All Blacks 2023
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The question marks for me:
- 3rd hooker
- 4th lock
- 6th & 7th loosie
- 2nd & 3rd halfback
- Will ALB be our backup centre
- Wing mix
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@ACT-Crusader pretty well how I see it too. Though I pretty convinced that ALB will be back up centre, I still wonder about all others. I know generally who I would like, but even at halfback, I a member of Roigard fan club, but at back of my mind is what players (mainly halves and 8s) are ging to find playing under the international laws again.
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks 2023:
The question marks for me:
- 3rd hooker
50/50 Coles/Aumua
- 4th lock
Not a problem if SB is taken as a lock
- 6th & 7th loosie
Injury dependent
- 2nd & 3rd halfback
One that plays as close as possible to Smith and one that presents a different picture
- Will ALB be our backup centre
Yes
- Wing mix
May depend on the role of BB
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@Crucial said in All Blacks 2023:
@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks 2023:
The question marks for me:
- 4th lock
Not a problem if SB is taken as a lock
isn't that still a huge question mark? i felt id seen more people than not listing him as 6
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@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2023:
Lots of tackles, notable improvements in cleaning out rucks, and is running hard to to the ball. One recent example had him bouncing off a hooker, another set up a great try for Clarke. Plenty of other examples.
All the good stuff people have been asking for he’s now doing.
I think his only real weakness at hte moment is his ongoing propensity to run upright. He had success at lower levels doing it, but it's a terrible habit for higher honours.
That said, he's had storming games in black; MOTM on more than one occasion, but you wouldn't know it with the blinders some folk wear.
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@booboo said in All Blacks 2023:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2023:
SF has had zero
Joburg last year was good.
I feel dirty.
and yet he still made a couple of enormous errors. basic errors too
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2023:
and yet he still made a couple of enormous errors. basic errors too
Certainly not the only one, and the overall point was, for him, he was good! (In one game!)
I'm also not a SF fan but if he played like that, physically dominant, for more than one game I wouldn't mind so much, because he doesn't really offer that much else (I can't remember him adding that much at lineout consistently for the ABs but maybe someone has stats there). -
i feel a solid lineout option was one of the few things he has provided for the AB's, when i was more of a SF fan thats one area i think i didn;t get thrown back at me
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Here is the thing. Scott Barrett will be on the blindside, and that tells you all you need to know about how both Frizell and A Ioane have performed at test level. I personally think Frizell has been superior, because when he has his good games, he does the hard yards. Akira Ioane never has and never will. Does it against the Aussies, goes missing versus the Boks.
In my opinion, they will take four locks (Including Barrett) and six loose forwards to the World Cup. They may pinch an extra lock if they decide to only take 5 props.
Three of the six loose forwards will be Cane, Savea & Papalii. I think despite his great form, that probably rules out Harmon, because it would be a bizarre balance. Injuries surely rule out Grace for this squad at least, which leaves you with Jacobson, Frizell, A Ioane, Sotutu, Blackadder and the bolters (If we cast the net wide it is probably Renton, Lio-Willie, Flanders, Finau, PGS & Suafoa) gunning for three spots. Judging off the amount of
influence Fozzy takes from the media, and the selections of Jase Ryan in the past, I personally think Jacobson, Blackadder and Lio-Willie could well be the three. Not saying this is what I do, but wouldn't shock me. -
@friedrugby said in All Blacks 2023:
..... I personally think Frizell has been superior, because when he has his good games, he does the hard yards. Akira Ioane never has and never will.
there should be a rule about making statement like that (or the other way round) as if theyre fact as there are plenty of people that believe the exact opposite....and now we'll have to go through a cycle of posts explaining why they are in fact correct and you are in fact wrong....again....and again
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@Kiwiwomble That is the whole point though? No? It is all about opinion. I think when it comes to rugby, other than tackles stats showing workload, I think things should mostly be looked at through the eye-test.
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@friedrugby said in All Blacks 2023:
Jacobson, Frizell, A Ioane, Sotutu, Blackadder and the bolters (If we cast the net wide it is probably Renton, Lio-Willie, Flanders, Finau, PGS & Suafoa) gunning for three spots.
The bold will get one last chance this weekend to push their case in a big game.
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2023:
@friedrugby said in All Blacks 2023:
Jacobson, Frizell, A Ioane, Sotutu, Blackadder and the bolters (If we cast the net wide it is probably Renton, Lio-Willie, Flanders, Finau, PGS & Suafoa) gunning for three spots.
The bold will get one last chance this weekend to push their case in a big game.
Don't think Blackadder will
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@friedrugby was it you and I having the discussion about Frizzel on the Landers thread? Man you have some rose tinted glasses fella.
There's a difference between doing the hard yards and trying to do the hard yards and doing negative yards.
Sure Frizzel can try to throw himself around, but just seems to get manhandled and it's bloody frustrating.
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@Bones Unsure... I have constantly said Frizell has been crap this year though, and at no stage did I say I would pick him. I wouldn't go near either him or Akira Ioane. The big criticism of Frizell is he sometimes goes missing, and by all accounts is quite hard to coach, but when he has his good games, he is carrying hard up the centre. He was good for the All Blacks last year, let's not re-write history. Akira Ioane (and David Havili though a totally separate argument) looked like dynamite vs. Fiji and Aussie etc. then went bust on that Northern Tour.
Last Year D Papalii Test Starts (at 6)
L v Ireland (2nd Test)Last Year S Barrett Test Starts (at 6)
W v Ireland (1st Test)
W v Australia (1st Test)
D v EnglandLast year A Ioane Test Starts:
L v Ireland (3rd Test)
L v South Africa (1st Test)
W v Australia (2nd Test)
W v ScotlandLast Year S Frizell Test Starts
W v South Africa (2nd Test)
L v Argentina (1st Test)
W v Argentina (2nd Test)
W v Japan
W v WalesThey'll go with Scooter, we will all hate it, it won't work, and then we will all get over it as we start Fozzy bashing and move towards the Razor era. The real issue is we don't have a good blindside. Blackadder (even if fit) isn't the answer either in my opinion, Luke Jacobson has been treated harshly IMO. Feels like the opening is there for him.
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@friedrugby said in All Blacks 2023:
let's not re-write history.
Agree wholeheartedly.
This is how "good" he was for the ABs last year.
A lock is our best blindside, unless someone has a stormer in the next week and a half.
