All Blacks vs England 2

Frank

@KiwiMurph
He's only any good when surrounded by seven defenders in 13cm of space.

frugby

We have no loose forward ball carrier, and England had two in Cunningham-Smith and Earls.
I'd bench Savea to cover 7 and 8 to be used as an impact player and start Sititi at 8
Papalii is an 80 minute player.
6??? - Blackadder or Vaii

World Cup winning teams have traditionally had an absolute monster at #8... Wallabies fell short with Pocock, we fell short with Savea etc.

Savea is a great player so we often get away with, but when push comes to shove, I think the balance would be better with one of Papalii, Savea or Cane, a huge hard bastard at eight, and the ball running six.

Finau has had a pair of quiet tests to start, but happy to give him more time... not sure Sititi is ready yet to be your monster number eight, selectors don't like Sotutu, so options are a bit limited.

ACT Crusader

@Tim said in All Blacks vs England 2:

No cards again.

And for both teams. Just makes for a better spectacle when all players are on the park.

Frank

@frugby said in All Blacks vs England 2:

Finau has had a pair of quiet tests to start, but happy to give him more time... not sure Sititi is ready yet to be your monster number eight, selectors don't like Sotutu, so options are a bit limited.

Sititi is the only hard running loose forward we have in the squad.
Finau is waaaaaaaaay off the pace.

BerniesCorner

Change Savea's position at least for half a game. 6 or 7
Sititi - Ratima - DMac. You know it makes sense.

sparky

@Dodge said in All Blacks vs England 2:

We desperately need to find a tight head from somewhere.

You're not having any of ours.😉

sparky

@Frank said in All Blacks vs England 2:

We have no loose forward ball carrier.

If only Akira Ioane and Hoskins Sotutu were NZ eligible.

Oh yes, they are. Silly me!

Machpants

@chimoaus said in All Blacks vs England 2:

He has had way less time than Razor

um, what? ozzie teams were out early he's had a fortnight or more headstart

Old Samurai Jack

@Frank said in All Blacks vs England 2:

@frugby said in All Blacks vs England 2:

Finau has had a pair of quiet tests to start, but happy to give him more time... not sure Sititi is ready yet to be your monster number eight, selectors don't like Sotutu, so options are a bit limited.

Sititi is the only hard running loose forward we have in the squad.
Finau is waaaaaaaaay off the pace.

Can someone go back and get comments for the start of the careers of practically every decent modern 6 the ABs have ever had (Collins/ Kaino esp.). Thought Akira had turned a corner so I think the selectors have missed a beat there. Papalii has got increasingly better and Blackadder looks tailor-made for test rugby. Few like McCaw can just slot in(and he was supported by decent other loosies).

sparky

@Tim And fewer penalties. Better discipline and tackling are already pluses from the early Foster era.

chucknz

@sparky but one of them decided not to be available for ab selection, so why bother mentioning him?

Frank

Our pack is absolutely fucked without Scott Barrett.

Machpants

@Old-Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks vs England 2:

Thought Akira had turned a corner so I think the selectors have missed a beat there

But he is going overseas, there is no point investing in him now, at the start of a new regime. If he'd stayed or it was coming up to RWC yes. But he is persona non grata, he's takng the yen

Mr Fish

@Machpants said in All Blacks vs England 2:

@Old-Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks vs England 2:

Thought Akira had turned a corner so I think the selectors have missed a beat there

But he is going overseas, there is no point investing in him now, at the start of a new regime. If he'd stayed or it was coming up to RWC yes. But he is persona non grata, he's takng the yen

No, no, you don't understand. Razor explicitly told Akira at the start of the season that he was never going to be selected to play for the All Blacks, regardless of how he played this year 🙄

Old Samurai Jack

@Machpants said in All Blacks vs England 2:

@Old-Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks vs England 2:

Thought Akira had turned a corner so I think the selectors have missed a beat there

But he is going overseas, there is no point investing in him now, at the start of a new regime. If he'd stayed or it was coming up to RWC yes. But he is persona non grata, he's takng the yen

I hope he negotiated in dollars.

sparky

@chucknz Because he's ace.

Machpants

How awesome is it to have a coach that actually answers questions? Razor winning there I think

Old Samurai Jack

Scott Barrett seems completely grounded in reality. He seems to recognize the enormity of the task. Razor has and will always be in his own world. Hopefully, a good combo!

Machpants

@Machpants said in All Blacks vs England 2:

How awesome is it to have a coach that actually answers questions? Razor winning there I think

frugby

Blackadder really does improve every time he gets injured... not quite sure how you can confidently say he is going to be the answer... telling he playing openside for the Crusaders.

A loose trio of Blackadder, Papalii and Savea would be bullied for a lack of size.

The Silver Fern

All Blacks vs England 2