Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown & Dublin Duel
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Fifita was called a lock who can play looise and Luatua a loosie who can 'play lock at a pinch'
So I don't think they are that excited about Luatua's locking ability.I'd be surprised if they expect to get 80mins out of PT so the bench lock should get decent game time.
Maybe just moving Kaino into lock late in the match is the least bad option? I would be concerned if there was an early injury though
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@MN5 said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
Apart from the surname Barrett ( which it seems may as well be Clarke or Meads these days ) what does Barrett bring to the table as a player ?
According to Mrs Barrett, salt and pepper. Jordie does the place mats and Beaudy the knives and forks....too funny
He's pretty mobile and decent ball skills. Was more prominent than Romano in super rugby imo. Got his lineout ballwell too.
A pretty decent prospect all round -
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I've raided the piggy bank and put 25 on Ireland 1-5 at 25.
I said I wouldn't do this again, but it's got to happen some time in my lifetime, and I've persuaded myself that maybe it'll be this time.
After that no more. It's the last time.
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I actually rate Fifita far more as a 6 than lock but he probably does the lock thing better than Luatua.
Barrett is good but I'm not sure if he's test standard. We'll soon find out.
Btw, did he steal Beauden's dinner every night when they were growing up? Bit of a size difference.
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@nzzp said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
With our lock shortage, any chance that Steven Adams might bring his boots down to training and get a run?
Given he's now charging $34 mill a year for his services I think he may be out of the ABs price range...
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@No-Quarter said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
@nzzp said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
With our lock shortage, any chance that Steven Adams might bring his boots down to training and get a run?
Given he's now charging $34 mill a year for his services I think he may be out of the ABs price range...
be fair, that's NZD.
it's only $25M USD a year. Still, how good would he be in the air!
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@nzzp said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
@No-Quarter said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
@nzzp said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
With our lock shortage, any chance that Steven Adams might bring his boots down to training and get a run?
Given he's now charging $34 mill a year for his services I think he may be out of the ABs price range...
be fair, that's NZD.
it's only $25M USD a year. Still, how good would he be in the air!
I think it's safe to say he would be an incredible rugby player if that's what he'd concentrated on. The one that got away...
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Team naming tomorrow? Probably in the evening NZ time.
Will take a stab at it...
Front Row: Moody, Coles, Crockett
Locks: Tuipolutu, S.Barrett
Back Row: Kaino, Cane, Read
Halves: Smith & Cruden*
Midfield: Cruden & Lienert-Brown
Back three: Savea, Dagg & B.SmithBench: Faumuina, Taylor, Crockett, Squire, Savea, Perenara, B.Barrett*, Fekitoa
I reckon they go the #1 starting lineup possible in this first test, especially with our makeshift backrow - geez looks thin without the Twin Towers.
Lot of work going into scrummaging and line-out this week I'd expect - I wonder if we'll see a little less set-piece work from us - and willingness to keep the ball in a little more - actually having no Retallick and Whitelock ironically might provide us some extra spark, those two have usually carried a ton of work up to this point in the year.Have put Barrett back off the bench, partially to reward Cruden, to let Barrett freshen up some - I think the coaches will keep an eye on Dublin and Paris, and want to blitz those teams, so spelling him a bit this week, and then next week means Barrett should be cherry ripe physically and mentally for the last two.
Smith-Cruden is a good combo for each other coming back in.
I would actually like to see what Fifita can do on international stage, just give him a license to Smash into anything green.
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@westcoastie said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
Team naming tomorrow? Probably in the evening NZ time.
Will take a stab at it...
Front Row: Moody, Coles, Crockett
Locks: Tuipolutu, S.Barrett
Back Row: Kaino, Cane, Read
Halves: Smith & Cruden*
Midfield: Cruden & Lienert-Brown
Back three: Savea, Dagg & B.SmithBench: Faumuina, Taylor, Crockett, Squire, Savea, Perenara, B.Barrett*, Fekitoa
I reckon they go the #1 starting lineup possible in this first test, especially with our makeshift backrow - geez looks thin without the Twin Towers.
Lot of work going into scrummaging and line-out this week I'd expect - I wonder if we'll see a little less set-piece work from us - and willingness to keep the ball in a little more - actually having no Retallick and Whitelock ironically might provide us some extra spark, those two have usually carried a ton of work up to this point in the year.Have put Barrett back off the bench, partially to reward Cruden, to let Barrett freshen up some - I think the coaches will keep an eye on Dublin and Paris, and want to blitz those teams, so spelling him a bit this week, and then next week means Barrett should be cherry ripe physically and mentally for the last two.
Smith-Cruden is a good combo for each other coming back in.
I would actually like to see what Fifita can do on international stage, just give him a license to Smash into anything green.
I'll bite ...
Two looseheads
Cruden playing both five-eighths. Does that make him a five-quarter? -
@booboo not to mention the swap of Smith and Dagg...
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@westcoastie said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
Team naming tomorrow? Probably in the evening NZ time.
Will take a stab at it...
Front Row: Moody, Coles, Crockett
Locks: Tuipolutu, S.Barrett
Back Row: Kaino, Cane, Read
Halves: Smith & Cruden*
Midfield: Cruden & Lienert-Brown
Back three: Savea, Dagg & B.SmithBench: Faumuina, Taylor, Crockett, Squire, Savea, Perenara, B.Barrett*, Fekitoa
I reckon they go the #1 starting lineup possible in this first test, especially with our makeshift backrow - geez looks thin without the Twin Towers.
Lot of work going into scrummaging and line-out this week I'd expect - I wonder if we'll see a little less set-piece work from us - and willingness to keep the ball in a little more - actually having no Retallick and Whitelock ironically might provide us some extra spark, those two have usually carried a ton of work up to this point in the year.Have put Barrett back off the bench, partially to reward Cruden, to let Barrett freshen up some - I think the coaches will keep an eye on Dublin and Paris, and want to blitz those teams, so spelling him a bit this week, and then next week means Barrett should be cherry ripe physically and mentally for the last two.
Smith-Cruden is a good combo for each other coming back in.
I would actually like to see what Fifita can do on international stage, just give him a license to Smash into anything green.
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@MN5 said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
@akan004 said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
Why has Bird not been given the call up? Is he injured?
He's clearly slipped down the pecking order
ffs.
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@taniwharugby Clearly we all know B.Smith the #1 #15. It just took Hansen a little bit to realise it.
