim said in All Blacks 2022:
Will he actually do anything to justify selection? All indicators so no.
I think he has to be given one more chance.
One of the greatest ever players for the All Blacks and I am hoping last year was just a bad year. -
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@Tim said in All Blacks 2022:
@Crucial you can, and you should, he hasn't produced a quality performance since 2019.
That is a very long time, and this year he was out played by Goodhue and others.
It would have been pretty hard to produce a quality performance for the ABs in 2020 when he wasn’t around, a kind of dumb statement.
Yes, he wasn’t at his best last year after losing bulk in Japan.
Was just starting to hit his straps before that thumb break.
He may well not come back to previous standards but writing him off right now seems OTT. -
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i remember alatini being pretty good in that 2000 "game of the century"
edit: just re watched the first 6mins...bloody hell that was enjoyable
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@KiwiMurph wasnt Ranby the player 'foodbill' was coined for?
Ha, I do hate when we call someone the 'worst AB' though, as above, I thought Alatini was pretty good in the 2000/01 period.
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Hard to attribute the Blues scrum dominance to Eklund when he's surrounded by 4(!) All Black props. But he's been playing well and he's hungry, he should definitely be in the picture. I've been a huge fan of Taylor but his form just isn't there at the moment.
Taukei'aho is the best hooker in the comp, it would be crazy not to start him. The tight five desperately needs spark. You can't simply fill the pack with players that have experience but lack form and think they will deliver when it matters. The second row will probably have to be experienced, so start the tyro at 2.
Loosehead is a problem. It would be great to see someone stand up in these last few games because it's wide open honestly. Bower might be the best scrummager so looks most likely to get the tick at 1.
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@Stargazer said in All Blacks 2022:
@Chris Look who wrote the Rugbypass article. The same sports writer who writes bs all the time.
Just spotted that
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