All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider
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JGP has been a slow burn in Ireland, being used as a back up to Luke McGrath, a player who was a great white hope early in his career, at Leinster more often than not up until last year. Murray has been in decline since suffering a serious neck injury a couple of years ago, but the real reason JGP is picked is that on top of improving hugely since he arrived here he suits the style of football Farrell wants Ireland to play. He isn’t as brilliant defensively as Murray, or have the passing speed and range of Aaron Smith, but he is very quick to the breakdown, has a very decent pass, and his kicking game has improved beyond belief. He is virtually unrecognisable from the guy who arrived here a few years ago.
I’m not as convinced by Lowe, as I think he is very vulnerable defensively both technically and tactically, and I think he’s a bit unreliable when the chips are down. I would never question his commitment though.
Aki has been outstanding for us, and even in the few games where he has been a bit poor it has never been due to lack of effort or commitment, I’m not a fan of the poached player model, and along with the vast majority of Irish rugby people am very happy it’s been tightened up, but we have generally been very lucky with the character and commitment of the guys we’ve poached especially when you include the likes of Jarred Payne and CJ Stander in the mix.
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@booboo said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Tim said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Dan54 Mariner4Life's username is based on the club he played for ...
Your "only real rugby fan" act is getting rather tired.
and coached
and served on the committee for a decadebut yeah, just a TV guy with no clue.
But in Australia. What do you know about NZ rugby ... ?
Fuck all
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@kiwiinmelb said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@pakman manukau , close
I was thinking of Jonah saying he had seen his uncle’s head cut off in Otara in a gang related fracas.
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
RTS went to Otahuhu College, so did he not go to school in his area?
Played league for oatahuhu as well I’ve been told , but I think he played a bit for the scorpions when he was really young
From what I understand, he was a talented junior in both codes , may have been a case of getting into the better playing environments
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@kiwiinmelb said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
Hope Roger goes well ,
Out of curiosity, have there been any other Allblacks grow up in otara ?
Been great league players such as wiki .
Pita Alatini?
EDIT
Yes, he was from Otara. It’s mentioned in an article discussing a childhood friend who was convicted of murder: link
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@kiwiinmelb said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
RTS went to Otahuhu College, so did he not go to school in his area?
Played league for oatahuhu as well I’ve been told , but I think he played a bit for the scorpions when he was really young
I read this article after posting above. I never knew there was a RTS-Rush connection.
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
Newshub was making a big deal about Mark Robinson being at the ABs training yesterday. NZR is based in Wellington, of course.
you know if he HADN'T been there they would have said that meant something too
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@Kiwiwomble maybe he was there giving our centres some tips...
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Kiwiwomble maybe he was there giving our centres some tips...
A USB stick full of videos of Ma’a and Conrad hopefully.
Edit: Just typing that out made me shake my head. How blessed were we to have had that team?
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@JC said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Kiwiwomble maybe he was there giving our centres some tips...
A USB stick full of videos of Ma’a and Conrad hopefully.
Edit: Just typing that out made me shake my head. How blessed were we to have had that team?
The drop off was always going to be painful
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@Duluth hopefully he keeps growing his game at 13 - he has made big improvements and if he gels well with RTS that could be a primo combo for the next few years.
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@Paekakboyz said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Duluth hopefully he keeps growing his game at 13 - he has made big improvements and if he gels well with RTS that could be a primo combo for the next few years.
….for the Blues, yes….
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@Paekakboyz said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Duluth hopefully he keeps growing his game at 13 - he has made big improvements and if he gels well with RTS that could be a primo combo for the next few years.
The only way that is going to happen is if we get a real kicking game from our fullback. Maybe I'm the only one, but I think Jordie is playing like shit / not being used effectively at fullback.
We could probably really use Dmac's kicking game and ability to move to first receiver, as Barrett seems to be essentially at fullback during the kicking duels.
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@Duluth said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
Maybe Perofeta is worth looking at. BB and him already have that combination
That's an excellent point.
I see why they've brought in Havili, but I wonder whether we would be better have Jordie up in the midfield and a more effective game driving fullback.
Hopefully we'll see some effective kicks in play from Havili because we need them.
Edit: JK was making sense on the breakdown pod today, for those who subscribe.
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@Dice said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@kiwiinmelb said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@pakman manukau , close
Isn't he from Mangere?
I think Tupou Vaai might be from Otara.
Yep Jonah was from Mangere. He lived next street down from me, Quennell Ave I think.
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@Paekakboyz said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Duluth hopefully he keeps growing his game at 13 - he has made big improvements and if he gels well with RTS that could be a primo combo for the next few years.
Yep agreed. I think we can safely say barring some unforeseen incident or rise of some other option, the days of Rieko on the wing are over.
At super level, RTS’s lack of a kicking game isn’t a worry. At test level it’s a massive hole so like Nonu before him RTS needs to develop one pronto.
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