All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe 1 Eden Park 7th Aug
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@pakman said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe 1 Eden Park 7th Aug:
Questions for selection:
Taylor or Coles to start.
BBBR or Barrett (S) to start.
Two out of Reece/Jordan/Rieko on wing.
DMac or Barrett (J) at 15.
I expect bench of Bower/Ta'avao/[Coles]/[Scottie]/Blackadder/Weber/Barrett (B)/[Rieko].
Bold wouldn't be a bad back three. But Jordan hasn't been in the frame at 15 (yet).
Will be peeps upset whichever of your two fullback options are picked.
There's plenty of scope for controversy across the team no matter who is picked.
Should be fun.
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@pakman said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe 1 Eden Park 7th Aug:
Questions for selection:
Taylor or Coles to start.
BBBR or Barrett (S) to start.
Two out of Reece/Jordan/Rieko on wing.
DMac or Barrett (J) at 15.
I expect bench of Bower/Ta'avao/[Coles]/[Scottie]/Blackadder/Weber/Barrett (B)/[Rieko].
The loosies will tell us if Foster has learned from his mistakes last year, as will the wing selection. His biggest problem is conservative selections and retaining the Hanson ethos of being nearly impossible to be dropped on form.
Pretty much ends up with the right selections usually when injury forces his hand.
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For mine the back three has to be Rieko, Jordie and Jordan, with Beauden on the bench.
DMac and Beauden are both fighting for the bench spot. If Rieko has to be a centre then Reece slots into the starting 15 in his place.
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@booboo said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe 1 Eden Park 7th Aug:
But Jordan hasn't been in the frame at 15 (yet)
I hope it stays that way. His consistency under the high ball is slightly below what you'd expect of an AB fullback. He's more suited to the wing at this stage
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@kirwan said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe 1 Eden Park 7th Aug:
The loosies will tell us if Foster has learned from his mistakes last year
It can only be Ioane, Savea and Jacobson. Frizell is unavailable and Sotutu has been released. The only question is whether Papalii is fit. Otherwise, Blackadder on the bench.
as will the wing selection.
None of us want Bridge. I don't really mind which of the other three play.
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@no-quarter said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe 1 Eden Park 7th Aug:
For mine the back three has to be Rieko, Jordie and Jordan, with Beauden on the bench.
DMac and Beauden are both fighting for the bench spot. If Rieko has to be a centre then Reece slots into the starting 15 in his place.
I don't think they'll start Rieko or Beauden in the back three because Rieko has said he wants to be a centre and Beauden has said he wants to be a first five - and those are the overall squad positions they've been selected in. Aside from which - I think it's quite a step down from Rieko to Tupaea and Ennor as the bench midfielder. I do think Rieko on the wing is quite a bit more likely than Beaudy at fullback, which would really startle me, because it would be a real vote of no confidence in Jordie and DMac.
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The matchday 23 is (Test caps in brackets)
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George Bower (3)
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Codie Taylor (58)
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Nepo Laulala (31)
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Brodie Retallick (83)
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Samuel Whitelock (125) - captain
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Akira Ioane (4)
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Dalton Papalii (5)
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Ardie Savea (50)
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Aaron Smith (99)
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Richie Mo’unga (24)
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Rieko Ioane (37)
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David Havili (5)
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Anton Lienert-Brown (50)
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Sevu Reece (10)
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Damian McKenzie (30)
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Dane Coles (76)
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Karl Tu’inukuafe (18)
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Angus Ta’avao (16)
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Scott Barrett (42)
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Luke Jacobson (5)
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Brad Weber (9)
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Beauden Barrett (91)
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Jordie Barrett (25)
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Media release: https://www.allblacks.com/news/all-blacks-team-named-for-opening-bledisloe-cup-test-against-australia/
It will be a special night for halfback Aaron Smith, who will play his 100th Test, after making his Test debut against Ireland back in 2012.
The starting front row is unchanged from the last Test outing against Fiji, with loosehead prop George Bower, hooker Codie Taylor and tighthead Nepo Laulala supported by props Karl Tu’inukuafe and Angus Ta’avao, together with hooker Dane Coles.
Brodie Retallick is back at starting lock alongside captain Samuel Whitelock with Scott Barrett on the bench.
In the loose forwards, Ardie Savea is at eight, with Dalton Papalii at seven and Akira Ioane in the six jersey. Luke Jacobson is loose forward cover.
In the backs, Richie Mo’unga is again at ten, outside Smith. Second five eighth David Havili and centre Anton Lienert-Brown are the midfield combination. Rieko Ioane moves to the left wing, Sevu Reece is on the right and Damian McKenzie is at fullback. Halfback Brad Weber, Beauden Barrett and Jordie Barrett are the back reserves.
Props Joe Moody and Ofa Tuungafasi weren’t considered for selection as they return from injuries, while the selectors have also taken a considered approach with outside back Will Jordan’s return from a slight hamstring strain. -
that backline is going to do some damage
The rest of the world is probably really confused how/why we have the three barretts on the bench
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@bovidae said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe 1 Eden Park 7th Aug:
DO NOT like Ardie being used as a no.8 again.
One good change, Rieko back on the wing, has to be balanced out by one dumb one, Ardie at 8.
Put Ardie at 7, Jacobsen at 8, Jordan in place of Reece and I'm good. Edit: Jordan has a hamstring injury. JB for the right wing then.
This was much closer to my selection than I expected.
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Bower isn't the future, so I'm not sure why they aren't investing in the Groot. With Bower and Laulala we will get fuck all out of our front rowers.
Apart from that, I think they are shoe-horning in Ardie rather than making a choice about specialists.
After that, I don't see why we need Mo'unga, Dmac, Barret x 2 in the 23. There are better options that could use here. We could actually have a 6/2 bench.
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Tu’inukuafe not starting is also a strange selection. Usually you start with your strongest scrummagers and bring on mobile props as subs. It can only be to use Bower's ball-carrying to compensate for Laulala's lack of it. The same for reserve props, with Ta'avao much better with ball in hand.
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@bovidae said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe 1 Eden Park 7th Aug:
Tu’inukuafe not starting is also a strange selection. Usually you start with your strongest scrummagers and bring on mobile props as subs. It can only be to use Bower's ball-carrying to compensate for Laulala's lack of it. The same for reserve props, with Ta'avao much better with ball in hand.
Bahahaha - the guy has 3 metres from two games! He's no ball runner!!
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jesus, it's like they make a couple of decisions just to fuck with the public. It all looks so good, and then we end up with fucking Ardie at 8 again. And seriously, if DMac's last test didn't play him out of the spot, then it is impossible to get dropped from the ABs
We are desperately short at fullback.
