All Blacks 2022
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@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
@Tim said in All Blacks 2022:
@booboo Tu'ungufasi should be a big step up on last year's props. Hodgman at loose head, Taukei'aho at hooker. That should give us a big improvement over the first 50 minutes of last year's games - we'd lost the matches at that point against Ireland and France.
Even having Barrett available might prove a difference over the geriatric duo used on the last EOYT.
I like to see Newell get game time this year, maybe Norris too.
Opinions on Ross as a loose head? An all-rounder, but not particularly good at anything?
Chiefs scrum this year has been pretty awesome no matter who was starting. Considering that it has been a bit mix and match and the youth of the locks it shows some good performances from some under-rated and often maligned players.
Brumbies pumped them.
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@Chris-B said in All Blacks 2022:
Frizell is quite a lot more than 108kgs.
Remember when Fozzie said he could potentially cover lock?
Read this excellent article about how big they want these guys for various positions.....and that's 4 years ago.
Gee they sure got the bit about Fifita wrong didn’t they ? I suppose this was published after he skittled all those Argentines then did very little after that.
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2022:
@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2022:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks 2022:
@booboo Referring to Asafo Aumua. I still think he has the goods tbh and would be more than happy to see the AB selectors to keep the faith with him.
Agreed, he was rock solid to start the year for the Canes but then Covid, a minor injury, a suspension and the flu have really prevented him from hitting his straps. Hopefully he can push his A.B case through the playoffs.
The other thing with Aumua is translating his game to test rugby. His speed and the more open nature of Super Rugby really suit him - it's whether he can morph his game to test rugby. There were plenty of sceptics about Dane Coles in his younger days about whether his game would ever translate to the ABs.
Remember when we all thought Hika Elliot was the next big thing, and why the fuck are they persisting with that Coles flake? ...
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@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2022:
@KiwiMurph I feel the difference between D Coles and A Aumua is that Coles probably had more time to develop physically and was able to slowly put on size which made that transition to test rugby a lot smoother. Coles also didn’t have the tag of ‘next big star’ hanging over his head so was able to do his thing without too much pressure.
Whether it was intentional or not I feel Aumua put too much size on too early and I feel that has been detrimental to his development because to me he’s lost that speed and explosiveness that made him so deadly coming through the grades.
When you look at footage of when he ran around Bridge for example playing for the Wellington Lions VS his game now, he looks like a completely different player. I feel like he’s only starting to warm into his bigger frame which means he definitely isn’t the finished product.
Damned with faint praise
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With Moody out, I guess the LH spot will be given to Bower. Does he have the necessary strength and technique to neutralize Tagh Furlong ? I have many doubts about it. Hodgman would be destroyed by the big Irishman at scrum time, so would Norris. So what are the options left ? Karl T ? He can scrummage but against the Oirish, you may expect to make a lot of tackles, so he is clearly not the best at this. De Groot ? I have yet to see him against a first class opposition. Despite his impressive size, I think he punches well under his weight. Due to a lack of mongrel ? Ross ? He did more than holding his own against Tupou but he won't get the same leniency from the ref at scrum time. So who's left ? I could see a starting combo of Ofa T (though he is better THP) and Laulala, with Hodgman (or Bower) and Newell on the bench.
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@booboo said in All Blacks 2022:
And Aled de Malmanche ?
That Jamie MacIntosh was a real talent too.
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Interesting question will be how they structure the make-up of the squad.
They'll surely need:
6 props
3 hookers
4 locks
6 loosies
3 halfbacks
2 first fives
4 midfielders
5 outside backsWhich is 33 players - and then they've got three sort of discretionary spots - one of which is probably another loose forward. If DMac happens to be available, another could be him as a third first five and fullback cover. But, it could also easily be an extra lock, an extra midfielder, an extra outside back, or even a seventh prop.
Wouldn't surprise me if they also pick at least a couple of extras to train with the squad - the likes of Newell or RTS if they don't make the initial selection.
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@Chris-B Interestingly Foster said
“36 [players] for the first squad, that’s sort of a standard Steinlager Series-sized squad, but that can change,” Foster told The Breakdown.
“Maybe it won’t go up, but it could change slightly down based on injuries and who we have left standing after Super Rugby.”
To me that means if, say, ALB is unavailable they may not pick someone to cover him unless they really need to - they are going to tightly focus on who they want. Really any non capped players have got the proverbial ice cubes hope in hell I think
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@ARHS said in All Blacks 2022:
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
@Chris-B DMac has to play NPC before he can be selected
What about for NZ Maoris?
Same rules, I would imagine
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@Machpants said in All Blacks 2022:
@ARHS said in All Blacks 2022:
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
@Chris-B DMac has to play NPC before he can be selected
What about for NZ Maoris?
Same rules, I would imagine
It's to do with how NZRPA contracts work. You must get an NZR contract and play for your province of choice before you are eligible for higher (representative) selection (unless you have a signed Super Rugby contract)
Same situation as TJP had. Let your conttact expire and you have to qualify for a new one. -
@Machpants said in All Blacks 2022:
@Chris-B Interestingly Foster said
“36 [players] for the first squad, that’s sort of a standard Steinlager Series-sized squad, but that can change,” Foster told The Breakdown.
“Maybe it won’t go up, but it could change slightly down based on injuries and who we have left standing after Super Rugby.”
To me that means if, say, ALB is unavailable they may not pick someone to cover him unless they really need to - they are going to tightly focus on who they want. Really any non capped players have got the proverbial ice cubes hope in hell I think
I reckon he'll pick 36 if he's allowed to - unless there's a whole heap of injured players and he's reaching the point in the barrel where he'd have to start picking people who are pretty clearly never going to be test standard.
I think there will be one or two uncapped players. I could easily see Newell making it and maybe a loosehead prop. RTS or Sullivan in the midfield - maybe even TUG. Faingaanuku or Perofeta in the outside backs.
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@pakman said in All Blacks 2022:
On LH much harder. Karl best scrummager, but signed for France. Hodgman superb around field/lineouts but not top level test standard in scrum. De Groot and Bower seem a bit in between. Ross seems good in scrum and pretty useful round field. Norris similar but strengths the other way around.
You've got to think he got the word to leave the year before the RWC
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Re-building the All Blacks pack to reverse the last result against Ireland
The All Blacks pack may need to find more turnovers to combat Ireland's clinical handling. That means forcing them, rather than waiting for them to occur, which are a rarity.
If you want New Zealand’s best performing scrum, it is an all-Blues front row you need with Hodgman/Laulala, Eklund and Tuungafasi. They have the highest dominant scrum percentage of all the Kiwi teams at 31 per cent while conceding the fewest scrum penalties.
At hooker, the option that would give the All Blacks the most punch in defence is Blues rake Kurt Eklund, which is a bold call as few are likely to give him a shot.
He has made 112 tackles at a 93 percent completion rate, with just nine misses whilst generating eight turnovers, six of them at the breakdown from 22 ruck contests. He has only given away two penalties from those 22 ruck contests.
On every defensive metric, Eklund has been better than incumbent Codie Taylor and adds turnover-generating potential.
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ABs' weight evolution: Super-size only
