RWC Week 1: France v All Blacks
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So, when's kick off...
Team is selected, people can piss and moan all they like, the team is pretty much what was expected.
These guys can win, however if they will remains to be seen
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Oh hell no
But everyone was having a bad day, nice to bring on someone to turn the game around a bit. Just don't think Christie does that. He is not going to add a spark that might make a difference.
I'm just not liking the makeup of this team, and the squad in general just seems to be selected badly. -
Eddie Jones recently made a comment about the importance of halfback defence in the current game so i suspect that's why Christie gets the nod.
My issue with that logic is only focusing on defence doesn't pay enough attention to kicking, distribution, decision making and sniping - all areas where Roigard is superior and indirectly can help defence (field position, smoother attack leading to less time on defence etc).
Having said all that he's picked now so I hope Finlay dominates.
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@KiwiMurph said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Eddie Jones recently made a comment about the importance of halfback defence in the current game so i suspect that's why Christie gets the nod.
My issue with that logic is only focusing on defence doesn't pay enough attention to kicking, distribution, decision making and sniping - all areas where Roigard is superior and indirectly can help defence (field position, smoother attack leading to less time on defence etc).
Having said all that he's picked now so I hope Finlay dominates.
If they wanted a defensive halfback, I feel as though Fakatava is the best defensive halfback available... maybe I'm wrong?
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@KiwiMurph said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Eddie Jones recently made a comment about the importance of halfback defence in the current game so i suspect that's why Christie gets the nod.
so now we are basing our selections on what eddie says
Christie is an excellent defender, particularly cover defence, if he can get his decision making and clearance back to what he showed when he first made the ABs then he isnt a concern.
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@Darren said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
But everyone was having a bad day,
Yeah, and as much of a Roigard fan as I am, there's the possibility that playing OK and scoring a great individual try in his second Test against a team 35 points up just might not be the definitive guide to his qualities in an RWC competition.
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@taniwharugby said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Christie is an excellent defender, particularly cover defence, if he can get his decision making and clearance back to what he showed when he first made the ABs then he isnt a concern.
He's gone backwards this year a fair way in that department. Never the quickest of players but was pretty solid in Tests last year coming on a replacement.
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The Roigard non selection is silly but it also shows how inflexible Foster is. I really don't know why we even bothered having the ABs in SR when clearly form doesn't matter to the guy, he had already picked this AB team at the start of the year.
Roigard would have been the perfect impact player on Friday. With the forecasted heat, players are bound to get tired and there will be gaps around the rucks late in the game as a result. This is the one game where you should select a guy like Roigard who has the running game to exploit those gaps.
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@akan004 said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The Roigard non selection is silly but it also shows how inflexible Foster is. I really don't know why we even bothered having the ABs in SR when clearly form doesn't matter to the guy, he had already picked this AB team at the start of the year.
The same criticism can be made against Henry and Hansen for sticking with Nonu at 12 despite being crap in SR.
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@Victor-Meldrew Nonu was a beast for the Canes in 2015 though. If Carter hadn't pulled out his magic when he did to win World Player of the year, Nonu probably would have won that accolade.
And plus, a underperforming Nonu at Super level was still quality, especially when you compare him to the 12s running around atm. A really good Christie is still average.
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@akan004 said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The Roigard non selection is silly but it also shows how inflexible Foster is. I really don't know why we even bothered having the ABs in SR when clearly form doesn't matter to the guy, he had already picked this AB team at the start of the year.
Not sure this is entirely true. Despite what we may think, I think the evidence would suggest that at the end of last year, the pecking order of halfbacks was probably:
- Smith
- Perenara
- Christie
- Weber
- Fakatava
- Ratima
- Roigard
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@Canes4life said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
@Victor-Meldrew Nonu was a beast for the Canes in 2015 though. If Carter hadn't pulled out his magic when he did to win World Player of the year, Nonu probably would have won that accolade.
And plus, a underperforming Nonu at Super level was still quality, especially when you compare him to the 12s running around atm. A really good Christie is still average.
Yep. A shit Nonu is still 2x better than TJ Faiane playing at his best.
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@Victor-Meldrew Nonu was a world class player, a world XV player in fact and we all knew what he was capable of at test level, so his selection was a given.
Similar to how Hart always selected Bunce ahead of Clarke even though Clarke had the superior SR form. Bunce always delivered at international level.
Christie and some of his other safe picks however are hardly world class yet he refuses to drop them for in form players.
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Good thing that Henry and Hansen were inflexible then..
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I'm intrigued that people think the non-selection of Roigard is far more important and a bigger talking point than the selection of Papalii on the blindside.
Also, if anyone lives overseas and can go to the bookmaker, would love to know the odds on Nepo over 2.5 knock-ons. In that heat, he won't catch a thing!
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Yep. Being inflexible and not picking on SR form paid off.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
@akan004 said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The Roigard non selection is silly but it also shows how inflexible Foster is. I really don't know why we even bothered having the ABs in SR when clearly form doesn't matter to the guy, he had already picked this AB team at the start of the year.
The same criticism can be made against Henry and Hansen for sticking with Nonu at 12 despite being crap in SR.
If Beauden delivered in black the way Nonu did no one would mind at all about his Super Rugby form as relates to his AB selection.
Beauden has been on the downside in black for years but is always a certainty to be picked by Foster.
