All Blacks 2022
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@Frank said in All Blacks 2022:
@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2022:
@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2022:
I am not expecting Taukei'aho to start, which will be a big mistake.
I agree, but I suppose Foster might see some logic in using him for impact off the bench for a must-win 1st Test.
Lomu would have had great impact off the bench.
Would he though? The advantage of a strike player starting is that the opposition don’t know when the strike is coming. Put them on for 15 minutes and they can stifle the plan to get them the ball. Look what SA managed in 2015 with Lomu and that was starting.
I do prefer the thought of Reece coming on as an impact though. His busyness makes him unpredictable. -
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
As a bench option we could move everyone around. It may create options of tasking Akira or Hoskins or Cane to go extra hard for 50 minutes. We could mix it up and adjust according to the game and opposition.
All three of them go hard. Ardie fizzing off the bench will pick up the slack for the other two anyway!
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This post is deleted!
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@Bones said in All Blacks 2022:
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
As a bench option we could move everyone around. It may create options of tasking Akira or Hoskins or Cane to go extra hard for 50 minutes. We could mix it up and adjust according to the game and opposition.
All three of them go hard. Ardie fizzing off the bench will pick up the slack for the other two anyway!
No matter what, I think Sotutu has to be in the 23. Whether on the bench or even starting. In the scenario we lose Cane or Ardie, Sotutu slots in. If we lost Akira, we have the option to have Ardie and Cane play left and right side or we move Barrett (or Vaa’i) to blindside. That move will largely depend on opponent and time of game.
Sotutu is too good to leave out and his improvement this season show he’s upped his workrate on both sides of the ball, accuracy at the ruck, whilst providing a ball running option.
I think they’ll go for Ardie to start the first test, but hey they could surprise us.
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks 2022:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2022:
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
As a bench option we could move everyone around. It may create options of tasking Akira or Hoskins or Cane to go extra hard for 50 minutes. We could mix it up and adjust according to the game and opposition.
All three of them go hard. Ardie fizzing off the bench will pick up the slack for the other two anyway!
No matter what, I think Sotutu has to be in the 23. Whether on the bench or even starting. In the scenario we lose Cane or Ardie, Sotutu slots in. If we lost Akira, we have the option to have Ardie and Cane play left and right side or we move Barrett (or Vaa’i) to blindside. That move will largely depend on opponent and time of game.
Sotutu is too good to leave out and his improvement this season show he’s upped his workrate on both sides of the ball, accuracy at the ruck, whilst providing a ball running option.
I think they’ll go for Ardie to start the first test, but hey they could surprise us.
Yeah, quite keen to see how Sowakula is going to go too though. Him and Ioane on at the same time could cause some opposition a few headaches.
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks 2022:
I think they’ll go for Ardie to start the first test, but hey they could surprise us.
Haha yeah right
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks 2022:
@Nepia so much hate inside you…
On your team, I don’t think we can afford to start both Laulala and Karl T. That was a glaring problem for us previously. If both are in the team I hope only one of them starts and the other off the bench.
They’re our best scrummagers. But think we can start Ofa and Karl and get a good mix, then Nepo and Bower/Ross to finish.
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@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2022:
@Steven-Harris said in All Blacks 2022:
The best way I can judge how good an All Black Squad is to look back at the 2015 team that won the RWC ..in the starting XV , you could argue that every player was top 1-4 in the world even Julian Savea you could say was top one or 2 wingers in the world ..
and not to mention ,we the had best bench in the world
BB and Charlie Famauina just to name a couple
When I look over this 2022 squad , the props are underwhelming, the 2 senior locks have fallen out of the top 3 , Aaron Smith is still classy , but but you would have to say number 3-4 , the midfield is a muddle .All things considered , What has Foster been doing in the last 2 seasons ..?
Do you think NZ has even got players to compare with 2015 at moment? I actually honestly think it's time to wake up and smell the roses, NZ has been through a golden era of players, with some all time greats. At moment they are just not here.
I think instead of 8-0 or so players that would make world 23 as in 2011-2015 we would perhaps have 2-3 now, I not sure why we think we will always have the players, and even if I pretty iffy about Foster as a coach, noone is going to turn them into World class players.. Perhaps we need to be wondering why our skills seemed to of dropped at super level?This.
Coaches (and I’m not making excuses here, just stating something) can only innovate as far as the levels of the players allow. Yes it is their job to improve those skills as well but it still comes down to the quality of the cattle. Mick Byrne was a big loss to our system. He was around so long that he basically owned the micro skills space and we didn’t have a ready replacement of similar quality.
That said I actually think we are on the up again with some very talented youngsters around. Now we need to add smarts and experience to that mix.
It may not happen in time for next year and you can’t deny the impact of Covid on our schedules and planning.
I remain positive in that we will always be a punchers chance and that some of the complacency should have well and truly gone.I think this may be one area where Foster and co, to date, have not done well - not necessarily improving inadequate players, but adapting a game plan to suit the skills and abilities of the payers at their disposal. The 2011-2015 game plan worked so amazingly well, not because it was inherently amazing, but because of the amazing talents of the players could and did pull it off. Frankly, I don't think any team from the professional area had the personnel to play the way that team did and with the success that they did.
This team simply doesn't have the talent to constantly play and search for width like the 2011-2015 team did. Even with real talent bubbling under, they need to master much more simplified and easy to execute game plans before they work their way up to the 2011-2015 game plan (or its modern day equivalent). Indeed, the 2011-2015 had been building towards from 2004 in all reality.
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@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2022:
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2022:
@Nevorian said in All Blacks 2022:
Discipline - cannot afford to play against the Irish with only 14 players on the field, or any other team for that matter.
this aspect will be interesting (in a morbid way) how many Red Cards are we expecting in the 3 tests?
I'm picking at least 1 red and 3 or 4 yellows, I'd prefer zero, but cant see it...
NH refs, and going by the NH poster comments on here there is way less tolerance around high shots as they all want full reds.
i think i would roll my eyes less about cards for things like head contact if we were having lots of them for more trivial things, cards for things like "deliberate" knock ons or scrums being treated as almost the same as head contact
Upvote for correct terminology (non use of downs).
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The men best placed to feature in an All Blacks development squad in 2022
While both the All Blacks and Maori All Blacks are now getting their seasons underway with upcoming fixtures against the touring Irish, there's another New Zealand men's side that's waiting in the shadows.
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@pakman said in All Blacks 2022:
The men best placed to feature in an All Blacks development squad in 2022
While both the All Blacks and Maori All Blacks are now getting their seasons underway with upcoming fixtures against the touring Irish, there's another New Zealand men's side that's waiting in the shadows.
I quite like that squad (won't bother nit picking around a few names).
What it shows is that we could be sending a next level team to play Tier two nations and promote the 'brand' easily. The only trouble may be that this team would still handle most Tier Two countries with relative ease. Games against a fully selected Fiji or Argentina would be interesting.
I mentioned in the Oz Rugby thread that our seconds would eat their seconds and this list would back that up IMO. -
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2022:
We need to be playing the B teams from Aust, Arg and SA. That would provide a higher level of opposition so a win-win for all countries.
We do as far as development goes but we would also be looking to 'tour' this team to places like Japan and USA to promote the 'brand' for the new paymasters.
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I have a concern this team has been shelved for a long time due to a lack of marketability, instead of thinking of it as a strong pathways opportunity. The bean counters see having two high performance teams as the maximum, All Blacks and MABs. This group should be together at least twice a year. But financial constraints always mean it will be the most easy to cull.
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks 2022:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2022:
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
As a bench option we could move everyone around. It may create options of tasking Akira or Hoskins or Cane to go extra hard for 50 minutes. We could mix it up and adjust according to the game and opposition.
All three of them go hard. Ardie fizzing off the bench will pick up the slack for the other two anyway!
No matter what, I think Sotutu has to be in the 23. Whether on the bench or even starting. In the scenario we lose Cane or Ardie, Sotutu slots in. If we lost Akira, we have the option to have Ardie and Cane play left and right side or we move Barrett (or Vaa’i) to blindside. That move will largely depend on opponent and time of game.
Sotutu is too good to leave out and his improvement this season show he’s upped his workrate on both sides of the ball, accuracy at the ruck, whilst providing a ball running option.
I think they’ll go for Ardie to start the first test, but hey they could surprise us.
With the six loosies they've picked and my expectation that PGS is a bit of a project, they'll have to pick four out of five. I'd think the starters for Test 1 will be AI, SC & AS - so bench has to be Hoskins or Dalton. But, you'd think all six will get a run across the three tests, somewhere - as long as we're winning.
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@SouthernMann said in All Blacks 2022:
I have a concern this team has been shelved for a long time due to a lack of marketability, instead of thinking of it as a strong pathways opportunity. The bean counters see having two high performance teams as the maximum, All Blacks and MABs. This group should be together at least twice a year. But financial constraints always mean it will be the most easy to cull.
Maybe waiting for the Silverlake deal to come through?
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“Ethan de Groot turned [Ofa] Tuungafasi inside out the other week, and then they turn around and say he's not fit enough.
"What the hell have their so-called trainers been doing all year, keeping in touch with these players??
Add Loe to the list of punters waiting in the wings for the ABs to fail to justify his opinion.
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@ACT-Crusader in fairness i do struggle with the "he's unfit" argument, im sure he could be more fit...but when i see him puffing and blowing he's often just stood up form a huge scrum or a long period of play and hes a big unit, i still see him doing the work....if im honest when i see guys chatting and laughing as soon as the whistle blows i cant help but think...could you have tried harder?
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