2018 Rugby Championship
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@cgrant said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
So no Alaimalo, no Ben Lam but with Akira Ioane.
Is the presence of TTT means Bryn Hall won't be selected ?TTT was in the squad for the France series, there’s no way he’d miss a training squad unless he was injured.
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@majorrage said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@cgrant said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
So no Alaimalo, no Ben Lam but with Akira Ioane.
Is the presence of TTT means Bryn Hall won't be selected ?Why would Bryn Hall BE selected?
Because he is the standout scrumhalf in NZ for the last ten rounds.
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@cgrant said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@majorrage said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@cgrant said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
So no Alaimalo, no Ben Lam but with Akira Ioane.
Is the presence of TTT means Bryn Hall won't be selected ?Why would Bryn Hall BE selected?
Because he is the standout scrumhalf in NZ for the last ten rounds.
This is at least in part, surely, to being behind the best pack?
I confess I haven't seen a lot of him in the Mitre 10 cup recently, but when I have seen him he doesn't look half so "standout". Whereas he should appear better in a lower grade competition.
If we follow your sort of picking we will once again have the Cantablacks.
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@cgrant said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@majorrage said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@cgrant said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
So no Alaimalo, no Ben Lam but with Akira Ioane.
Is the presence of TTT means Bryn Hall won't be selected ?Why would Bryn Hall BE selected?
Because he is the standout scrumhalf in NZ for the last ten rounds.
As @Chester-Draws says, the selectors are fully aware of judging 9s and 10s based on skills, attitude and decision making rather that just 'how they performed' when the game for these positions behind a dominant pack can make you 'stand out' more.
Probably also a factor with Weber as well. Looks great and has the quickest delivery when the Chiefs pack is playing their speedy recycle game. Suits it to a tee and gets the start over TTT. He 'stands out'.
The selectors obviously see that TTT can fit a test game better though.
Personally, I see TTT as similar to TKB and the more the AB coaches have him in camp the more valuable he will be.
We probably do need to somehow keep a number 4 halfback keen though. 3 go to a RWC and an injury to any one of those will require replacement. -
@chester-draws said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@cgrant said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@majorrage said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@cgrant said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
So no Alaimalo, no Ben Lam but with Akira Ioane.
Is the presence of TTT means Bryn Hall won't be selected ?Why would Bryn Hall BE selected?
Because he is the standout scrumhalf in NZ for the last ten rounds.
This is at least in part, surely, to being behind the best pack?
I confess I haven't seen a lot of him in the Mitre 10 cup recently, but when I have seen him he doesn't look half so "standout". Whereas he should appear better in a lower grade competition.
If we follow your sort of picking we will once again have the Cantablacks.
The same applies to Richie Mo'unga, then.
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@cgrant said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@chester-draws said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@cgrant said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@majorrage said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@cgrant said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
So no Alaimalo, no Ben Lam but with Akira Ioane.
Is the presence of TTT means Bryn Hall won't be selected ?Why would Bryn Hall BE selected?
Because he is the standout scrumhalf in NZ for the last ten rounds.
This is at least in part, surely, to being behind the best pack?
I confess I haven't seen a lot of him in the Mitre 10 cup recently, but when I have seen him he doesn't look half so "standout". Whereas he should appear better in a lower grade competition.
If we follow your sort of picking we will once again have the Cantablacks.
The same applies to Richie Mo'unga, then.
It does. Hansen has commented that he has been having an armchair ride, although he proved himself in the final after that comment.
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@crucial is the armchair behind the Crusaders that much better than behind the ABs which can be largely the same pack, granted the opposition will be better at test level but our pack hasn't exactly struggled in recent times.
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@taniwharugby said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
@crucial is the armchair behind the Crusaders that much better than behind the ABs which can be largely the same pack, granted the opposition will be better at test level but our pack hasn't exactly struggled in recent times.
I took it as referring to the Crusaders pack being a dominant one in the comp most of the time.
As you point out the opposition is tougher at test level.
The Lions stood up well in a high intensity game and he performed. That would have answered some questions. -
Leicester Tigers will force Toomua and Polota-Nau to fly back during Rugby Championship
82-Test veteran Polota-Nau has been selected in the Wallabies Bledisloe Cup squad after Michael Cheika elected to rest the 33-year old in the June Ireland Series. However, should either Toomua or Polota-Nau be retained by Cheika, they will be expected to return to the UK on the Rugby Championship’s rest weekends.That fact that the Tigers will force each player to make the massive 19,000 mile return trip to the UK suggests the club are keen on a getting their fair share of their marquee signings. If the pair are required to do this, it could inform Cheika’s selection choices, with the very real prospect of jet lag and travel fatigue likely to affect both players if retained. -
Yes, the Crusaders is a far easier ride. Not because the pack is more dominant, but because the pressure on you is far less in all aspects of the game.
You can play conservatively most of the game, because you know you team doesn't need them. But you also worry less about mistakes if you take a risk. A single mistake can lose a test, whereas the Crusaders have been winning consistently by a couple of tries. You can play your natural game with confidence all the time.
Imagine Damien McKenzie in the Crusaders set-up knowing that he doesn't have to chase games and can wait until the moment is right and then cut lose. Even if he makes one of his stuffups, he's got a pack right behind him to save the situation. We'd have calls for him to be starting for the ABs, because he'd look a world beater.
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@chester-draws said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
Yes, the Crusaders is a far easier ride. Not because the pack is more dominant, but because the pressure on you is far less in all aspects of the game.
You can play conservatively most of the game, because you know you team doesn't need them. But you also worry less about mistakes if you take a risk. A single mistake can lose a test, whereas the Crusaders have been winning consistently by a couple of tries. You can play your natural game with confidence all the time.
Imagine Damien McKenzie in the Crusaders set-up knowing that he doesn't have to chase games and can wait until the moment is right and then cut lose. Even if he makes one of his stuffups, he's got a pack right behind him to save the situation. We'd have calls for him to be starting for the ABs, because he'd look a world beater.
Not sure I agree. Saders are the most structured of the NZ teams. So Mo'unga can try something different having a good idea how the team will react/reposition. DMac's quixotical approach would have a fair chance of locating blind alleys with them.
By the same token Mo'unga would have to modify things in a less patterned environment, with some loss of effectiveness.
I'd have thought the ABs wouldn't be a lot different to ChCh.
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@pakman I don't think the ABs are anything like structured on attack, in open play at least. They have set moves and plays, but what makes them dangerous is that they are prepared to throw it out the window if a gap appears.
The ABs stopped picking basically safe players a long time ago, and started picking guys who add something extra despite their flaws. They play a high speed high risk game plan too. They're a risk taking side.
Robertson has done a good job with the Crusaders, but what has he done with them that's innovative? They're the best side because they have the best players, rather than one that wins despite having flaws. They don't play a high risk game.
Edit: given they win with low risk, they'd be stupid to take risks. It's not a dig at Robertson.
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I don’t know where this concept that the Chiefs are unstructured comes from. If any team is aware and able to regroup after an attempt to breakthrough the defence results in a turnover it is them. The get plenty of practice because they play a style of trying things almost constantly instead of playing as patiently as the Crusaders.
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@chester-draws said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
The ABs stopped picking basically safe players a long time ago
Except at 8. And 6.
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I reckon the "Rolls Royce" pack comment has been overplayed.
Sure, for the finals series it was true. But for the majority of the season the Crusaders were playing without Moody, Franks and Read as well as accommodating other injuries and the requirements to rest ABs.
Here e.g. are the teams that beat the Chiefs - those forward packs look a fair bit more Toyota than Rolls to me!
https://crusaders.co.nz/news/1235-bnz-crusaders-team-named-to-play-the-chiefs-in-hamilton
http://www.superrugby.co.nz/News/32061/preview-crusaders-v-chiefs
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@chris-b said in 2018 Rugby Championship:
I reckon the "Rolls Royce" pack comment has been overplayed.
Sure, for the finals series it was true. But for the majority of the season the Crusaders were playing without Moody, Franks and Read as well as accommodating other injuries and the requirements to rest ABs.
Here e.g. are the teams that beat the Chiefs - those forward packs look a fair bit more Toyota than Rolls to me!
https://crusaders.co.nz/news/1235-bnz-crusaders-team-named-to-play-the-chiefs-in-hamilton
http://www.superrugby.co.nz/News/32061/preview-crusaders-v-chiefs
That second Crusaders pack had 6 test players, one AB squad member and a player who would have a test cap if he declared for his own country. So not a Rolls Royce but likely a Toyota Landcruiser compared to everyone else's Corollas.
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