Foster, Robertson etc
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Both very good midfield combos but what this highlights for me is that such combos are quite rare. You often get a great inside centre OR a great outside centre but rarely both at the same time for any length of time.
Carling and Guscott for England is probably the only one of ours I could name. We had Greenwood for a number of years who was great but the 12 was either a rotating doorway or Tindall - solid but no world beater.
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Nonu is as great as DC and McCaw and I’ll fight anyone who claims otherwise
He and Smith are the greatest midfield pair to wear the AB jersey
Some older guys would put the Bill Osborne/Bruce Robertson combination as a serious alternative to any other one offered.
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@MiketheSnow said in Foster:
Nonu is as great as DC and McCaw and I’ll fight anyone who claims otherwise
He and Smith are the greatest midfield pair to wear the AB jersey
Nope
Bunce and Little for me
I know it's the wrong way round but if reads better
It's not even close, Nonu's skills blow Little's out of the water, Smith easily matches Bunce.
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Nonu is as great as DC and McCaw and I’ll fight anyone who claims otherwise
He and Smith are the greatest midfield pair to wear the AB jersey
Some older guys would put the Bill Osborne/Bruce Robertson combination as a serious alternative to any other one offered.
Yep. They were great, but I think the Conrad/Ma'a combo was a stronger one.
Bruce Robertson was similar to Conrad but probably a bit better (particularly on attack), but Ma'a is fair bit ahead of Bill Osborne. And that's no reflection on Conrad or Bill - far from it.
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@MiketheSnow said in Foster:
Nonu is as great as DC and McCaw and I’ll fight anyone who claims otherwise
He and Smith are the greatest midfield pair to wear the AB jersey
Nope
Bunce and Little for me
I know it's the wrong way round but if reads better
It's not even close, Nonu's skills blow Little's out of the water, Smith easily matches Bunce.
Hmmm
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Bunce was great but there was real guile to Ma'a's play which Bunce didn't have so much
If you check out the last minute Ireland win a few years back there's a point where the ball is passed from the RHS and is bobbling towards Nonu. Rather than rush up, he waits for the ball to come to him which confuses the defence, then runs a 45 degree angle, feigns a pass, straightens up slightly, ties up 3 defenders and two passes later Crotty scores.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Foster:
Bunce was great but there was real guile to Ma'a's play which Bunce didn't have so much
If you check out the last minute Ireland win a few years back there's a point where the ball is passed from the RHS and is bobbling towards Nonu. Rather than rush up, he waits for the ball to come to him which confuses the defence, then runs a 45 degree angle, feigns a pass, straightens up slightly, ties up 3 defenders and two passes later Crotty scores.
So Nonu and Bunce it is
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If I was a Time Lord, Nonu & Bruce Robertson. Robertson at his best
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@MiketheSnow said in Foster:
@MiketheSnow said in Foster:
Nonu is as great as DC and McCaw and I’ll fight anyone who claims otherwise
He and Smith are the greatest midfield pair to wear the AB jersey
Nope
Bunce and Little for me
I know it's the wrong way round but if reads better
It's not even close, Nonu's skills blow Little's out of the water, Smith easily matches Bunce.
Hmmm
Like I said, easily.
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@MiketheSnow said in Foster:
Nonu is as great as DC and McCaw and I’ll fight anyone who claims otherwise
He and Smith are the greatest midfield pair to wear the AB jersey
Nope
Bunce and Little for me
I know it's the wrong way round but if reads better
It's not even close, Nonu's skills blow Little's out of the water, Smith easily matches Bunce.
Ooof, I'll give you Nonu over Walter, but I thought Bunce was special. I have a lot of time for Smith, don't get me wrong. But Bunce just had something extra.
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@MiketheSnow said in Foster:
Nonu is as great as DC and McCaw and I’ll fight anyone who claims otherwise
He and Smith are the greatest midfield pair to wear the AB jersey
Nope
Bunce and Little for me
I know it's the wrong way round but if reads better
It's not even close, Nonu's skills blow Little's out of the water, Smith easily matches Bunce.
Ooof, I'll give you Nonu over Walter, but I thought Bunce was special. I have a lot of time for Smith, don't get me wrong. But Bunce just had something extra.
Kinda like Smith had something extra.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Foster:
If I was a Time Lord, Nonu & Bruce Robertson. Robertson at his best
Based on those 'highlights', still Bunce for me
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@MiketheSnow said in Foster:
@MiketheSnow said in Foster:
Nonu is as great as DC and McCaw and I’ll fight anyone who claims otherwise
He and Smith are the greatest midfield pair to wear the AB jersey
Nope
Bunce and Little for me
I know it's the wrong way round but if reads better
It's not even close, Nonu's skills blow Little's out of the water, Smith easily matches Bunce.
Hmmm
Like I said, easily.
Great tune
Great defensive centre
Great at putting himself outside the defender to receive the pass, often the scoring pass
Great finisherWould still have Bunce
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@MiketheSnow said in Foster:
Based on those 'highlights', still Bunce for me
No highlights reel for Robertson sadly, just a few extended Test highlights.
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@Bones he would kept DC at 12 and played Mils at 13.
Nonu at 12 is a certainty for me, 13 could be anyone of Smith, Bunce and Robertson, but like Little/Bunce, its the combo of Nonu/Smith that probably takes it for me.
Individually I loved Bunce, saved his best for AB rugby, but what you hear about Robertson makes me wish I could have seen him play (and have a soft spot for him as I have got to know him personally as well and such a nice guy) obviously Conrad was often compared to Robertson, which probably says it all.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Foster:
Nonu is as great as DC and McCaw and I’ll fight anyone who claims otherwise
He and Smith are the greatest midfield pair to wear the AB jersey
Some older guys would put the Bill Osborne/Bruce Robertson combination as a serious alternative to any other one offered.
Yep. They were great, but I think the Conrad/Ma'a combo was a stronger one.
Bruce Robertson was similar to Conrad but probably a bit better (particularly on attack), but Ma'a is fair bit ahead of Bill Osborne. And that's no reflection on Conrad or Bill - far from it.
I remember when Osbourne was selected , he was a very different type of 12 than we had been used to at the time ,
More of a 12/13 type rather than a 12/10 type if that makes sense, more of an inside centre than a second five , it was a breath of fresh air to the shape and look of our attack at the time
