All Blacks Squad for France
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@chester-draws said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Cruden got dropped for two reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, he was too frequently injured. Secondly, he made a fool of when he missed that flight overseas, and as much as I think he was a great player he's a lot fond of himself as a person. The "no dickheads" rule may have been an issue.
While Cruden was fit, Beauden was always behind him.
What a load of bullshit. Cruden didn't get dropped because he was injured often or missed a plane. His form dropped off and BB kept on improving. BB was clearly the better player when he overtook Cruden.
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@stargazer said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@chester-draws said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Cruden got dropped for two reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, he was too frequently injured. Secondly, he made a fool of when he missed that flight overseas, and as much as I think he was a great player he's a lot fond of himself as a person. The "no dickheads" rule may have been an issue.
While Cruden was fit, Beauden was always behind him.
What a load of bullshit. Cruden didn't get dropped because he was injured often or missed a plane. His form dropped off and BB kept on improving. BB was clearly the better player when he overtook Cruden.
Personally I'd have had Cruden inside SBW all day long. But BB inside Crotty. BB was effective as a super sub. Cruden was really an injury replacement.
I think it came down to BB having such an influence that AB selectors wanted him to get as many touches as possible.
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Cruden didn't really 'dropped', he got injured, he got reselected by the ABs as soon as he got over his injury, then he promptly got injured again and BB got his chance and found his stunning form in the test series and passed him. Then Cruden decided the writing was on the wall and signed overseas.
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@nepia said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Cruden didn't really 'dropped', he got injured, he got reselected by the ABs as soon as he got over his injury, then he promptly got injured again and BB got his chance and found his stunning form in the test series and passed him. Then Cruden decided the writing was on the wall and signed overseas.
Apparently it was because he missed a plane. Hansen and co were so incensed by this that they made him starting flyhalf in 2016.
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@nepia said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Cruden didn't really 'dropped', he got injured, he got reselected by the ABs as soon as he got over his injury, then he promptly got injured again and BB got his chance and found his stunning form in the test series and passed him. Then Cruden decided the writing was on the wall and signed overseas.
That's a long winded way to say he was dropped from the starting line up.
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@toddy said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@nepia said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Cruden didn't really 'dropped', he got injured, he got reselected by the ABs as soon as he got over his injury, then he promptly got injured again and BB got his chance and found his stunning form in the test series and passed him. Then Cruden decided the writing was on the wall and signed overseas.
That's a long winded way to say he was dropped from the starting line up.
Particularly from a selection panel that is at great pains to say you can’t go backwards when you are injured. He was clearly dropped.
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@kiwimurph said in All Blacks Squad for France:
It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Cruden never blew out his ACL in 2015.
Or if Troy Flavell hadn't stomped on Greg Smith back in 03 and been labelled a thug and a liability...
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Got tickets for the Wellington game - stoked this is game two in the series... but also a smidge worried... because France!
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In the midfield the tricky position is the long term 13. All the contenders play 12 as well, and at twelve the problem is who to leave out.
For me Crotty is inferior to ALB at 13. Goodhue is the incumbent Great White Hope, so I'd shoot for him and ALB.
SBW is a lock at 12.So, for me, second 12 comes down to choice between Crotty, who always makes BB better at 10, and Laumape, who provides old fashioned grunt. I'd go for the former, but suspect it won't come down to that.
At 10, if the go for three, there are two slots potentially available. Can't see Mo'unga not being there.
DMac is not an international 10 and I don't think he ever will be. Very content to see him as a back up 15 -- but would have to get past Jordie. If there is a third 10, it needs to be a specialist.
We need a big hitting 6/8 to even up the loosie balance. If Squire not fully fit we are exposed. None of Fifita/Ioane/Taufua/Whitelock strike me as defensive enforcers.
Have mainly watched Blues and Chiefs this year -- is there any emerging big hitter? Frizell is big and was highly impressive against Blues (know that's not saying that much!), but haven't seen enough of him to know how dominant his D is.
When is team named?
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@pakman said in All Blacks Squad for France:
When is team named?
@kiwimurph said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Tune into the All Blacks social media channels at 9.30am on Sunday May 20 to see who is named in the 33-man squad to take on France in the Steinlager Series in June.Basically, the team will be named about 1 second before Crucial posts it on TSF
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@bones said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@pakman if whitelock doesn't strike you as a defensive enforcer, it would appear you're not watching him play.
Haven't seen a lot of him. to be honest. He is certainly a very accurate tackler, but I don't recall seeing him make dominant tackles in the style of JK or Squire.
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Maybe the choice of the Nr.12 jersey could be linked to the best mean to neutralize Matthieu Bastareaud and his 130 kgs. The French forwards will probably win at least 50% of the possession so I guess Bastareaud will charge relentlessly in midfield. SBW could be the best answer against him.
