Bledisloe 1
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@Kirwan I think SW is more than doing enough right now to warrant his spot, BR, I'm less convinced, but I agree they should not start together, and probably shouldnt even be in the same 23 right now, although SW could add something to the lineout off the bench.
For all the talk of rebuilding we are doing, we certainly arent touching some of the parts that need it most.
Good to see Sotutu get a run, but its been almost 3 months since super rugby? Thats a long time out with a handful of NPC games since...
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@Kirwan i don't think you can play Savea and Akira in the same starting pack even behind teh england 2003 tight 5.
I don't give a shit about the chat on here. the only thing SF did was smack rucks and run straight, oh and tackle with a shoulder. Far from perfect but it made the team better. Akira might want to think about that.
I've seen nothing from Vaai at any level that says to me he is now in the top 3 locks. He's in the squad, and if he suddenly turns in to a beast at Super level then he is there to go.
We don't have a Mehrts floating around. We have two limited 10s, and a guy who can't start at the Blues in front of one of those 10s. There is no one at the other 3 teams. IIs there any evidence at all, anywhere, that says that SP is actually a better option?
DH is pretty limited, but it looks like he's the type we need between the 10 and 13 we have. Again, his role makes the team better.
Now, form says we suck this week. But i just can't see the players around that makes this team better on paper.
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@Windows97 said in Bledisloe 1:
Terrible loose forward trio - one out of position, one out of form and one out of practice.
We've fallen so far since the days of Kaino, McCaw and Read
and if Kaino and Read were out we would have had Messam and i can't remember who at 8. And people would have kicked off about how shit it was (because Messam was hugely under rated)
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@mariner4life Vito was pretty bloody handy. He went really well at 6 in the Eden Park Bledisloe in 2015 when Kaino was in a bit of a form rut.
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@KiwiMurph said in Bledisloe 1:
@mariner4life Vito was pretty bloody handy. He went really well at 6 in the Eden Park Bledisloe in 2015 when Kaino was in a bit of a form rut.
personally i would give Sotutu a much higher ceiling than Vito. So there's that
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@mariner4life Second string back then was Messam, Cane and Vito - still a lot better than what we have now. Messam had some outstanding games, particularly against the Boks. All 3 second stringers were very good and you could trust them to do the job.
I don't have confidence in the current back 3 for reasons stated above.
Still these days I don't really trust the AB's to get the job done so I guess quibbling about the loose forward trio is merely splitting hairs of discontent.
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I hope Foster and co have a plan for Retallick and Whitelock. Ideally, if they can decide on their no.6 we can put one veteran lock on the bench to manage their minutes between now and the RWC. These are the three best locks, and Vaa'i is still very young so has time to continue to develop.
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@Nepia im grasping at straws here but i thought he played much better than expected last time he played at 6?....didn;t he?
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@mariner4life said in Bledisloe 1:
@Kirwan i don't think you can play Savea and Akira in the same starting pack even behind teh england 2003 tight 5.
I don't give a shit about the chat on here. the only thing SF did was smack rucks and run straight, oh and tackle with a shoulder. Far from perfect but it made the team better. Akira might want to think about that.
See this is the silliness I'm talking about. Akira has done everything that Frizzell has done recently (with the exception of throwing away tries), including tackling hard and running hard (once through four Irish defenders for a try).
Savea and Akira have combined well on many occasions, this is a classic Fern myth brewing. One of the dumber ones too.
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Barrett's mobility should be tested under the roof against that mobile Aussie team named. Will be a good barometer.
The question for Akira this week is when is he introduced? We know Cane typically gets subbed around the 60/65 minute mark for Papali'i but it will be interesting when Akira is brought on (and for who).
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@Kiwiwomble said in Bledisloe 1:
@Nepia im grasping at straws here but i thought he played much better than expected last time he played at 6?....didn;t he?
Thats as I remember it. The consensus was he went well
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@Kiwiwomble said in Bledisloe 1:
@Nepia im grasping at straws here but i thought he played much better than expected last time he played at 6?....didn;t he?
He played well there in Ireland 1.
Looking forward to seeing how this pack performs. Good balance in the backrow. Plenty of experience and players coming into good form. Should be far too good for this Australia team.
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@KiwiMurph said in Bledisloe 1:
Barrett's mobility should be tested under the roof against that mobile Aussie team named. Will be a good barometer.
The question for Akira this week is when is he introduced? We know Cane typically gets subbed around the 60/65 minute mark for Papali'i but it will be interesting when Akira is brought on (and for who).
yeah, he definitely needs to back up his last performance at 6
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@KiwiMurph said in Bledisloe 1:
Barrett's mobility should be tested under the roof against that mobile Aussie team named. Will be a good barometer.
The question for Akira this week is when is he introduced? We know Cane typically gets subbed around the 60/65 minute mark for Papali'i but it will be interesting when Akira is brought on (and for who).
It will be interesting to see if Cane does get subbed given Ardie is not in the side. I think it’s probably still the plan, but may not be as early.
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I’m ok with the team except I would have brought Reece back. Not sure what he did to get dropped tbh other than play pretty well against Ireland.
Sotutu needs to take his opportunity. It’s entirely in his hands.
