All Blacks 2021
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@nepia said in All Blacks 2021:
@kiwiwomble Yep agree, Ardies best position is Super Sub, and he’d be a vital cog in the AB machine doing that - like he used to be.
But would Ardie come on to play 6 or 8?
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2021:
Ardie is not a test match #8
Based on what?
He played very well at 8 in the tests last year
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@winger said in All Blacks 2021:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2021:
Ardie is not a test match #8
Based on what?
He played very well at 8 in the tests last year
he did.
Height. You need another lineout option. A tall 6 helps, but a fourth option is important too. Ardie's awesome, but lacking height
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@winger said in All Blacks 2021:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2021:
Ardie is not a test match #8
Based on what?
He played very well at 8 in the tests last year
He's great against teams like Oz, but would not be very effective against larger packs like England and SA at eight. He would be my seven though.
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@kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2021:
Good coaches can have bad seasons, Joseph in 2013? His third year in charge and got the record number of losses, won it two years after that
But did he make the team much better after his first two seasons? Yes. So my point stands.
Good coaches can have bad seasons, if injuries take over etc. Bad coaches can have good seasons when things click (Foster made the finals once). But they revert to form pretty quickly.
Can you find me an example of a coach who did not improve his team in the first two years, but then went on to be a good coach? I suppose there are some, but it will be slim pickings. Joseph was unusual in taking a long time to get his Super victory because if they haven't won it by their second year they pretty much never will . But he started a long way back compared to most coaches, and his trajectory was up from the start.
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@nzzp said in All Blacks 2021:
@winger said in All Blacks 2021:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2021:
Ardie is not a test match #8
Based on what?
He played very well at 8 in the tests last year
he did.
Height. You need another lineout option. A tall 6 helps, but a fourth option is important too. Ardie's awesome, but lacking height
Agree that he short (1.88) but not Blackwell short as a lock. And if the balance of the forwards is right I don't see an issue.
And is Sotutu too short for an AB 6 (1.92).
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lineouts are not all about hight. if it was Devin Toner would be the best lock of all time.
Although it does help to be tall...Ardie was excellent in 8 last season and he is too good to not start. and he seems to work fine in the lineouts.
It's unfortunate for Hoskins but you cant not start Ardie.
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@mackerzzzz said in All Blacks 2021:
lineouts are not all about hight. if it was Devin Toner would be the best lock of all time.
Although it does help to be tall...Ardie was excellent in 8 last season and he is too good to not start. and he seems to work fine in the lineouts.
It's unfortunate for Hoskins but you cant not start Ardie.
It sure does help to be tall. Someone put it well here, that height doesn't matter until it does. Basically a small difference to the other jumper is 'meh', but as soon as that gets up it becomes a problem. Against Australia with the Pooper, shorter players are no issue. Conventional packs like England, though, emphasise the difference.
Ardie is and was an excellent rugby player. But if you think he should be picked ahead of Hos, I'm happy to cheerfully argue that for quite some time. Sotutu is not the finished product, but his 'ceiling' at 8 is higher than Ardie, and I think he's well on the way there.
I'd sooner argue that Ardie's a better 7 than Cane. Cane is a magnificent player, but not a conventional 7 ... if you are looking for individual pilfering, Ardie's your man. Except Cane's captain, and puts in defensive efforts that are nek level. So you're squeezing Ardie in.
Honestly, I like him on the bench to destroy teams in the back part of the game.
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@nzzp yes I agree that ardie is a better 7. The best option really would be to remove cane from captain... I know he is old but I think whitelock should he captain.
A captain needs to comand respect and demand victory and I am just not sure cane can do that.
But unfortunately you should never remove a player from captaincy unless he does something really dumb.
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@kirwan i think this is a bit out of date. Our pack is pretty big these days and we never really got out muscled by you blokes last year. I also thought Ardie was pretty ineffective, particularly against the Argies. He makes good post contact metres... And that's kind of it. Cane a far superior test flanker.
You blokes minced us out back, particularly in Sydney. That's where the biggest mismatches are.
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@derpus said in All Blacks 2021:
You blokes minced us out back, particularly in Sydney. That's where the biggest mismatches are.
I still shudder at the demolition job England did on us in the QF. Remember, the starting 8 were
Kieran Read (c), Ardie Savea, Scott Barrett, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Nepo Laulala, Codie Taylor, Joe Moody.
An out of form 8
A quality 7
A lock playing at 6
A lock running on fumes
A lock coming back from injury
A front row with a world class 2, and two props who (I think) underperformed.then you got to the bench
Dane Coles, Ofa Tuungafasi, Angus Ta'avao, Patrick Tuipulotu, Sam Cane,'nuff said. Angus. Fark. And Sam not starting... I am so triggered right now
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@chris-b said in All Blacks 2021:
@nzzp We had a pretty ordinary team on the pitch for the final 30 minutes.
The damage was done in the first 30 while Sam was reading comics on the bench.
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@nepia said in All Blacks 2021:
@chris-b said in All Blacks 2021:
@nzzp We had a pretty ordinary team on the pitch for the final 30 minutes.
The damage was done in the first 30 while Sam was reading comics on the bench.
True - but, when you looked around that team toward the end, you couldn't really see where we would pull something out of the fire.
Not enough genuine weapons.
