All Blacks 2021
-
@pakman said in All Blacks 2021:
@victor-meldrew said in All Blacks 2021:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2021:
@machpants said in All Blacks 2021:
People seem to forget sbw played two sessions in France before coming to NZ and the ABs. Even then he still couldn't de League his tackles, and had kick it dead and get a yellow brain farts for ABs. RTS had heft it too late to make the RWC squad imo, especially with covid disruptions
SBW was a back rower who moved to the midfield
RTS is a shit hot fullback who will play wing.
Give him time though, to give him the best chance. We've seen way too many shit hot League players who've turned out to be HOT shit playing rugby at Test level.
Is that you, Benji?
-
@victor-meldrew Ouch!
-
@duluth thats good for Moody, it was a foot injury wasnt it he was out for, which would affect the stability on heavy lifts
-
Sevu avoids training...
-
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2021:
Sevu avoids training...
He gets enough weight training lugging his head around all day to be fair.
-
-
-
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2021:
@duluth thats good for Moody, it was a foot injury wasnt it he was out for, which would affect the stability on heavy lifts
Looks good form to me, Laulala looked to be struggling on the upper weight though.
-
-
@mn5 said in All Blacks 2021:
@chris said in All Blacks 2021:
@act-crusader said in All Blacks 2021:
@chris said in All Blacks 2021:
I can not see due to NPC or AB form so far this season why Sotutu is coming into a selection debate.Way behind the 3 starters from the last test, as well as Jacobsen and Blackadder.
To be fair he’s had one opportunity this season, so it’s hardly worth giving up on him just yet given the opportunities that lay ahead.
I wouldn’t give up on him ,
He has just slid down the pecking order at the moment .Always a brilliant Dad joke back when Jeremy Thrush and Dominic Bird were in the team.
You mean the team coached by Shag.
-
@bones said in All Blacks 2021:
@mn5 said in All Blacks 2021:
@chris said in All Blacks 2021:
@act-crusader said in All Blacks 2021:
@chris said in All Blacks 2021:
I can not see due to NPC or AB form so far this season why Sotutu is coming into a selection debate.Way behind the 3 starters from the last test, as well as Jacobsen and Blackadder.
To be fair he’s had one opportunity this season, so it’s hardly worth giving up on him just yet given the opportunities that lay ahead.
I wouldn’t give up on him ,
He has just slid down the pecking order at the moment .Always a brilliant Dad joke back when Jeremy Thrush and Dominic Bird were in the team.
You mean the team coached by Shag.
I never understood that nickname. Is it cos he did lots of rooting ?
-
I recently subscribed to "TheXV" (paywalled) mainly as Nick Bishop is publishing some premium rugby analysis which is better than anyone I have read. If you haven't read his pieces, his main gig is as a pro analyst currently working for Stuart Lancaster and Leinster. As you can imagine, his pieces are backed up with detailed stats and videos ... no opinion stuff or clickbait, he really knows his stuff.
Anyway he wrote a recent piece analysing (and praising) the AB backrow balance he sees in Savea, Papilii and Akira Ioane. Can't publish the whole thing as too long + copyright, tonnes of stats and embedded video analysis but here's his summary -
"THE New Zealand coaches have obviously found a back-row combination they like in the absence of captain Sam Cane, with Aucklanders Dalton Papalii and Akira Ioane book-ending Hurricane Ardie Savea at number 8. It may not be Read-Kaino-McCaw quite yet, but there are some green shoots of promise and a sense of genuinely complementary roles. Papalii has an enormous appetite for work on defence and at cleanout time, and shows signs of developing a good relationship with Savea on both sides of the ball.
The real enigma is Akira Ioane at number 6. His lineout work is developing nicely and he can run and handle as well as any big man in New Zealand, to the extent that he routinely plays as the widest of the back-rowers on attack. He is often trusted with making the link to the first back on defence. With the Pumas and the world champion Springboks looming, tougher tests of his mettle in the tight work and in a tighter game await. The likes of Pieter-Steph du Toit, Duane Vermeulen, Pablo Matera and Marcos Kremer will test his physical application to the limit, and beyond"
-
@landp He does a lot of really good stuff for free on theroar.com.au
-
Of the three missing, Whitelock is the player whose position we have some depth in.
