TRC squad

Billy Tell

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mimic" data-cid="601769" data-time="1469890794">
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if it was me
1. james parsons
2. no
3. yes
4. yes
5. sbw, crotty, moala and reiko ioane/b smith (yep, id rather have b smith over fekitoa)
6. naholo
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1) Don't really mind
2) No
3) Yes in place of Dixon probably
4) Yes!
5) Crotty, SBW, Moala, Fekitoa with intensive coaching (but I'd have no problem with Taminvalu or ALB)
6) Naholo (Piutau in my dream world)

Crash

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Billy Tell" data-cid="601762" data-time="1469889940">
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Questions for Steven Hansen
 
1) Who is the 3rd hooker if Coles is out (but I don't think he will be)?
2) Is Romano really the 4th best lock in NZ?
3) Has Luatua's compelling end of season enough to get him in ahead of Dixon or Squire?
4) BB surely has to start, no?
5) Midfield
6) Left wing
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1) Hika Elliott/Parsons - but keep your eye on Riccitelli, think he could be an EOYT bolter
2) No - Bird may be worth a shot
3) Luatua? Possibly - Dixon believing his own press currently. Squire I like, and is a strong ball carrier
4) Yes
5) I'm going off Fekitoa,more I see of him - like to see Moala, ALB, Crotty - and Procter is coming home with a wet sail
6) Naholo also like to see Lowe given a shot

rotated

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Billy Tell" data-cid="601762" data-time="1469889940">
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Questions for Steven Hansen
 
1) Who is the 3rd hooker if Coles is out (but I don't think he will be)?
2) Is Romano really the 4th best lock in NZ?
3) Has Luatua's compelling end of season enough to get him in ahead of Dixon or Squire?
4) BB surely has to start, no?
5) Midfield
6) Left wing
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1) Irrelevant as we don't need three hookers until the last week of September when they first leave Australasia - Coles will surely be fit by then. Harris is our third best hooker with Coles and Parsons ahead. Hansen said as much after the June team selection but didn't want Harris losing his spot due to injury. Agree with Crash that Riccitelli is going to be in the environment sooner rather than later.
2) He isn't but I don't think it's conclusive enough to drop him either. He does the job Hansen and co want so someone would need to make an irresistible case to get him dropped.
3) I would take Luatua over Dixon. I don't think it's that easy for the selection panel though. The NZ wine industry will be celebrating as I suspect Hansen, Fox and Foster will be opening a few bottles to discuss this one.
4) Bet he doesn't.
5) Still convinced Ben Smith ends up here as SBW will not solve the issues. Moala hopefully makes it in, Ranger would have been ideal.
6) As Billy Tell says Piatau would be ideal. Lowe should make the squad. This is the least important question and if I knew what they will do with Barrett and Ben Smith. If Ben Smith doesn't go to the midfield and Barrett doesn't play 10 then I'm not against Dagg back where he started at 11 as a stop gap. Naholo is the most likely outcome.

cgrant

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Don Frye" data-cid="601658" data-time="1469877412">
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Normally I'd agree but I guess what caught my eye was that when May left, Eves went to loosehead and the Bear switched to tighthead, and the Hurricanes scrum actually improved. Uhila didn't get subbed till the end when Kainga came on.
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I've just watched a replay : where the hell did you see that ? The Tongan bear stayed on his loosehead side when Eves came in. Please watch it again.

Frye

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="cgrant" data-cid="601791" data-time="1469910300">
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I've just watched a replay : where the hell did you see that ? The Tongan bear stayed on his loosehead side when Eves came in. Please watch it again.
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Haha really? It's almost like I'm watching at ~3am in the morning huh.
 
Oh well, that must meant that Eves (usually a lhp, came on at thp). Get him in as the 5th prop then.

sparky

Sparky's squad for the Rugby Championship 2016 
Loosehead Props: Joe Moody, Wyatt Crockett, Reggie Goodes 
Hookers: Dane Coles, Nathan Harris, Codie Taylor 
Tighthead Props: Owen Franks, Charlie Fauminia 
Locks: Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Patrick Tuipulotu 
Loose Forward: Jerome Kaino, Steven Luatua, Ardie Savea, Sam Cane, Kieran Read (c), Liam Squire 
Half Backs: Aaron Smith, TJ Perenera, Kerr-Barlow. 
First Five: Beauden Barrett, Aaron Cruden, Lima Sopoaga 
Midfield: Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty, Fekitoa, George Moala 
Back Three: Julian Savea, Naholo, Ben Smith, Israel Dagg, Damien McKenzie 
Not available because of injury: Charlie Ngatai, Nehe Milner-Skudder 
Some of my front row might still be injured so we could need to select other players. 
No need for more than three locks. Kaino, Luatau or Squire could provide emergency cover. 
I have no strong views on Squire Vs Dixon, but Squire seems in slightly better form. Leaving Luatua out of the squad Vs Wales was a mistake IMHO. 
Fekitoa is lucky to be selected and wouldn't have been if Ngatai had been fit or SBW available from the start of the tournament. 
If I need to reduce the squad in size then one of the back three could miss out, probably McKenzie. 
Normally if a guy can't start for his Super franchise, he shouldn't be picked for the All Blacks, but Julian Savea is a special case and I think Hansen will get him back to his top form before the end of the year.

hydro11

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="sparky" data-cid="601798" data-time="1469913330">
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Sparky's squad for the Rugby Championship 2016 
Loosehead Props: Joe Moody, Wyatt Crockett, Reggie Goodes 
Hookers: Dane Coles, Nathan Harris, Codie Taylor 
Tighthead Props: Owen Franks, Charlie Fauminia 
Locks: Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Patrick Tuipulotu 
Loose Forward: Jerome Kaino, Steven Luatua, Ardie Savea, Sam Cane, Kieran Read (c), Liam Squire 
Half Backs: Aaron Smith, TJ Perenera, Kerr-Barlow. 
First Five: Beauden Barrett, Aaron Cruden, Lima Sopoaga 
Midfield: Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty, Fekitoa, George Moala 
Back Three: Julian Savea, Naholo, Ben Smith, Israel Dagg, Damien McKenzie 
Not available because of injury: Charlie Ngatai, Nehe Milner-Skudder 
Some of my front row might still be injured so we could need to select other players. 
No need for more than three locks. Kaino, Luatau or Squire could provide emergency cover. 
I have no strong views on Squire Vs Dixon, but Squire seems in slightly better form. Leaving Luatua out of the squad Vs Wales was a mistake IMHO. 
Fekitoa is lucky to be selected and wouldn't have been if Ngatai had been fit or SBW available from the start of the tournament. 
If I need to reduce the squad in size then one of the back three could miss out, probably McKenzie. 
Normally if a guy can't start for his Super franchise, he shouldn't be picked for the All Blacks, but Julian Savea is a special case and I think Hansen will get him back to his top form before the end of the year.
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Who of your loose head props can cover tighthead? The selectors said that they picked Tu'ungafasi because he can cover both sides. You can't go to the Republic with two tightheads because one of them might go down the day before the match. Tu'ungafasi isn't a great scrummager but if you don't take him then you probably need six props.
 
I agree with the three locks but would probably take Dixon over Squire.

Higgins

Not really much point in taking a prop that can't actually prop properly so please leave Tu'ungafasi well out of it.

Chris B.

Agree with hydro on the props. At a huge pinch you could use Moody at THP - he played there a bit for Canterbury last year, but that's your first choice loosehead. I think Tu'ungafasi makes it by default instead of Goodes (not sure he's the third best loosehead in any case). We've really got no other credible tightheads.
 
Going on past selection patterns I think it would be surprising if either of Dixon or Squire were dropped. Both played quite well in their limited opportunity.
 
I'm not sure McKenzie holds his place - if he's there we've got four guys who can play fullback, but only three specialist wings (including Ben Smith) and one of those is terribly out of form. I think James Lowe gets a shot - at least in my squad.
 
Agree on Romano, but I won't be surprised to see him there, with McKenzie missing to accommodate three halfbacks.

leytonandamanda

I think bird be picked over Romano and agree on luatua over Elliott Dixon and I think just 2 half backs be picked so I'm going for perenara over Kerr Barlow. 
I think fekitoa to be left out aswell and possibly anton lienert brown comes in .maybe James Lowe comes in and Julian savea gets left out 
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

sparky

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="hydro11" data-cid="601803" data-time="1469915742">Who of your loose head props can cover tighthead? The selectors said that they picked Tu'ungafasi because he can cover both sides. You can't go to the Republic with two tightheads because one of them might go down the day before the match.</blockquote>
 
Tu'ungafasi isn't nearly good enough to take to the Republic. There is no obvious replacement for Ben Franks who can cover both sides happily. 
Moody and Goodes have both played a little at Tighthead and could fill in there in an emergency, but might struggle if required to play 60+ minutes on the other side. Brendon Edmonds and Jeffrey Toomaga-Allan can also play both sides a little but are both injured.

Frank

Question for Steven Hansen.
 
When do you name the team ?

Unco

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="rotated" data-cid="601777" data-time="1469900910">
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1) Irrelevant as we don't need three hookers until the last week of September when they first leave Australasia - Coles will surely be fit by then. Harris is our third best hooker with Coles and Parsons ahead. Hansen said as much after the June team selection but didn't want Harris losing his spot due to injury. Agree with Crash that Riccitelli is going to be in the environment sooner rather than later.
2) He isn't but I don't think it's conclusive enough to drop him either. He does the job Hansen and co want so someone would need to make an irresistible case to get him dropped.
3) I would take Luatua over Dixon. I don't think it's that easy for the selection panel though. The NZ wine industry will be celebrating as I suspect Hansen, Fox and Foster will be opening a few bottles to discuss this one.
4) Bet he doesn't.
5) Still convinced Ben Smith ends up here as SBW will not solve the issues. Moala hopefully makes it in, Ranger would have been ideal.
6) As Billy Tell says Piatau would be ideal. Lowe should make the squad. This is the least important question and if I knew what they will do with Barrett and Ben Smith. If Ben Smith doesn't go to the midfield and Barrett doesn't play 10 then I'm not against Dagg back where he started at 11 as a stop gap. Naholo is the most likely outcome.
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To the first one: Eh? I think you mean Taylor, though I'd say the second choice spot is still up for grabs between him and Harris.
To the second one: EH?! No thanks, we already tried that once and it failed. We've got more than enough quality midfielders in the country now (SBW, Crotty, Ngatai if he recovers, Fekitoa, Tamanivalu, ALB and Moala) to waste our best outside back by shoehorning him into a position he's not great in. I don't think Ranger is even close to that list at this point btw.
 
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Chris B." data-cid="601806" data-time="1469916922">
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Agree with hydro on the props. At a huge pinch you could use Moody at THP - he played there a bit for Canterbury last year, but that's your first choice loosehead. I think Tu'ungafasi makes it by default instead of Goodes (not sure he's the third best loosehead in any case). We've really got no other credible tightheads.
 
Going on past selection patterns I think it would be surprising if either of Dixon or Squire were dropped. Both played quite well in their limited opportunity.
 
I'm not sure McKenzie holds his place - if he's there we've got four guys who can play fullback, but only three specialist wings (including Ben Smith) and one of those is terribly out of form. I think James Lowe gets a shot - at least in my squad.
 
Agree on Romano, but I won't be surprised to see him there, with McKenzie missing to accommodate three halfbacks.
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Yeah, I don't really see the point of including McKenzie if Ben Smith and Dagg are both there. He's better off spending his time in the ITM Cup and getting some time at 10.

cgrant

Locks : the three first choices are obvious (Retallick, Whitelock, Tuipolutu).
Franklin was selected in the June squad but he hasn't showed that he is AB material since.
Bird, Fatialofa and Fifita are the form locks of the moment but I guess Bird is the only one with a chance of making the squad.
Retallick and Whitelock have an additional week to recover from the travel fatigue. They will be fresh for the RC.

Unite

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Frank" data-cid="601876" data-time="1469938437">Question for Steven Hansen. 
When do you name the team ?</blockquote> 
Squad named tomorrow at 10:30.

reprobate

i'm a dixon fan, but that semi was the worst game i've seen him play. he was still one of the most industrious forwards out there, but those errors were just killers. he has been very good all season though, and i think the MOTM performance in last years final indicates that it wasn't a pressure-related thing.
 
luatua i want to see in the side. i think he's our best option for replacing read should injury strike and we need him to be up to speed.
squire is the least of the 3 in my opinion, but is a good bench option - big hard running fucker, up against a few tired opponents he is going to get us over the gain line a lot, and that momentum is crucial.
 
disappointed the highlanders didn't get up, because i would have liked to see lima and beauden match up again.

pakman

Luatua and Squire for me. Dixon is a quality player, but just doesn't add enough at the top level.
On form Bird would be my third lock -- his combo with BBBR has been exceptional -- witness the performance against the Springbok/Stormers incumbents, who were a clear second last week. Not sure Patrick T or Romano have set the house on fire but one of the two has to be the 'power' lock. PT has age on his side.
Fifth prop a conundrum. Ofa T is very impressive around the park but scrummaging is not top rate. Not sure any other clear candidate who can play TH. For me the biggest weakness until Laulala recovers. 
DMac put on ice till EOYT -- Nadolo/Smith/Dagg/Savea/Barrett cover all the bases.

Billy Tell

I disagree about patrick T. Every time he pulls on black he adds great impact off the bench. A stonewall selection.

rotated

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Unco" data-cid="601880" data-time="1469939371">
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To the first one: Eh? I think you mean Taylor, though I'd say the second choice spot is still up for grabs between him and Harris.
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You are right I meant Taylor.
 
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Unco" data-cid="601880" data-time="1469939371">
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To the second one: EH?! No thanks, we already tried that once and it failed. We've got more than enough quality midfielders in the country now (SBW, Crotty, Ngatai if he recovers, Fekitoa, Tamanivalu, ALB and Moala) to waste our best outside back by shoehorning him into a position he's not great in. I don't think Ranger is even close to that list at this point btw.
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It is not ideal, but we were poor in the centres in the June internationals and Hansen has said as much - this is the only area of concern and question marks he has outside Savea.
 
Hansen floated it after the second test, but said Smith already had enough on his plate currently. That could change in a new camp.
 
I like you hope we can find a solid centre combo out of the list you provided, but the reality is Crotty/Fekitoa was shit, SBW for me is still unproven in the role he will be put in and Ngatai who I have the highest hopes for is still injured. If the woes continue in the centres at some point the improvement Smith can make will outweigh the drop off with Barrett starting/NMS returning/Dagg.
 
We tried Nonu and Smith a few times until it worked too.

Billy Tell

I'd be happy to try Crotty and moala again. 
I don't want a bar of Crotty Fekitoa so if Fekitoa starts someone else at 12.

The Silver Fern

TRC squad