All Blacks vs Wales
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks vs Wales:
Will be interesting when Havili and ALB come on and at what positions.
It certainly covers all bases especially with ALB back and we have genuine centre cover. Quinn or LF may be that player in the future.
Clarke or Reece get injured or replaced, Ioane to wing and ALB to centre.
Richie or Beaudie and Havili comes on and Jordie moves to fullback.
I know many don’t like the two changes when a replacement comes on, but such is the game these days given the bench is not just about injury replacements. Versatility is critical with both starters and bench players.
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strong team, if this team cant make a statement then some serious questions will be asked
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@ACT-Crusader yeah thats me, I hate it
I also can't see what Havili provides in impact. He's, at best, a solid no-frills starter. I would like a bench option who has the ability to blow a tight game open. He's an old fashioned reserve selection.
Would prefer ALB and an outside back with a bit of power.
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But, as they have shown, the selectors know their best 23, and they are repeatedly picking it. I respect their apparent clarity of thought.
I expect us to win.
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Wales:
This could be a Ryan selection. His default choice for hooker is someone from Canterbury.
About time aye. I’ve been posting my teams on here for years and finally they’ve come to their senses. Long may it continue.
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks vs Wales:
But, as they have shown, the selectors know their best 23, and they are repeatedly picking it. I respect their apparent clarity of thought.
I expect us to win.
it's the right option. It's high risk, but we are not playing at a high enough level to rotate.
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@nzzp I don't reckon it is.
Thr guys bubbling under aren't debutantes they have solid minutes under them and will slot in.
Sure if we lose like 4 or 5 at the same time it'll get ropey but that's the same for everyone
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@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks vs Wales:
But, as they have shown, the selectors know their best 23, and they are repeatedly picking it. I respect their apparent clarity of thought.
I expect us to win.
it's the right option. It's high risk, but we are not playing at a high enough level to rotate.
I think they’ve done a pretty decent job in trying to maintain a fairly stable 23 when there seems to have been more disruption this season than the two previous. We’ve had injuries, illness, suspensions, personal issues, family matters - all part and parcel with the game and team sport, but there seems to have been more of it this year. And it’s the illness and personal/family matters that are probably more disruptive because at least with an injury you can plan rehab recovery etc. Those other things are less predictable in terms of return dates.
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@nzzp I don't reckon it is.
Up to a few matches ago, we had no clue what our best 23 was. FFS dropping Sami for Ireland 3 still boggles my brain - we were playing like we had a 2015 All Black squad, when the reality was we had a couple of locked in players (Smith, RIoane) and a whole lotta arguments.
Picking a 23 and letting combinations form is a solid move. It's high risk - but I think we're backed into a corner. Otherwise you're doing what we did in 2019 and going into the RWC without settling on a 6 or midfield.
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@ACT-Crusader yeah thats me, I hate it
I also can't see what Havili provides in impact. He's, at best, a solid no-frills starter. I would like a bench option who has the ability to blow a tight game open. He's an old fashioned reserve selection.
Would prefer ALB and an outside back with a bit of power.
Once Will Jordan comes back and Reece goes to the bench, I expect ALB covers both midfield positions and Havili drops out of the 23.
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@Frank said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@ACT-Crusader yeah thats me, I hate it
I also can't see what Havili provides in impact. He's, at best, a solid no-frills starter. I would like a bench option who has the ability to blow a tight game open. He's an old fashioned reserve selection.
Would prefer ALB and an outside back with a bit of power.
Once Will Jordan comes back and Reece goes to the bench, I expect ALB covers both midfield positions and Havili drops out of the 23.
ALB covers both positions already. It is fullback options without shuffling everyone around that we lack right at this moment.
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I can understand hooker rotation if they are managing minutes/niggles to a degree and yet another opportunity for Taylor to try and improve this season. However I would expect our best hooker ST to be starting against England, I just hope that will still happen.
I hope Mounga has also spent a lot of the week working on his tactical kicking, he was just as poor as Christie last week. Happy with the backline though given who was available.
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@ARHS said in All Blacks vs Wales:
I get the hooker rotation, and like the loose forward balance this week. The rest picks itself. Would have thought the media interest point might be the return of Brad Weber on the bench....
Agree. With Weber I guess this might be the chance the selectors are after to see what he offers still at this level.
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@Crucial I saw a comment on SM by a Welsh fan claiming the roof should have been left open for all the legends in heaven to witness an historic Welsh victory!
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@Crucial I saw a comment on SM by a Welsh fan claiming the roof should have been left open for all the legends in heaven to witness an historic Welsh victory!
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@Crucial said in All Blacks vs Wales:
Not sure if anyone has mentioned but the roof will be closed according to Foster
At least they know whether it's open or closed this time. Who says Foster isn't making progress?
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@Crucial said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Wales:
The omens are not good.
England referee Wayne Barnes will mark his 100th Test at Cardiff on Sunday (NZT) by starting the game with the whistle used in the famous 1905 Test between Wales and the All Blacks.
Wales won 3-0, but the game has forever been remembered for the non-awarding of a try to All Blacks centre Bob Deans who maintained, until his premature death in 1908 from complications after an appendix operation, that he had scored a fair try.Barnes, Cardiff, Deans.....what could go wrong?
And a whistle that doesn’t work
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@Kirwan said in All Blacks vs Wales:
Pleased they are sticking with JB at 12, could be the way forward from here on.
I can understand the workload thing for ST, but Taylor is a big drop down these days.
Interesting that Christie can get dropped for a poor performance against Japan, but Frizzell stinking up the joint does not. Made no impact with his supposed power game against a pretty small Japan side.
Similar to JB at 12, it's time to play Akira at 6 - same with Dalton at 7 and start building that combo. I like what the other posters above mentioned with Sotutu being on the bench instead, gives options for real impact from the bench combined with impact from the start.
Dropped? Was he ever a realistic chance to start?
