Predictions 2023
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@Tim
(replying to your first post - seems prescient..)France & Ireland won't do as well as expected - expect one to be knocked out in the QF/SF's. England to do much better than expected as will SA.
Scotland to give SA & Ireland a seriously hard time - could be real dark horses who could cause a few upsets.
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@Bovidae Cane is shit, he has been shit for the last three years, and he will be shit this year.
Any one pretending otherwise is delusional. Congrats on backing a shit Chiefs player to a WC QF exit.
In case I didn't make it clear, Cane is absolute shit and will be throughout the year.
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@Tim said in Predictions 2023:
Cane cannot redeem his status as the worst captain in AB history. Foster is obviously the worst coach.
Correct me if I have misinterpreted your multiple musings, but I think you're saying Cane is shit. Really shit.
I have watched about 15 minutes of Super Rugby this year so have no personal opinion but what I have read in the media contradicts your point?
Where I can comment is on the quoted bit.
Cane's nowhere near the worst AB captain. Not as a player or as a captain
Leaving aside one-off captains, as a player Cane is better than Reuben Thorne, Andy Leslie, Todd Blackadder and that's just loosies.
As captain Meads, Kirkpatrick, Leslie, Stu Wilson, Anton Oliver, Blackadder, Whetton - it's a long list.
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Further predictions:
RWC to take place in France in 2023
ABs do better than expected.
On the Fern, @tim tells us Cane is shit....
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@Victor-Meldrew He is shit, based upon the last three years of international games. If you are basing your estimation upon anything else then you are a fool. He will deliver ABs to a QF exit.
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Hold on, the player who has been shit at test level for three years had some quite good games in Super Rugby this year. God damn! You'd have to be crazy to not make him your captain this year!
Cane is real dogshit, and anyone who does not recognize his terrible form over the last three years, at international level, is a coward.
Sam Cane is a shit player and captain, and he can only lead the ABs to a QF defeat. He should not be in the AB squad.
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My concern about Cane is he is in the 2007 McCaw captaincy arc. He did not control the ref or make decisions well in the final.
Would feel better with Whitelock as captain.
As for who is the better seven, huge Dalton fan but not much difference IMO and his year will be next year.
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@Kirwan said in Predictions 2023:
Would feel better with Whitelock as captain.
Herald article yesterday (I know, I know) suggesting Whitelock should be a bench option as form isn't as good as Retallick and Barrett's.
As above can't comment on form but Having Whitelock come on to take over captaincy from a subbed Cane sort of makes some sense. Of course Whitelock could still take over even if he had started.
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@Windows97 said in Predictions 2023:
My prediction is that Sam Cane will have a MOM performance in the RWC final this year...
christ I hope yuo're right.
I'm concerned about getting past the quarters at the moment. Or losing a pool game for the first time. WE are well and truly back in the international pack, and I can't see that changing with the forwards we are developing at the moment, and the mismatch between Super and International rugby.
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TBH this is one of the worst teams we've ever had in terms of talent. We've got maybe two world class players in the forwards (Retallick yes, Whitelock - maybe) and probably 0 in the backs on current form (though Will Jordan is rated higher overseas than in his own country it appears).
I've always though that NZ had an incredible pipeline of talent, now I'm not so sure...
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The sky is falling!
Nothing wrong with NZ players, our issue is that we haven't evolved with the game as it's being played at the power brokers. It's a strength and card based game now, that's what we need to play to be at the big table.
Our speed will keep us competing, but whether or not it will win us the big trophies, I'm not so sure.
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@nzzp said in Predictions 2023:
WE are well and truly back in the international pack, and I can't see that changing with the forwards we are developing at the moment,
I'm not so sure. Think the problem is the head-space more than anythng else. We can be utterly dominant for long periods of the game then demonstrate a series of collective brain-farts. Been going on for 5-6 years now.
and the mismatch between Super and International rugby.
Or is it the mismatch between Super and NH Club rugby?
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There may be others in the SF, but the finalists seem right
