2020 All Blacks Squad
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@booboo said in 2020 All Blacks Squad:
@Stargazer said in 2020 All Blacks Squad:
The big unknowns at SR level, at the moment, are Flanders (6/8) and Toala (12/15), but they're certainly players to look out for.
Know nothing about Toala. He in the Canes?
Sky Sport is reading the Fern. They just posted this:
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@cgrant Whether he was the best no. 8 in M10 Cup is debatable, and Mikaele-Tu'u looked better in the preseason games. TBN frequently looked indecisive and made a couple of costly mistakes (one resulting in a Crusaders try). IMO it's way too soon to think of him in terms of ABs, but it will definitely be interesting to see how he'll go at SR level.
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Cullen Grace my bolter for end of year tour
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My bolter for end of year tour is Isaia Walker-Leawere.
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@Canes4life said in 2020 All Blacks Squad:
My bolter for end of year tour is Isaia Walker-Leawere.
igf i remember my Foster's Chiefs days correctly, expect to see a heap of undeserving Waikato players
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not sure Tom Robinson he would be a bolter this year, as he was apparently very much on the radar last year, although guess it depends if they were looking at him as a lock/6 or 6/lock and how/where the Blues play him or if he suffers 2nd season syndrome that many others get afflicted by.
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@chchfanatic as a lock or loose forward?
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@taniwharugby said in 2020 All Blacks Squad:
not sure Tom Robinson he would be a bolter this year, as he was apparently very much on the radar last year, although guess it depends if they were looking at him as a lock/6 or 6/lock and how/where the Blues play him or if he suffers 2nd season syndrome that many others get afflicted by.
His workrate was singled out as a key point of attraction. Test rugby demands that kind of dedication and workrate.
The term 'bolter' is misleading anyway. To me it is the selection that we don't even see coming but the selectors see a skillset that they want.
Robinson is certainly a possibility for a rookie position on the EOYT.
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@Canes4life loose forward. Too small for a lock. Apparently he was the best forward in the preseason. Amazing kid tough as nails. Hard ginger
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@chchfanatic so there are three hard ginger looseforwards/locks in New Zealand. Which one of Grace/Blackwell/Robinson will make the A.Bs first... IMO they should all be on the side of the scrum, however the Blues and Canes seem to think their versions are lock worthy.
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@Canes4life said in 2020 All Blacks Squad:
@chchfanatic so there are three hard ginger looseforwards/locks in New Zealand. Which one of Grace/Blackwell/Robinson will make the A.Bs first... IMO they should all be on the side of the scrum, however the Blues and Canes seem to think their versions are lock worthy.
Not Blackwell.
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@Stargazer why not?
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@Canes4life Do you really have to ask? He already is a miniature lock at SR level, let alone test level.
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@Stargazer I know he isn’t a lock, he’s a blindside flanker and he made a pretty good impression there before Plumtree and co somehow felt he needed to be in the second row. He played most of his school career at 6 and I think if he gets a chance to move back there he has a good shot at getting to the next level.
I remember Blackwell had as many wraps on him as Grace when he came into the Hurricanes, too bad the Hurricanes have poor judgement of height.
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12325722
Romain Poite can eat a bag of dicks. He's right down there, probably lower than Wayne Barnes
Rugby: British and Irish Lions star Ken Owens reveals snub from All Blacks captain Kieran Read
17 Apr, 2020 7:35pm
NZ Herald
By RugbyPassA British and Irish Lions star at the centre of the penalty controversy that ultimately led to a drawn series against the All Blacks in 2017 has revealed former New Zealand skipper Kieran Read snubbed him following the decisive third test.
Wales hooker Ken Owens was penalised in the 78th minute of the final test of the three-match series for touching the ball in an offside position with the score locked up at 15-all.
However, after reviewing footage of the incident, the ruling was reduced to an accidental offside by referee Romain Poite, who subsequently handed the All Blacks a scrum feed rather than a potential match-winning (and series-winning) penalty shot at goal.
Read, who was playing in his 100th test for the All Blacks, protested the decision, but his cries fell on deaf ears as the All Blacks failed to score from the ensuing set piece, with the match – and series – finishing in a stalemate.
The 127-test veteran described the draw as "heart-wrenching", and claimed that Owens' indiscretion "has been an offside for a long time" in the post-match press conference.
And, speaking on Joe's House of Rugby podcast, Owens revealed Read wasn't in a mood to chat once things had died down after the game.
"I went into the New Zealand changing room afterwards to congratulate Kieran Read on his 100th cap and he wouldn't really speak to me," Owens said.
However, he did get an apology for the snub, two years later.
"To be fair, he did apologise after the third place playoff at the [2019] World Cup. There were obviously emotions running high at the time."
The 33-year-old, who came on as a replacement hooker for England star Jamie George with 11 minutes remaining in the clash at Eden Park, expressed his relief at Poite's change of heart.
"Just before it happened, I was going 'Right boys, exit now, let's restart, get the ball back down the field, switch on' and all the rest of it," he told the podcast.
"Basically, don't f*** up and then I f***** up!"I went straight to Jonathan Davies, who is one of my best mates, and I said I am going to have to move to Trellech – which is about 17 miles out of Carmarthen, the most rural part of the county – and like hide away for the rest of my life."
While he hasn't had to adopt the life of a hermit in the years since the incident, Owens said that referee Poite hasn't forgotten that match in Auckland three years ago.
"When Romain Poite refs me now, he does drop in a little quip every now and again, with 'Stay onside this time, Ken' or something like that!"
This article first appeared on RugbyPass.com and is republished with permission.
