All Blacks vs Tonga
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@Kirwan said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Hooroo said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Nepia said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Hooroo said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Nepia said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@pukunui said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Canerbry said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@pukunui said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Im definitely not sold on the Bridge/Reece combo.
Why is that?
To clarify that probably should have been followed by “as our first choice combo”
I just don’t think it is the best one we can put on the park. Ioane/Smith still #1 for me if BB is at 15.
If Smith is at 15 i would have Bridge in the conversation for 14 but they don’t seem to want to play him there.
With Reece i just don’t rate him that highly yet. He hasn’t done anything in an AB wingers jersey that someone like Jordie hasn’t and he was about as good in Super rugby as Ben Lam was a season or two back. For now i put him firmly in the “flashy new toy” category.
The great thing about flashy new toys is that you only need them for Christmas/New Year period. We only need Reece to perform at the RWC and then let’s see where it goes.
I'd prefer we rely on Ioane (who's performed for a couple of years now and his drop in form has been blown way out of proportion) and Bridge who looks to be the next long term Ben Smith/Cory Jane style player.
I'd prefer we rely on the form winger rather than the grossly out of form winger.
The way Bridge hunted out the ball during the last Bled was enough for me to want to see a lot more of that
He's not as grossly out of form as being made out and Reece was fortunate to play behind a dominant AB pack in B2. He may not have looked so good in B1 without front foot ball.
Yep, Rieko would have had a field day behind that forward performance too. Showed in the Auckland game he's not lost any pace.
I think Rieko can play both sides, so instead of moving Bridge to a position he possibly can't play, I'd move Rieko. Those two (who both defend waaaay better than Reece) would be my top picks.
Reece's (Buttercups) defence was faultless against Aussie, wasn't it?
I was watching Smith screaming at him from the stands telling where to stand when we defending a lineout. He looked super confused.
And in super rugby his tackling was poor, his missed tackle stats were not great.
So we have another Sivivatu on our hands. Things will get better then.
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@Crucial said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Rieko is keeping his powder dry.
Hope it wasn’t as dry as the powder Owen Franks was keeping...
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@Nepia said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@SammyC said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Nepia said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@SammyC said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Nepia said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@SammyC said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Nepia said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@SammyC said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@pukunui If Rieko played for any other side in Super Rugby he wouldn't get anywhere near the criticism he gets on here lets be honest. He hasn't even been that bad this year.
Broken record time
Does he cop that much criticism? I haven’t really noticed it. I have noticed a bunch of Aucklanders (and Nepia) getting super defensive about it tho.
Yes, you’re right, we’re just randomly replying to the ether.
You’re getting very defensive again. He cops criticism, I’m just not sure it’s disproportionate to other players.
More to the point, why are you getting defensive about posters responding to that criticism?
Now you’ve just confused me. It was an observation.
I understand where you’re coming from, I’ve observed that many posters spout bollocks about Ioane.
I know ..... you jump up and down every time he’s mentioned
My Ioane alarm goes off, it gets very confused when posters say good things about Josh.
My Jordie alarm has been ringing off the hook lately. I’ve just been trying to ignore the obvious trolls talking shit about the great man. Looking forward to him playing a blinder at 10 in the WC final.
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@African-Monkey oh hell yes. Not descended from saffas are you?
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@Nepia Yes that's what I couldn't believe either. Absolutely ridiculous knee jerk reactions after 1 sub par performance against the Boks, hence the Blues reference which does ring true whether people want to admit it or not. He's a world class performer who deserves to be the starting left wing.
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@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Nepia Yes that's what I couldn't believe either. Absolutely ridiculous knee jerk reactions after 1 sub par performance against the Boks, hence the Blues reference which does ring true whether people want to admit it or not. He's a world class performer who deserves to be the starting left wing.
The minute a player “deserves” a spot rather than earning it you’re in trouble
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@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Nepia Yes that's what I couldn't believe either. Absolutely ridiculous knee jerk reactions after 1 sub par performance against the Boks, hence the Blues reference which does ring true whether people want to admit it or not. He's a world class performer who deserves to be the starting left wing.
Yep, damn blues. Same reason why everyone is unhappy with Barrett, Tuipulotu, Tu'ungafasi, etc.
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@Bones said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Nepia Yes that's what I couldn't believe either. Absolutely ridiculous knee jerk reactions after 1 sub par performance against the Boks, hence the Blues reference which does ring true whether people want to admit it or not. He's a world class performer who deserves to be the starting left wing.
Yep, damn blues. Same reason why everyone is unhappy with Barrett, Tuipulotu, Tu'ungafasi, etc.
Patrick and Ofa get dumb comments on here too. People still say he can’t scrum for instance.
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@Kirwan said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Bones said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Nepia Yes that's what I couldn't believe either. Absolutely ridiculous knee jerk reactions after 1 sub par performance against the Boks, hence the Blues reference which does ring true whether people want to admit it or not. He's a world class performer who deserves to be the starting left wing.
Yep, damn blues. Same reason why everyone is unhappy with Barrett, Tuipulotu, Tu'ungafasi, etc.
Patrick and Ofa get dumb comments on here too. People still say he can’t scrum for instance.
Sure, which has nothing to do with the blues.
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@Bones said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Bones said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Nepia Yes that's what I couldn't believe either. Absolutely ridiculous knee jerk reactions after 1 sub par performance against the Boks, hence the Blues reference which does ring true whether people want to admit it or not. He's a world class performer who deserves to be the starting left wing.
Yep, damn blues. Same reason why everyone is unhappy with Barrett, Tuipulotu, Tu'ungafasi, etc.
Patrick and Ofa get dumb comments on here too. People still say he can’t scrum for instance.
Sure, which has nothing to do with the blues.
If you say so.
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@Bones This place used to go into meltdown when Ofa's name was mentioned for selection, and people couldn't stand Tuipulotu until the last test we played. There's nothing wrong with hating Blues players as everyone's entitled to their opinion, but they do get judged a lot more harshly on here than players from other sides.
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@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Bones This place used to go into meltdown when Ofa's name was mentioned for selection, and people couldn't stand Tuipulotu until the last test we played. There's nothing wrong with hating Blues players as everyone's entitled to their opinion, but they do get judged a lot more harshly on here than players from other sides.
Hah yeah used to when he was shit and meltdown is a mahooooosive overstatement. Couldn't stand Tuipulotu, melodramatic much? Who isn't judged harshly because they're not from the blues then, go on? Franks has been dropped from the whole squad after being about as average as Ioane has been, but no one gives a hoot. Harris doesn't even get a mention. Reckon all the debate that went on around DMac was because he plays for the team situated closest to the blues? Beauds was always free from criticism but now he's gone to the blues...watch out. Pretty sure Black would be favourite ahead of Ioane if he'd stayed at the Canes and played shit too.
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@Bones No, meltdown wasn't a massive overstatement everyone used to rip into him. Atu Moli who would be probably the equivalent to Ofa from a couple of years back doesn't get anywhere near the amount of criticism when he's lucky to be there.
Tuipulotu's had his injury problems but has always shown signs of being a quality player when he wasn't injured. He's the perfect lock for us to come off the bench with his physical style of play despite people trying to say that he wasn't good enough and guys like Hemopo/Franklin and even Pari Pari Parkinson were better bets. I'd even have him ahead of Scott Barrett but I guess that's not a popular opinion on here as one plays for the Blues and the other plays for the Crusaders
Franks was dropped because he's so far off the pace around the field these days and his scrummaging is nowhere near as effective as it once was. Suprised he was let out however as I thought they might pick him for experience alone but never mind, the guy was a great servant for Canterbury/NZ rugby. Again, Ioane had 1 poor test by his high standards, big deal. Bridge made a howler on the wing defensively in the same test which led to us drawing the game but we'll sweep that one under the carpet as he's a bit of a golden child on here and escapes criticism on here more often than not
Nathan Harris? He's done well to play 20 tests lol. He's about as effective as James Parsons. Could you imagine this place if Parsons had played 20 tests? (I don't rate Parsons btw). You're right about BB though. People will be praying that he fails.
@Rugga What's that got to do with anything? You can go back to the beginning of time and you'll have players picked from weaker sides. Doesn't mean players from those weaker sides aren't good enough to be there.
Anyway, that's enough from me. I think I've contributed enough to derailing this thread. Stoked to see Siua Malie picked for Tonga after a strong season for Shirley.
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@Stargazer said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Geez, what a bs victim mentality here!!
Cantabs haven’t been that bad about Franks, a bit harsh.
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@African-Monkey just wow, pretty happy to think you're rather unique and most blues fans aren't as under siege.
Nice comparison of Ioane to Bridge by the way, Bridge the absolute rookie makes a mistake and you're trying to pillory him for it....
