All Blacks Squad for France
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@98blueandgold said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@nepia as I said I'll pick Akira over Flavell but ABs have players they look for in certain positions and probably look at more than stats. They have a pretty good track record
Troy Flavell is defintely getting a bit long in the tooth to make an impact in today's game.
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I don't see why Taufua coukdn't be perfectly adequate 7 cover off the bench. He pretty much plays the same role as recent AB 7s which is high work rate. Tackle like crazy and do a bit of ball carrying and support work. If anything he is more suited to that role than 6 or 8.
One of the big problems we have in the loose forwards is that Squire seems to have been made out of the same material as Crotty.
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@duluth said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@nepia said in All Blacks Squad for France:
rugby player's weights are so suss sometimes
As are players heights
Which reminds me, I looked up Taufua's height recently and he was listed as being taller than I thought he would be.
Then I did a quick check of the archive versions of the crusaders website
2013 - 1.82m (21yrs)
2014 - 1.82m (22yrs)
2015 - 1.82m (23yrs)
2016 - 1.85m (24yrs)
2017 - 1.87m (25yrs)
2018 - 1.87m (26yrs)It's not particularly important, but its worth noting how bullshit these stats can be
All Blacks' website says 1.82m.
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@sammyc said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Crusaders have used Taufua a lot in the lineout this year I think?
Conversely, the highlanders hardly ever use Luke Whitelock as a jumper.
Line-outs won by ABs loosies this season (on own throw):
A Savea (playing at 7 ) 0
Cane (playing at 7 ) 1
Whitelock (playing at 8 ) 1
Squire (playing at 6 ) 3
Frizell (playing at 6 ) 8
Taufua (playing at 8 ) 8 -
@kiwimurph said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@stargazer Akira (injury cover AB) close to 20 lineout wins I think
I saw a stat that had Akira with 16 Lineout wins.
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@stargazer said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@sammyc said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Crusaders have used Taufua a lot in the lineout this year I think?
Conversely, the highlanders hardly ever use Luke Whitelock as a jumper.
Line-outs won by ABs loosies this season (on own throw):
A Savea (playing at 7 ) 0
Cane (playing at 7 ) 1
Whitelock (playing at 8 ) 1
Squire (playing at 6 ) 3
Frizell (playing at 6 ) 8
Taufua (playing at 8 ) 8Very damning for someone as tall as Ardie not to have won a single lineout.
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@mimic said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@kiwimurph said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@stargazer Akira (injury cover AB) close to 20 lineout wins I think
I saw a stat that had Akira with 16 Lineout wins.
Yes, Akira has 16 line-out wins.
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Weird to see people saying Whitelock and Mounga aren't up to it. They've been brilliant and fill me with far more confidence than say...Fifita and DMac.
Weird squad though.
My only thought on Frizzell is maybe they see him as a lock/6 that has potential to be more grunty than Fifita?
Think I would have taken Lam over an NMS who's living off his breakout season.
Very happy they chose TTT.
Did I see Mounga shifting to fullback yesterday? Please yes.
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@mn5 said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@tim said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Wynne Gray with some cutting insight:
Rugby has changed immensely since the 1987 RWC, the game we thought was fast then is very different from the one we see now.
Christ he's an old bore. He makes Phil Gifford look good.
Looking forward to seeing Frizell play cos I sure as shit haven't thus far.
Most surprising statement in the whole thread.
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@bones No, that was Hunt (who made an incredible break from that position, almost leading to a try). That was when Mataele left the field injured and Havili moved to the right wing.
Mo'unga has, however, regularly played at fullback for Canterbury.