AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?
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@junior said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Crucial said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Word. Clarke had to be in, he is a real weapon with all the extra skills.
Needs a touch more experience and he looks like he could be Bridge with a bit more power.
Clarke is young, but needs to get himself more involved if the ball isn't going his way.
how many games had our starting wingers in a RWC semi final played? combined? If you are good enough...
I'm pretty over the "safe" wing spot. I think the trench warfare of test rugby needs a couple of game breakers out wide.
Agree with this. Look at the Pom and Safe wings at the 2019 RWC and every one of them had that "extra" ability to beat a man, which can be a crucial outlet in a tight test match. Look at the value the Poms got out of their wings in that semi as compared to the 3/5 of fuck all we got from ours. It was almost like they'd swapped jerseys before the match. Similarly, the Saffa wings were absolutely terrific in the final, especially late on when defenders are fatigues and there to be beaten by someone capable of using a bit of footwork.
Maybe apart from Jonny May who was a cripple that got run down by Scott Barrett.
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@mariner4life Yep, an absolutely terrible test team of good super rugby players, who have all been mega hyped by certified retard Tony Johnson.
Looking forward to the same people posting about how the coaches always know best.
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@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@canefan said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
We don't have a Nonu available. Laumape isn't that either as his distribution is more like Nonu c2003.
You need to have all 3 on the field so that's (11) Ioane, (12) ALB and (13) Goodhue.
How did Nonu turn out? Nani may end up being another Sam Tuitupou, or maybe he'll expand his game like Ma'a. He does bring toughness and the ability to break the line
Laumape is already 27 so hasn't got the same time to develop as Nonu did. He should be in the AB squad but I don't think he starts unless the coaches want a point of difference in the midfield.
How old is Rieko? 23? He's made good early strides in midfield
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@Tim said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Foster's starting forwards will probably be the following, and it will be a big wet turd. Then we'll thrash Australia and there will be one hundred posts about how good they are.
- Moody
- Taylor
- Laulala
- Whitelock
- Barrett
- Frizell
- Cane
- Savea
I'd rather start Tuipulotu and tell him to go hard for 50-60 mins. Then bring Barrett on. Foster and co could have different ideas to Hansen. At least I hope so.
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@Tim said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bones ALB/Goodhue, ALB/Ioane, Goodhue/Ioane, and Goodhue/ALB all lack a dominant midfield ball carrier, and rely on a player who looks to take the outside break.
we don't really have one in the country because we are at that point in our cycle where we abhor "bashers" and think skill and fitness is absolutely everything
which it absolutely is for Super Rugby if I'm being fair.
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@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@canefan said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
We don't have a Nonu available. Laumape isn't that either as his distribution is more like Nonu c2003.
You need to have all 3 on the field so that's (11) Ioane, (12) ALB and (13) Goodhue.
How did Nonu turn out? Nani may end up being another Sam Tuitupou, or maybe he'll expand his game like Ma'a. He does bring toughness and the ability to break the line
Laumape is 27. Ma'a Nonu was already polished product 2011 Ma'a Nonu by that point. I think it's time to accept current Laumape is the finished product.
He's also not very big, so more punchy than anything at test level.
He's not the next Nonu, and agree with @Bones he's not even really Tuitupou
Well, for the 2007 RWC, when Nonu was a contender, the only people who were still supporting him as an AB contender on this board were me and that guy from Wellington who used to have Andy from Little Britain as his avatar. I distinctly recall someone writing "Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out, Nonu"!
He must have been 25 at that time.
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@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@canefan said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
We don't have a Nonu available. Laumape isn't that either as his distribution is more like Nonu c2003.
You need to have all 3 on the field so that's (11) Ioane, (12) ALB and (13) Goodhue.
How did Nonu turn out? Nani may end up being another Sam Tuitupou, or maybe he'll expand his game like Ma'a. He does bring toughness and the ability to break the line
Laumape is 27. Ma'a Nonu was already polished product 2011 Ma'a Nonu by that point. I think it's time to accept current Laumape is the finished product.
He's also not very big, so more punchy than anything at test level.
He's not the next Nonu, and agree with @Bones he's not even really Tuitupou
I think to be fair, we have to accept Laumape started a bit later than Nonu - and has certainly shown development in his game over the last 4 years. He's got a very handy kicking game now. I've seen him throw the odd long pass very nicely too - just what we have to hope develops is his vision, accuracy and timing (something which Nonu had in absolute spades which isn't so easy to come by). No reason why he can't develop further, but he's not on the Nonu trajectory.
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@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Tim said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bones ALB/Goodhue, ALB/Ioane, Goodhue/Ioane, and Goodhue/ALB all lack a dominant midfield ball carrier, and rely on a player who looks to take the outside break.
we don't really have one in the country because we are at that point in our cycle where we abhor "bashers" and think skill and fitness is absolutely everything
which it absolutely is for Super Rugby if I'm being fair.
I agree totally with that philosophy. Size is important - you need some big guys in the backs to get you over the gain line, you need a big blindside in the forwards to take lineout ball and to provide bulk on defence, and if you have too many small guys in the backs the opposition will get over the gain line too frequently and easily.
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One hopes. I think the bench is crucial too.
Allowing me to pick some injured players, I think we would be very dangerous if we can get the following players in form:
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Moody 17. Big Karl /Moli
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Taylor 16. Coles/Aumua
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Ofa 18. Ta'avao/ Lomax
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Patty T 19. Robinson/Barrett
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Whitelock
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Ioane /Robinson 20. Savea
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Cane
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Sotutu
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Smith 21. TJP
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Barrett 22. Mo'unga
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Ioane
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ALB
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Goodhue
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Clarke / Bridge (I really really want Alaimalo to stand up for this spot, but he's miles away right now)
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Dmac / Jordan 23 Barrett
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@gt12 said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Alaimalo
yeah he has fallen away hugely, after being touted as a possible bolter for EOYT a few years ago, he barely features in conversations aside from what people think he could be if he gets his mojo back
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@taniwharugby That's the guy!
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We're debating back selections, but if we can get metres up front, it won't matter whether it is Jordie, Dmac, Jordan, or Havili at 15.
At prop, lock, and in the loose forwards, we need at least one player who can consistently get metres, and do their core roles. We've been missing that for a while with Moody/Laulala and Savea/Cane/Read.
If BBBR and Taylor/Coles don't make metres, we get stuck. IMO, that's the biggest area to address and bringing in Scott Barrett to replace BBBr won't help.
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