All Blacks Squad for France
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@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.
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@98blueandgold I fully concur
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@pukunui said in All Blacks Squad for France:
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.
Interesting you say that. Akira has more tackles*, line breaks, tackle busts and won more turnovers (and pilfers) compared to Taufua (and every other #8 in NZ).
*Only Luke has more tackles than Akira, but Luke is known for his tackling, not so much his ability with the ball.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@no-quarter what about who they select is arrogance?
They've picked a guy who currently can't make the grade at Super level if his squad is fit, over a guy that has been consistently outstanding all season and who also put in a dominant performance against the Lions.
I have to assume they've done that because they believe they can make Frizell a world beater at the top level, despite other coaches not picking him in their starting team at the level down.
Seems... a little arrogant and stupid. This is the ABs, pick the best available players for fuck sake.
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@no-quarter said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@no-quarter what about who they select is arrogance?
This is the ABs, pick the best available players for fuck sake.
I don't reckon it is. Reckon there's some development allowed for in this squad.
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@booboo said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@no-quarter said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@no-quarter what about who they select is arrogance?
This is the ABs, pick the best available players for fuck sake.
I don't reckon it is. Reckon there's some development allowed for in this squad.
Why on earth wouldn't they want to develop such an obvious talent like Akira ASAP?
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@no-quarter said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@booboo said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@no-quarter said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@no-quarter what about who they select is arrogance?
This is the ABs, pick the best available players for fuck sake.
I don't reckon it is. Reckon there's some development allowed for in this squad.
Why on earth wouldn't they want to develop such an obvious talent like Akira ASAP?
Don't get me wrong. Am big fan of Akira. Would have had him in my squad easy.
But to my mind Frizell, Taufua and Savea wouldn't make the top team right here right now if this was the RWC squad.
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@no-quarter still dont see it as arrogance.
Maybe they (with thier super duper analytical stuff) see Frizzel as having more upside than Akira, similarly they see Savea over Todd...both of which I disagree with, but I still dont agree with the arrogance call.
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I think Todd's reliability and readiness counts against him, they know he can come in straight away and be useful so they will pick "potentially more potential" Savea over him. But quite frankly, how long before the Savea experiment just becomes another experiment? Has he really been improving at international level?
I do wonder about Ione-is he actually competing against Savea or Taufua? Frizell??
As to height, if Taufua is about Richie's height (who infrequently played 6 or 8 in emergency) that doesn't seem to be a problem to me, but given his low to the ground powerful frame perhaps 6 would be more suitable than 8 for Taufua? **Not sure how well he goes at the back of the scrum.
Am a bit sad not to see some of Ben Lam in action.
Also suspect NMS (one of my fave players) is a bit lucky, hopefully some of his speed has returned..
