All Blacks vs Fiji 2
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Like the look of team. Understand no Blackadder really, he went well last week, but happy to see Jacobson cover 7. Can even understand Barrett at lock, think they probably feel we need to shift bodies at ruck time, and BR can keep working on getting back up to where he needs to be, give Akira another chance to show what he can do or maybe depart, and I thought Frizell went better than many gave him credit for last week, so happy with him on bench.
Only thing is I hope they put on good performance so we (or I) have to admit we don't know as much as we think!
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@bovidae said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
I'd say it tells us that Frizell is still ahead of Blackadder amongst their options for 6. Jacobson has played a lot at openside.
That first bit doesn't surprise me - but, strange that they'll have to re-jig the entire backrow if Ardie has to depart.
Maybe they want Shannon's extra size coming off the bench?
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@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@bovidae said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
I'd say it tells us that Frizell is still ahead of Blackadder amongst their options for 6. Jacobson has played a lot at openside.
That first bit doesn't surprise me - but, strange that they'll have to re-jig the entire backrow if Ardie has to depart.
Maybe they want Shannon's extra size coming off the bench?
I think Ioane is the player likely to be substituted so they have chosen Frizell with that in mind. If we have the starting 3 loose forwards and Papalii in the 23-man squad there is much more versatility.
I don't mind Ardie ending the game at no.8 but not as a starter.
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@dan54 said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Like the look of team. Understand no Blackadder really, he went well last week, but happy to see Jacobson cover 7. Can even understand Barrett at lock, think they probably feel we need to shift bodies at ruck time, and BR can keep working on getting back up to where he needs to be, give Akira another chance to show what he can do or maybe depart, and I thought Frizell went better than many gave him credit for last week, so happy with him on bench.
Only thing is I hope they put on good performance so we (or I) have to admit we don't know as much as we think!
I think Shannon gets a rougher ride on here than he's merited - but, I think the backrow would be more balanced if Blackadder was on the bench. As Bovidae points out - Frizell is probably a better option to sub on, but less versatile in case of injury.
Getting close to the best team we could field on Saturday (though if we were playing Australia, I reckon we'd find the much maligned Bridge on the wing).
It's a bit concerning to look through the starting XV and only find half a dozen players that are genuinely world class (would start for most test teams) - the others are either not or yet to prove it. Go back not many years and I reckon we would have had a dozen or more.
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@yeetyaah said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Excited to see this midfield combo. Great to see Dmac start over Jordie
That’s just one-eyed provincial bias.
Long may it continue
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@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Slightly surprising that Frizell is on the bench rather than Blackadder. If Ardie goes down early, does Akira move to 7?
Jacobson will be covering 7 (SF to 6 and Akira to 8 probably)
I agree it's surprising they didn't go for Blackadder.
Blackadder’s played in both tests so I think he was due to be rotated given the other available options.
I reckon if Vaai was fit they would’ve had him on the bench and Retallick and Barrett starting.
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@yeetyaah said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Excited to see this midfield combo. Great to see Dmac start over Jordie.
Those are two of the most interesting selections.
The Havili-ALB one was probably pretty predictable. But, the DMac over Jordie might be a pointer to their preferences (might not be, as well).
Have to say - Toddy's point about midgets worries me a bit. Get some big Fijians running at this backline and they're going to win a lot of collisions.
Still - it's only Fiji!
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@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@yeetyaah said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Excited to see this midfield combo. Great to see Dmac start over Jordie.
Those are two of the most interesting selections.
The Havili-ALB one was probably pretty predictable. But, the DMac over Jordie might be a pointer to their preferences (might not be, as well).
Dmac and Richie seemed to gel really nicely against Tonga, opportunity to see if that holds up against proper opposition.
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@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@dan54 said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Like the look of team. Understand no Blackadder really, he went well last week, but happy to see Jacobson cover 7. Can even understand Barrett at lock, think they probably feel we need to shift bodies at ruck time, and BR can keep working on getting back up to where he needs to be, give Akira another chance to show what he can do or maybe depart, and I thought Frizell went better than many gave him credit for last week, so happy with him on bench.
Only thing is I hope they put on good performance so we (or I) have to admit we don't know as much as we think!
I think Shannon gets a rougher ride on here than he's merited - but, I think the backrow would be more balanced if Blackadder was on the bench. As Bovidae points out - Frizell is probably a better option to sub on, but less versatile in case of injury.
Getting close to the best team we could field on Saturday (though if we were playing Australia, I reckon we'd find the much maligned Bridge on the wing).
It's a bit concerning to look through the starting XV and only find half a dozen players that are genuinely world class (would start for most test teams) - the others are either not or yet to prove it. Go back not many years and I reckon we would have had a dozen or more.
I think the post you quoted kind of highlights why Shannon gets a rougher ride on here. @Dan54 is suggesting Akira gets another chance or he maybe depart. Shannon has had multiple starts yet Akira has had two and he's apparently on his last chance.
I think even the diehardest of Ta$man fans, you and your boy TJ, can admit that Shannon hasn't set the world on fire at test level, and certainly not up to his Super standard.
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@crucial said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@bayimports said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Is Bridge injured? Its going to make for a boring fern match day thread, without his availablility to distribute ..
I thought they were for living under while throwing stones at
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@act-crusader said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@yeetyaah said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Excited to see this midfield combo. Great to see Dmac start over Jordie
That’s just one-eyed provincial bias.
Long may it continue
Neither of those two play for the Magpies and I agree.
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Jordie does seem a bit ponderous compared to DMac at this level and although DMac is of small stature compared to lot of international players, he seems to punch well above his weight. I can understand this selection.
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@nepia said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@dan54 said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Like the look of team. Understand no Blackadder really, he went well last week, but happy to see Jacobson cover 7. Can even understand Barrett at lock, think they probably feel we need to shift bodies at ruck time, and BR can keep working on getting back up to where he needs to be, give Akira another chance to show what he can do or maybe depart, and I thought Frizell went better than many gave him credit for last week, so happy with him on bench.
Only thing is I hope they put on good performance so we (or I) have to admit we don't know as much as we think!
I think Shannon gets a rougher ride on here than he's merited - but, I think the backrow would be more balanced if Blackadder was on the bench. As Bovidae points out - Frizell is probably a better option to sub on, but less versatile in case of injury.
Getting close to the best team we could field on Saturday (though if we were playing Australia, I reckon we'd find the much maligned Bridge on the wing).
It's a bit concerning to look through the starting XV and only find half a dozen players that are genuinely world class (would start for most test teams) - the others are either not or yet to prove it. Go back not many years and I reckon we would have had a dozen or more.
I think the post you quoted kind of highlights why Shannon gets a rougher ride on here. @Dan54 is suggesting Akira gets another chance or he maybe depart. Shannon has had multiple starts yet Akira has had two and he's apparently on his last chance.
I think even the diehardest of Ta$man fans, you and your boy TJ, can admit that Shannon hasn't set the world on fire at test level, and certainly not up to his Super standard.
yep I not sure I agree Shannon has been that bad anyway, he is actually generally a more physical type 6 than Akira. Many I reckon don't take a lot of notice how much work some of them do, almost like the ones who get into cane as 7, clearly thye best type of player for test rugby?
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Better looking team with Bridge out and ALB back. If Reece rolls his ankle doing one of his Hollywood dives we might get to see the best backline with Ioane at 11.
Would rather have seen BBBR start and Blackadder instead of Fizzle but never mind.
Hopefully they don’t have another limp performance because when that has happened over the last couple of seasons these coaches seem to panic and pull out even more stupid selections.
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I think Frizell on the bench is a warning to either Akira, Frizell, or both of them as it doesn't make much sense to not have Blackadder there and see what he can do off the bench as the utility loosie (especially with Paps out).
Jordie had a relatively poor kicking performance last week, and Dmac and Mo'unga played together quite well, so this is a form selection. It will be interesting to see how things go with three playmakers out there.
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Media release: https://www.fijirugby.com/leone-nakarawa-to-lead-flying-fijians-in-the-second-test-match-as-cotter-makes-a-few-changes/Leone Nakarawa has been given more responsibility as he will lead the Flying Fijians against the All Blacks in their final test match on Saturday in Hamilton.
Nakarawa replaces Levani Botia for the captaincy role after the hard-hitting center was ruled out due to a knee injury earlier this week. -
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@nepia said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@dan54 said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Like the look of team. Understand no Blackadder really, he went well last week, but happy to see Jacobson cover 7. Can even understand Barrett at lock, think they probably feel we need to shift bodies at ruck time, and BR can keep working on getting back up to where he needs to be, give Akira another chance to show what he can do or maybe depart, and I thought Frizell went better than many gave him credit for last week, so happy with him on bench.
Only thing is I hope they put on good performance so we (or I) have to admit we don't know as much as we think!
I think Shannon gets a rougher ride on here than he's merited - but, I think the backrow would be more balanced if Blackadder was on the bench. As Bovidae points out - Frizell is probably a better option to sub on, but less versatile in case of injury.
Getting close to the best team we could field on Saturday (though if we were playing Australia, I reckon we'd find the much maligned Bridge on the wing).
It's a bit concerning to look through the starting XV and only find half a dozen players that are genuinely world class (would start for most test teams) - the others are either not or yet to prove it. Go back not many years and I reckon we would have had a dozen or more.
I think the post you quoted kind of highlights why Shannon gets a rougher ride on here. @Dan54 is suggesting Akira gets another chance or he maybe depart. Shannon has had multiple starts yet Akira has had two and he's apparently on his last chance.
I think even the diehardest of Ta$man fans, you and your boy TJ, can admit that Shannon hasn't set the world on fire at test level, and certainly not up to his Super standard.
Shannon's had some good tests and some not so good ones. In this day and age, with 14 tests, he's really only just getting started at test level.
He didn't have his most dynamic game last week, but it was his first game back from injury.
With due respect to Fiji, I'm not sure they're better than the SRA teams, so there's no reason any of our guys can't play well against them.
