TRC Squad
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No point selecting Akira, he's heading overseas and isn't already an established All Black. Sotutu or another might have been a better shout than either Blackadder or Jacobson but that wouldn't have changed who Robertson has selected at 8 consistently. He has two genuine alternatives to Savea already in the forms of Jacobson and Sititi and neither of them has been given a run at the back of the scrum so seems like Savea is a permanent fixture for the moment.
I'm hindsight, Christie would've been a better option than Perenara.
Riccitelli would've given the All Blacks what, an option off the bench for 10 minutes? He wouldn't have been used against South Africa so we're talking about a couple of wasted minutes against Australia when the better option is still to invest time in Aumua anyway.
A genuine 12 option would be nice but it's not like there's anyone absolutely banging the door down. I don't think Havili is necessarily the answer but neither is someone like AJ Lam.
A problem with seeing WS as the answer is that he is very similar to RD. Logically only one on field at a time. Sotutu is hampered by not having shown he can play 6.
HS?
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The revisionism on Akira's time in black is getting really tiresome. "Tried and failed". Absolute horseshit, he's been snubbed because Ryan has an inexplicable dislike of him to the serious detriment of the ABs.
In 2021 Akira was absolutely dominant for the ABs, leading the overall MOTM poll on here for the entire season. He had one quiet game against SA after a long season, then the coaches began their love affair with Frizell who never put in even one single performance as good as Akira had on multiple occasions, and then went completely missing in the RWC final costing us dearly.
Akira got absolutely screwed by the AB selectors, and he has now left as a result of being constantly snubbed despite being the best 6 in the country by a long way for the past 3 years.
To back this up, here are the MOTM polls from 2021.
Plenty of votes here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4772/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-i
MOTM here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4792/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-ii?page=1
Backed up with another MOTM performance:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4824/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-iii
Three in a row where he was MOTM or in the mix.
Can also add a game against Fiji where he got plenty of votes just for good measure:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4738/all-blacks-motm-v-fiji-2?page=1
And why not throw Tonga in there as well, got quite a few votes in that match as well:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4707/all-blacks-motm-v-tonga?page=1
And remember, this is just a snippet, he's had other MOTM performances before then, but 2021 was when he started putting it together on a consistent basis.
It's not just Ryan that seems to have an inexplicable dislike of him, some posters on here just refuse to accept, or remember, that he has been dominant for the ABs in the past. If he had consistent game time since his breakout season in 2021 our problems at 6 would be non-existent. Instead, Ryan and the other selectors have fucked his AB career by consistently selecting a far lesser player over him.
The same thing is going to happen with Sotutu. Can't get a look in despite being the best 8 in the country. I don't know why this doesn't piss people off more, the ABs are significantly weaker as a result of this shit.
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A number of random thoughts.
Only been able to watch the Noc via 20 min highlights on Stan (all the time I've got) but ...
Reckon we're not as strong on the wing as usual as Rees and Telea are a little down on form.
We'd do worse than Tavatavanawai. Fast, powerful, loves a turnover.
Narawa also wouldn't weaken the back three.
JRK has some talent, and I've not seen him fuck up too badly.
For a physical presence in midfield what about Aumua? Obviously not happy in Sith land, so may not fit with current Mgmt.
Xavier Roe worth a look in the 9 convo? And the little I've seen of T-cube he's done nothing wrong. Did we ever get any idea why and how he fell off, apart from Weber being in form?
Lord looks a big presence. Haven't watched enough or close enough to confirm how he's playing but just looks like he'd add bulk and height.
Wouldn't mind Lakai getting a shot at 7.
Trying to look outside of the usual names at 6 and 8, and I've got no compelling vibes.
Plenty of talented exciting player around though.
Wouldn't mind if Edmed was available. Glad Agent Schmidt is in place and ignoring him.
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@nostrildamus said in TRC Squad:
@Frank 'The Wise Men"
Always thought it was the Three Wise Men ... from when it was three
I thought it stood for
They Weren't Messiahs (after all).Graham, Steve and Wayne? They bloody were
In reference to this coaching team ..
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Reckon we're not as strong on the wing as usual as Rees and Telea are a little down on form.
We'd do worse than Tavatavanawai. Fast, powerful, loves a turnover.
Narawa also wouldn't weaken the back three.
JRK has some talent, and I've not seen him fuck up too badly.
For a physical presence in midfield what about Aumua? Obviously not happy in Sith land, so may not fit with current Mgmt.
Xavier Roe worth a look in the 9 convo? And the little I've seen of T-cube he's done nothing wrong. Did we ever get any idea why and how he fell off, apart from Weber being in form?
Lord looks a big presence. Haven't watched enough or close enough to confirm how he's playing but just looks like he'd add bulk and height.
Wouldn't mind Lakai getting a shot at 7.
Trying to look outside of the usual names at 6 and 8, and I've got no compelling vibes.
Yeah - unusually, we're a bit short on wings. Luckily Caleb's been in great form. WJ passable given he'd barely played this year - but Sevu and Mark have been disappointing. I expect one of them to miss the EOYT.
Don't think Timoci is fast anymore. He's a big strong unit, but I think his lack of pace would get found out at international level.
Big Levi probably the same. Not an accurate enough defender either IMO.
Lots of young nines to pick from. I expect Roigard back for the EOYT, Ratima and either TJ or Hotham - with Christie an outside chance. Roe, Fakatava and Funaki probably not this year, but in the mix.
I think Lakai will get Cane's place, but probably not till next year.
Waikato have some impressive looking young blindsides/No. 8s.
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@No-Quarter said in TRC Squad:
The revisionism on Akira's time in black is getting really tiresome. "Tried and failed". Absolute horseshit, he's been snubbed because Ryan has an inexplicable dislike of him to the serious detriment of the ABs.
In 2021 Akira was absolutely dominant for the ABs, leading the overall MOTM poll on here for the entire season. He had one quiet game against SA after a long season, then the coaches began their love affair with Frizell who never put in even one single performance as good as Akira had on multiple occasions, and then went completely missing in the RWC final costing us dearly.
Akira got absolutely screwed by the AB selectors, and he has now left as a result of being constantly snubbed despite being the best 6 in the country by a long way for the past 3 years.
To back this up, here are the MOTM polls from 2021.
Plenty of votes here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4772/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-i
MOTM here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4792/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-ii?page=1
Backed up with another MOTM performance:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4824/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-iii
Three in a row where he was MOTM or in the mix.
Can also add a game against Fiji where he got plenty of votes just for good measure:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4738/all-blacks-motm-v-fiji-2?page=1
And why not throw Tonga in there as well, got quite a few votes in that match as well:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4707/all-blacks-motm-v-tonga?page=1
And remember, this is just a snippet, he's had other MOTM performances before then, but 2021 was when he started putting it together on a consistent basis.
It's not just Ryan that seems to have an inexplicable dislike of him, some posters on here just refuse to accept, or remember, that he has been dominant for the ABs in the past. If he had consistent game time since his breakout season in 2021 our problems at 6 would be non-existent. Instead, Ryan and the other selectors have fucked his AB career by consistently selecting a far lesser player over him.
The same thing is going to happen with Sotutu. Can't get a look in despite being the best 8 in the country. I don't know why this doesn't piss people off more, the ABs are significantly weaker as a result of this shit.
Your argument would be a long stronger if he was MOTM against any of England, France, Ireland or South Africa...
Akira was really good against shit teams - no one can take that away from him. Was he any good against bigger opposition? The jury's out
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2nd half of Ireland 2 he was immense
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@Mr-Fish Sorry but that's a nonsense argument if he's never even given a chance. As m4l says he has played well against big packs, I also remember he played well for the NZ Māori against the B&I lions as a youngster, his talent is undeniable. It appears the ABs are now overlooking him despite him realising that talent because certain coaches refuse to work with him. It's made all the more criminal given our loosies are by far our biggest weakness right now.
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@Machpants said in TRC Squad:
The serious shortcomings of the selection are now manifest.
A squad with Riccitelli, Akira, Christie and a form 12 would have provided TWM with genuine options in last three games.
Lol Ricky and Christie are nowhere near an improvement. Akira is going overseas, try again
Yep, if Aumua can't impact on a test what makes people think Riccitelli would be the answer?
We've all spent the last 2+ years moaning about Christie, and all of a sudden he is the answer? Jeepers.
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@No-Quarter said in TRC Squad:
The revisionism on Akira's time in black is getting really tiresome. "Tried and failed". Absolute horseshit, he's been snubbed because Ryan has an inexplicable dislike of him to the serious detriment of the ABs.
In 2021 Akira was absolutely dominant for the ABs, leading the overall MOTM poll on here for the entire season. He had one quiet game against SA after a long season, then the coaches began their love affair with Frizell who never put in even one single performance as good as Akira had on multiple occasions, and then went completely missing in the RWC final costing us dearly.
Akira got absolutely screwed by the AB selectors, and he has now left as a result of being constantly snubbed despite being the best 6 in the country by a long way for the past 3 years.
To back this up, here are the MOTM polls from 2021.
Plenty of votes here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4772/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-i
MOTM here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4792/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-ii?page=1
Backed up with another MOTM performance:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4824/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-iii
Three in a row where he was MOTM or in the mix.
Can also add a game against Fiji where he got plenty of votes just for good measure:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4738/all-blacks-motm-v-fiji-2?page=1
And why not throw Tonga in there as well, got quite a few votes in that match as well:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4707/all-blacks-motm-v-tonga?page=1
And remember, this is just a snippet, he's had other MOTM performances before then, but 2021 was when he started putting it together on a consistent basis.
It's not just Ryan that seems to have an inexplicable dislike of him, some posters on here just refuse to accept, or remember, that he has been dominant for the ABs in the past. If he had consistent game time since his breakout season in 2021 our problems at 6 would be non-existent. Instead, Ryan and the other selectors have fucked his AB career by consistently selecting a far lesser player over him.
The same thing is going to happen with Sotutu. Can't get a look in despite being the best 8 in the country. I don't know why this doesn't piss people off more, the ABs are significantly weaker as a result of this shit.
Your argument would be a long stronger if he was MOTM against any of England, France, Ireland or South Africa...
Akira was really good against shit teams - no one can take that away from him. Was he any good against bigger opposition? The jury's out
The other issue with using fan MOTM polls, is fans are always going to favour the players from their NPC/Super teams, so naturally any Blues player is likely to be reflected better... I think you'd struggle to find a fan who isn't at least a fraction biased, and there isn't anything wrong with that either.
Don't rewrite history, Akira didn't nail the jersey or else he wouldn't have been dropped. It's bullshit that Frizell never put in a good performance, he fucked up the Boks at Mt Smart just before the World Cup, and was pretty bloody handy. He was hardly even bad in the final, the game just never flowed his way.
There is no lack of good young loose forwards in NZ, we just need to be patient for them to get time in the saddle.
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@Machpants said in TRC Squad:
The serious shortcomings of the selection are now manifest.
A squad with Riccitelli, Akira, Christie and a form 12 would have provided TWM with genuine options in last three games.
Lol Ricky and Christie are nowhere near an improvement. Akira is going overseas, try again
Yep, if Aumua can't impact on a test what makes people think Riccitelli would be the answer?
We've all spent the last 2+ years moaning about Christie, and all of a sudden he is the answer? Jeepers.
I think you’ve missed the context. Having Ricky means you can go with Aumua and Taylor content you’ve got injury cover, which is important travelling to SA. Bell may be the ‘answer’ but he’s no comfort if Codie were to have gone down.
Likewise, Roigard and Ratima are looking like 23 picks going forward, but for now Ratima is our best starter. Hotham is maybe the next ‘answer’, but I’d have much preferred a Ratima/Christie combo against the Boks with TJS injury cover.
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@No-Quarter said in TRC Squad:
The revisionism on Akira's time in black is getting really tiresome. "Tried and failed". Absolute horseshit, he's been snubbed because Ryan has an inexplicable dislike of him to the serious detriment of the ABs.
In 2021 Akira was absolutely dominant for the ABs, leading the overall MOTM poll on here for the entire season. He had one quiet game against SA after a long season, then the coaches began their love affair with Frizell who never put in even one single performance as good as Akira had on multiple occasions, and then went completely missing in the RWC final costing us dearly.
Akira got absolutely screwed by the AB selectors, and he has now left as a result of being constantly snubbed despite being the best 6 in the country by a long way for the past 3 years.
To back this up, here are the MOTM polls from 2021.
Plenty of votes here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4772/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-i
MOTM here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4792/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-ii?page=1
Backed up with another MOTM performance:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4824/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-iii
Three in a row where he was MOTM or in the mix.
Can also add a game against Fiji where he got plenty of votes just for good measure:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4738/all-blacks-motm-v-fiji-2?page=1
And why not throw Tonga in there as well, got quite a few votes in that match as well:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4707/all-blacks-motm-v-tonga?page=1
And remember, this is just a snippet, he's had other MOTM performances before then, but 2021 was when he started putting it together on a consistent basis.
It's not just Ryan that seems to have an inexplicable dislike of him, some posters on here just refuse to accept, or remember, that he has been dominant for the ABs in the past. If he had consistent game time since his breakout season in 2021 our problems at 6 would be non-existent. Instead, Ryan and the other selectors have fucked his AB career by consistently selecting a far lesser player over him.
The same thing is going to happen with Sotutu. Can't get a look in despite being the best 8 in the country. I don't know why this doesn't piss people off more, the ABs are significantly weaker as a result of this shit.
Your argument would be a long stronger if he was MOTM against any of England, France, Ireland or South Africa...
Akira was really good against shit teams - no one can take that away from him. Was he any good against bigger opposition? The jury's out
The other issue with using fan MOTM polls, is fans are always going to favour the players from their NPC/Super teams, so naturally any Blues player is likely to be reflected better... I think you'd struggle to find a fan who isn't at least a fraction biased, and there isn't anything wrong with that either.
Don't rewrite history, Akira didn't nail the jersey or else he wouldn't have been dropped. It's bullshit that Frizell never put in a good performance, he fucked up the Boks at Mt Smart just before the World Cup, and was pretty bloody handy. He was hardly even bad in the final, the game just never flowed his way.
There is no lack of good young loose forwards in NZ, we just need to be patient for them to get time in the saddle.
That Akira couldn’t fit AB pattern says a lot about the coaches. Under Stern he became a lot tighter and was a key cog in the Blues Pack which muntered the other Super sides.
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@No-Quarter said in TRC Squad:
The revisionism on Akira's time in black is getting really tiresome. "Tried and failed". Absolute horseshit, he's been snubbed because Ryan has an inexplicable dislike of him to the serious detriment of the ABs.
In 2021 Akira was absolutely dominant for the ABs, leading the overall MOTM poll on here for the entire season. He had one quiet game against SA after a long season, then the coaches began their love affair with Frizell who never put in even one single performance as good as Akira had on multiple occasions, and then went completely missing in the RWC final costing us dearly.
Akira got absolutely screwed by the AB selectors, and he has now left as a result of being constantly snubbed despite being the best 6 in the country by a long way for the past 3 years.
To back this up, here are the MOTM polls from 2021.
Plenty of votes here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4772/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-i
MOTM here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4792/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-ii?page=1
Backed up with another MOTM performance:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4824/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-iii
Three in a row where he was MOTM or in the mix.
Can also add a game against Fiji where he got plenty of votes just for good measure:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4738/all-blacks-motm-v-fiji-2?page=1
And why not throw Tonga in there as well, got quite a few votes in that match as well:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4707/all-blacks-motm-v-tonga?page=1
And remember, this is just a snippet, he's had other MOTM performances before then, but 2021 was when he started putting it together on a consistent basis.
It's not just Ryan that seems to have an inexplicable dislike of him, some posters on here just refuse to accept, or remember, that he has been dominant for the ABs in the past. If he had consistent game time since his breakout season in 2021 our problems at 6 would be non-existent. Instead, Ryan and the other selectors have fucked his AB career by consistently selecting a far lesser player over him.
The same thing is going to happen with Sotutu. Can't get a look in despite being the best 8 in the country. I don't know why this doesn't piss people off more, the ABs are significantly weaker as a result of this shit.
Your argument would be a long stronger if he was MOTM against any of England, France, Ireland or South Africa...
Akira was really good against shit teams - no one can take that away from him. Was he any good against bigger opposition? The jury's out
The other issue with using fan MOTM polls, is fans are always going to favour the players from their NPC/Super teams, so naturally any Blues player is likely to be reflected better... I think you'd struggle to find a fan who isn't at least a fraction biased, and there isn't anything wrong with that either.
Don't rewrite history, Akira didn't nail the jersey or else he wouldn't have been dropped. It's bullshit that Frizell never put in a good performance, he fucked up the Boks at Mt Smart just before the World Cup, and was pretty bloody handy. He was hardly even bad in the final, the game just never flowed his way.
There is no lack of good young loose forwards in NZ, we just need to be patient for them to get time in the saddle.
That Akira couldn’t fit AB pattern says a lot about the coaches. Under Stern he became a lot tighter and was a key cog in the Blues Pack which muntered the other Siper sides.
Akira Ioane's form in Super Rugby has never really been an issue. Just like Samipeni Finau dominated for the Chiefs. Test rugby is a different beast (against the top few nations).
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@No-Quarter said in TRC Squad:
The revisionism on Akira's time in black is getting really tiresome. "Tried and failed". Absolute horseshit, he's been snubbed because Ryan has an inexplicable dislike of him to the serious detriment of the ABs.
In 2021 Akira was absolutely dominant for the ABs, leading the overall MOTM poll on here for the entire season. He had one quiet game against SA after a long season, then the coaches began their love affair with Frizell who never put in even one single performance as good as Akira had on multiple occasions, and then went completely missing in the RWC final costing us dearly.
Akira got absolutely screwed by the AB selectors, and he has now left as a result of being constantly snubbed despite being the best 6 in the country by a long way for the past 3 years.
To back this up, here are the MOTM polls from 2021.
Plenty of votes here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4772/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-i
MOTM here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4792/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-ii?page=1
Backed up with another MOTM performance:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4824/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-iii
Three in a row where he was MOTM or in the mix.
Can also add a game against Fiji where he got plenty of votes just for good measure:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4738/all-blacks-motm-v-fiji-2?page=1
And why not throw Tonga in there as well, got quite a few votes in that match as well:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4707/all-blacks-motm-v-tonga?page=1
And remember, this is just a snippet, he's had other MOTM performances before then, but 2021 was when he started putting it together on a consistent basis.
It's not just Ryan that seems to have an inexplicable dislike of him, some posters on here just refuse to accept, or remember, that he has been dominant for the ABs in the past. If he had consistent game time since his breakout season in 2021 our problems at 6 would be non-existent. Instead, Ryan and the other selectors have fucked his AB career by consistently selecting a far lesser player over him.
The same thing is going to happen with Sotutu. Can't get a look in despite being the best 8 in the country. I don't know why this doesn't piss people off more, the ABs are significantly weaker as a result of this shit.
Your argument would be a long stronger if he was MOTM against any of England, France, Ireland or South Africa...
Akira was really good against shit teams - no one can take that away from him. Was he any good against bigger opposition? The jury's out
The other issue with using fan MOTM polls, is fans are always going to favour the players from their NPC/Super teams, so naturally any Blues player is likely to be reflected better... I think you'd struggle to find a fan who isn't at least a fraction biased, and there isn't anything wrong with that either.
Don't rewrite history, Akira didn't nail the jersey or else he wouldn't have been dropped. It's bullshit that Frizell never put in a good performance, he fucked up the Boks at Mt Smart just before the World Cup, and was pretty bloody handy. He was hardly even bad in the final, the game just never flowed his way.
There is no lack of good young loose forwards in NZ, we just need to be patient for them to get time in the saddle.
That Akira couldn’t fit AB pattern says a lot about the coaches. Under Stern he became a lot tighter and was a key cog in the Blues Pack which muntered the other Siper sides.
Akira Ioane's form in Super Rugby has never really been an issue. Just like Samipeni Finau dominated for the Chiefs. Test rugby is a different beast (against the top few nations).
Did he? Not so sure the Chiefs fans on here would even be 100% behind that - he can do a few things well that we need such as hit people hard and move bodies. However, even for the Chiefs he faded in and out a bit, which was the concern about his selection.
Like most 6s, he needs time to develop. Since Kaino, we've been looking for anothre ready made Kaino, rather than realizing that he took 3 - 4 years to grow into being quality, and even then only really hit it after continued selection for a couple of years.
Luatau and Ioane are both examples of players not quite given the room to grow. I hope Finau won't be the next.
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@No-Quarter said in TRC Squad:
The revisionism on Akira's time in black is getting really tiresome. "Tried and failed". Absolute horseshit, he's been snubbed because Ryan has an inexplicable dislike of him to the serious detriment of the ABs.
In 2021 Akira was absolutely dominant for the ABs, leading the overall MOTM poll on here for the entire season. He had one quiet game against SA after a long season, then the coaches began their love affair with Frizell who never put in even one single performance as good as Akira had on multiple occasions, and then went completely missing in the RWC final costing us dearly.
Akira got absolutely screwed by the AB selectors, and he has now left as a result of being constantly snubbed despite being the best 6 in the country by a long way for the past 3 years.
To back this up, here are the MOTM polls from 2021.
Plenty of votes here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4772/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-i
MOTM here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4792/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-ii?page=1
Backed up with another MOTM performance:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4824/all-blacks-motm-vs-aus-iii
Three in a row where he was MOTM or in the mix.
Can also add a game against Fiji where he got plenty of votes just for good measure:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4738/all-blacks-motm-v-fiji-2?page=1
And why not throw Tonga in there as well, got quite a few votes in that match as well:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/4707/all-blacks-motm-v-tonga?page=1
And remember, this is just a snippet, he's had other MOTM performances before then, but 2021 was when he started putting it together on a consistent basis.
It's not just Ryan that seems to have an inexplicable dislike of him, some posters on here just refuse to accept, or remember, that he has been dominant for the ABs in the past. If he had consistent game time since his breakout season in 2021 our problems at 6 would be non-existent. Instead, Ryan and the other selectors have fucked his AB career by consistently selecting a far lesser player over him.
The same thing is going to happen with Sotutu. Can't get a look in despite being the best 8 in the country. I don't know why this doesn't piss people off more, the ABs are significantly weaker as a result of this shit.
Your argument would be a long stronger if he was MOTM against any of England, France, Ireland or South Africa...
Akira was really good against shit teams - no one can take that away from him. Was he any good against bigger opposition? The jury's out
The other issue with using fan MOTM polls, is fans are always going to favour the players from their NPC/Super teams, so naturally any Blues player is likely to be reflected better... I think you'd struggle to find a fan who isn't at least a fraction biased, and there isn't anything wrong with that either.
Don't rewrite history, Akira didn't nail the jersey or else he wouldn't have been dropped. It's bullshit that Frizell never put in a good performance, he fucked up the Boks at Mt Smart just before the World Cup, and was pretty bloody handy. He was hardly even bad in the final, the game just never flowed his way.
There is no lack of good young loose forwards in NZ, we just need to be patient for them to get time in the saddle.
That Akira couldn’t fit AB pattern says a lot about the coaches. Under Stern he became a lot tighter and was a key cog in the Blues Pack which muntered the other Siper sides.
Akira Ioane's form in Super Rugby has never really been an issue. Just like Samipeni Finau dominated for the Chiefs. Test rugby is a different beast (against the top few nations).
Luatau and Ioane are both examples of players not quite given the room to grow. I hope Finau won't be the next.
I've heard it all now.
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@No-Quarter said in TRC Squad:
@Mr-Fish Sorry but that's a nonsense argument if he's never even given a chance. As m4l says he has played well against big packs, I also remember he played well for the NZ Māori against the B&I lions as a youngster, his talent is undeniable. It appears the ABs are now overlooking him despite him realising that talent because certain coaches refuse to work with him. It's made all the more criminal given our loosies are by far our biggest weakness right now.
Ioane played seven games over two years against SA, Ireland France (including five starts). How many MOTM polls did he come out on top in in this matches?
He never reached great heights for the All Blacks and never proved himself capable of footing it with the better sides. Standing out against Australia is fine and well but plenty of NZ loose forwards have looked good against Australia in the past.
All that being said, I would've still picked him in the All Blacks this year if he hadn't signed to go overseas. Players can obviously get better over time and I think Ioane deserved another shot under a new coach. But let's not rewrite history and pretend Ioane had clearly established himself as a top blindside flanker at international level when that was simply not the case.
