All Blacks 2023
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2023:
I'm not sure why we are so obsessed with having a power winger. Ireland and SA don't.
because 10 years ago the ABs liked a 2nd fullback and a power winger. And some people can't move on from that.
this is 100% fair except we do need to remember if we dont have a power winger....then we cant play like we have one...everyone remember Bridge trying to do crash balls of the back of lineouts...and getting wasted...or bridge only having to bowl over one dude to have a run at the line...and not doing that...horses for courses
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Chiefs have done OK with a fullback/wing on one side and a speed/agility guy on the other. Works well if you also want your 15 to get involved.
If Telea played 11 you'd get a similar mix with Jordan on the other side (except Jordan's most effective work isn't on the fringes) -
@friedrugby said in All Blacks 2023:
@Kiwiwomble I'd hardly call Jordan weak though. Telea isn't a kicking option, and at test level, teams want two kicking options in the back three. The only way around it would be to pick Sullivan/Fainga'anuku/Nareki on the left wing.
Stephenson then?
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@Crucial said in All Blacks 2023:
Yeah, the 170cm 80 kg bloke is the power winger we've been searching for.
175cm and an extra kilogram of oomph.
https://www.chiefs.co.nz/player/damian-mckenzie -
Bringing this over from the `Chiefs thread
@Kirwan said in SF: Chiefs vs. Brumbies:
@Crucial said in SF: Chiefs vs. Brumbies:
@nostrildamus said in SF: Chiefs vs. Brumbies:
@Crucial said in SF: Chiefs vs. Brumbies:
@friedrugby said in SF: Chiefs vs. Brumbies:
I think Finau probably fits into the category of good Super player, but not quite test level... Luke Jacobson is the man for the ABs IMO.
Why not both?
Jacobson//ABS, as a 6/8 or 8/6 is he competing with Akira or is Akira competing for a spot with Sotutu? (Who IMO is a better or more experienced 8 but only an 8).
Sotutu seems to have gone off the boil a bit (or at least comparably with his earlier season work). Akira playing well but, he has already shown that he's not the answer in the AB 6 jersey. Maybe he'll do a Kaino like change and set better platforms instead of looking for quarter gaps when carrying. I want a 6 that complements Sami T so we get double punch ups and go forward ball.
Such a poor take on both players, you have to ignore the last 5 or 6 games to get to that opinion. And of course the solution is untried Chiefs players, or failed Chiefs players like Jacobson.
Here's an example of how the Blues are playing closer to the ruck. Excellent that Akira has been moved to this role to get some go forward but it still doesn't cut the test standard required of a hard drive. He looks to fend, doesn't pump his legs and gets taken around the ankles to fall over with his feet back alongside the ruck.
Yes , I am being critical of something that was working for the Blues, but when he does this in black it adds to the ineffectiveness of the forwards. Head down, power through the legs and a drive to make post contact metres is what is required.
But hey, keep telling everyone they have it wrong. There's a reason he has been in and out of the side. -
i guess he is quite tall
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@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2023:
i guess he is quite tall
And being on the wing he wont have anyone open at the line that he wont pass to.
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@Stargazer said in All Blacks 2023:
@Nepia That final SR QF minute will haunt him forever now.
If he puts in a good run in internationals it will mostly be forgotten I think.
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@Crucial said in All Blacks 2023:
Bringing this over from the `Chiefs thread
@Kirwan said in SF: Chiefs vs. Brumbies:
@Crucial said in SF: Chiefs vs. Brumbies:
@nostrildamus said in SF: Chiefs vs. Brumbies:
@Crucial said in SF: Chiefs vs. Brumbies:
@friedrugby said in SF: Chiefs vs. Brumbies:
I think Finau probably fits into the category of good Super player, but not quite test level... Luke Jacobson is the man for the ABs IMO.
Why not both?
Jacobson//ABS, as a 6/8 or 8/6 is he competing with Akira or is Akira competing for a spot with Sotutu? (Who IMO is a better or more experienced 8 but only an 8).
Sotutu seems to have gone off the boil a bit (or at least comparably with his earlier season work). Akira playing well but, he has already shown that he's not the answer in the AB 6 jersey. Maybe he'll do a Kaino like change and set better platforms instead of looking for quarter gaps when carrying. I want a 6 that complements Sami T so we get double punch ups and go forward ball.
Such a poor take on both players, you have to ignore the last 5 or 6 games to get to that opinion. And of course the solution is untried Chiefs players, or failed Chiefs players like Jacobson.
Here's an example of how the Blues are playing closer to the ruck. Excellent that Akira has been moved to this role to get some go forward but it still doesn't cut the test standard required of a hard drive. He looks to fend, doesn't pump his legs and gets taken around the ankles to fall over with his feet back alongside the ruck.
Yes , I am being critical of something that was working for the Blues, but when he does this in black it adds to the ineffectiveness of the forwards. Head down, power through the legs and a drive to make post contact metres is what is required.
But hey, keep telling everyone they have it wrong. There's a reason he has been in and out of the side.I really had high hopes for him but I don't see it. He hasn't got the body of work behind him to justify his selection over others.
He's a 7's player. Some athlete, but lacks the head down/arse up tearaway we need.
Finau optically does exactly what we need. Anyone who dares come down his channel gets folded like a deck chair. He is into everything.
The likes of Doris, Van Der Flier, Aldritt put Akira in the Ha'penny place. Ireland have 6 or 7 back rows that would walk all over him.
We know how the story ends if we pick him in a crunch game....
Possibly a good bench option against tired defences. He is more Sione Lauaki than Jerry Collins.
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@Kirwan One try doesn't make him. He had a fair extended crack two years ago, then went missing on the Northern Tour. The issue with Akira isn't he doesn't do the hard yards, he is a classic bully boy. Like it or loathe it, Shannon Frizell was the All Blacks best blindside last year. Has been crap in Super Rugby is the main issue.
With Ardie and Cane, we basically just need a tough bastard who will take a million carries right up the guts, and make a million tackles. We don't need someone happy to roam in the wide channels, ala Tom Robinson, or even dear I say it, that seems to be Finau's role for the Chiefs. Would be a bolter to beat all bolters, but after a bit of a slow start to the year, Christian Lio-Willie has carried impressively up the centre, and has made plenty of tackles. Made the NZ XV squad... all I'm saying is keep an eye on it.
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@friedrugby years out of date take. His work rate the past few years has been good, certainly better than Frizzell who is a non entity at Test level.
Akira has had several games at Test level where he’s done well, like the clip above (assume you didn’t read the stats). SF has had zero.
And this year, after a long injury break, has made an immediate impact for the Blues.
Lots of tackles, notable improvements in cleaning out rucks, and is running hard to to the ball. One recent example had him bouncing off a hooker, another set up a great try for Clarke. Plenty of other examples.
All the good stuff people have been asking for he’s now doing.
Stuff
