All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.
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The person most likely to get a rest will be ALB. Not because he doesn't deserve to play, but because the coaches are pretty open about managing the workload of young, new players.
The locks have a couple of weeks to freshen up and I can't see Whitelock and Retallick having to start against Italy, so that's a rest for them too. They're the ones with the biggest workloads.
When does Sam get back?
Squire looks to be preferred on the bench for Kaino and can give Read some rest.
If Ben needs a spell, Dagg can move back to fullback, Naholo to right wing and Julian to left.
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@antipodean I would start ALB and I think the coaches will too. Certain young players need to be gradually introduced to Test Rugby, but not this guy. He's already playing like a 50 test veteran and is clear that he oozes class and temperament. Besides, he's only played four full games in the last three months.
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@antipodean I like that idea would be good to see dagg at the back with JS and Nahalo have BB covering the back then slide him to who ever is performing the poorest in the second half and gives one of the other 1st 5s that chance to run the cutter.
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@akan004 said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@antipodean I would start ALB and I think the coaches will too. Certain young players need to be gradually introduced to Test Rugby, but not this guy. He's already playing like a 50 test veteran and is clear that he oozes class and temperament. Besides, he's only played four full games in the last three months.
Also, I reckon they'll want to see how he handles the workload.
The recovery of players now involves analysing a shitload of data not only on their performance, but on the recovery days themselves in terms of any obvious injury, but also the responsiveness of their bodies. While it will be a two-week break between each of the next two Tests, I reckon they'll give him another crack to see how he pulls up after the game situations, travel, change of time zone etc.
That kind of data can really highlight the physical freaks that have the right mix of fitness, flexibility, strength, and game knowledge, to be greats.
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@Crucial I think he's pretty damn good at creating opportunity where there's not a lot on. Often beats the first tackle and able to get in behind surprisingly easily on many an occasion. Again, this kind of thing all adds up to eventually pounding out 9 tries when it looked like it might be close.
I was impressed with him on Saturday, mainly in the first half. Looked a lot more assured ball in hand and didn't have the dropsies as bad. Basically, he creates space.
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@Crucial said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
Can someone please explain what Naholo brings?
I'm struggling to see much myselfThe bit where he burned everyone on the outside with about 8cm of space?
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@Crucial said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
Can someone please explain what Naholo brings?
I'm struggling to see much myselfWhatever Savea brings (whatever that is), plus a little more.
Quicker and harder to bring down and has the luxury of not turning up fat to his Super team for two years running.
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@Crucial said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
Can someone please explain what Naholo brings?
I'm struggling to see much myselfPlease explain what Savea brings then.
For me, Naholo's pace and workrate were two pretty obvious improvements.
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Yep Naholo's pace and power is super useful - it's a bit of a point of difference in that backline (Beaudie obviously helps here too in the pace side of things). Naholo is a constant threat that has to be accounted for that can open up other opportunities, whether he is on the end of the line or in midfield. He had multiple breaks in the Bok game. His error rate has come way down also in his last two tests.
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@nzzp said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
Cruden was late for a flight which is a bit more serious IMO.
Missed the flight because of missing curfew as I understood it ... missing curfew because, well, it took longer than Aaron's.
always takes longer the more people there are....
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@jegga said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
Who shifts when NMS is back ? Dagg to the bench?
These are real first world problems aren't they?
HA HA HA H A H AH AH HA H AH HA AHAHHA HA AHHA HA H AH AH HA HA HA HA
I love that we are awesome! I completely forgot he was out!
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@Hooroo said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@jegga said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
Who shifts when NMS is back ? Dagg to the bench?
These are real first world problems aren't they?
HA HA HA H A H AH AH HA H AH HA AHAHHA HA AHHA HA H AH AH HA HA HA HA
I love that we are awesome! I completely forgot he was out!
I had that thought when someone mentioned our lack of depth at wing. Not with NMS and Rieko available underneath Smith, Dagg, Savea and Naholo. How many do we need?
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With the 2-wk breaks between these tests Hansen and co won't need to make many changes, if any. They've used the last 2 tests to freshen up some players.
If Cane is back he'll start and A Smith will return (if available). Perhaps Dagg gets a rest but I wouldn't want Savea and Naholo on the wing - one or the other. I think we're more likely to see some changes on the bench.
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Savea's best asset is his strike-rate. Basically a guaranteed try a game.
But Naholo is such an athlete - just looks like poetry in motion in full flight. He has also been gradually fixing the flaws in other parts of his game.
Naholo 11, Smith 15, NMS 14.
That would (will) be awesome.
