All Blacks 2023
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@Bones Curiously, who would be your All Blacks loose forwards. If I was picking mine, I'd be going with Cane, Savea, Papalii, Jacobson, Lio-Willie, Sotutu & one other. Play Russian Roulette with Frizell and A Ioane if you please.
Has struggled with injuries a bit, but Gardiner should also be in the picture, though probably after the World Cup.
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@Kiwiwomble I think it is hilairous that we got dumped out the World Cup four years ago, largely because we picked a lock on the blindside (S Barrett) and a first five at fullback (B Barrett) and four years later we look set to do the same thing all over again expecting a different outcome.
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@friedrugby SBarrett has improved a lot at 6 since then i think
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@Kiwiwomble Playing guys out of position very rarely works though... and the other issue I have with it, is we are already relying on two old locks. What happens if Whitelock's achilles is fucked, are we going to chuck our whole gameplan out the window?
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@friedrugby i agree, i would rather he concentrated on lock but if the alternatives are SF/AI then it might be the lesser of two evils
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@friedrugby said in All Blacks 2023:
Lio-Willie
Yuck man, who's rolling the dice? I fail to see what he's done to go past the dozen other openside size loosies. Might as well select Christie, Harmon and Havili-Talitui 😉
Foster won't, but I'd be looking at Ah Kuoi, and you know not selecting Lio-Willie because there's proven ABs like Sotutu and Ioane that can play instead.
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@Bones said in All Blacks 2023:
@friedrugby said in All Blacks 2023:
Lio-Willie
Yuck man, who's rolling the dice? I fail to see what he's done to go past the dozen other openside size loosies. Might as well select Christie, Harmon and Havili-Talitui 😉
Foster won't, but I'd be looking at Ah Kuoi, and you know not selecting Lio-Willie because there's proven ABs like Sotutu and Ioane that can play instead.
Sotutu has had a bit of a disrupted year, but I feel he has never let the All Blacks down... if they want a big body surely he would be worth a look.
I'm hot on the Lio-Willie train though, purely because I think we underestimate Jason Ryan's sway in selecting the forwards. I think he is someone who has done the carrying hard yards if that is what they are looking for. Ah Kuoi is a lock not a blindside. Harmon could well be in there, and as a Landers fan I'd love that, and on form it is warranted, but he doesn't solve the issues of balance. Playing Ardie at 7 would give more scope to building a trio, but we won't do it...
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pick them all, 15 loosies, addresses all the other questions like midfield and wing at the same time..."who playing there?"..."a loosie"...easy
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@Kiwiwomble Has been said before that Frizell would be a better midfielder than Paea and Gregory...
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@friedrugby said in All Blacks 2023:
@Kiwiwomble Has been said before that Frizell would be a better midfielder than Paea and Gregory...
Same impact and pace as Paea, wouldn't notice the difference there... better handling though.
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@Bones They just don't seem to play him though. I've never seen a player pigeon-holed as a number eight and a number eight only, so with the existence of Savea it is tough for him. His ball skills are incredible for a forward though, so at the very least he should be on the bench.
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@friedrugby said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones They just don't seem to play him though. I've never seen a player pigeon-holed as a number eight and a number eight only, so with the existence of Savea it is tough for him. His ball skills are incredible for a forward though, so at the very least he should be on the bench.
And yet you're not selecting him in your list above...?
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@friedrugby well he has proved he is a lineout option for Northland, I thnk the Highlanders even chucked him up once too?
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@Stargazer said in All Blacks 2023:
The discussions in this and many other threads are really like this: going in circles! Constantly repeating, never going anywhere!
i do feel like you could be talking about any and possibly all threads there.....
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@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2023:
@Stargazer said in All Blacks 2023:
The discussions in this and many other threads are really like this: going in circles! Constantly repeating, never going anywhere!
i do feel like you could be talking about any and possibly all threads there.....
It's weird eh, might as well rename it a sports forum.
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@taniwharugby Chalk it in: Scott Gregory starting blindside for Italy at the 2031 Rugby World Cup.
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@friedrugby said in All Blacks 2023:
@taniwharugby Chalk it in: Scott Gregory starting blindside for Italy at the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Fixed. They'll find a secret heritage link.
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@Bovidae think they said Billy harmon was 100% chance last time!....they also said someone had dropped to 100%
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@friedrugby said in All Blacks 2023:
I personally think Frizell has been superior, because when he has his good games, he does the hard yards. Akira Ioane never has and never will. Does it against the Aussies, goes missing versus the Boks.
My candidate for hyperbole of the year award! And you do realize "never has" means he can't have done it against the Aussies?
Oh well I will leave you to the Blues fans on the above but I will ask this question:
Three of the six loose forwards will be Cane, Savea & Papalii. I think despite his great form, that probably rules out Harmon, because it would be a bizarre balance.
How many times has Foster and co. worried about loosie balance?
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@Bovidae I don't believe it is a 50-50 flip of the dice between Harmon and Ioane (and I'm a Harmon fan).
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@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2023:
.they also said someone had dropped to 100%
Yes dropped from 100% in the squad and starting, to 100% in the squad but not starting. It is also focussed on the weekend just gone's performance. It's not tricky
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@Machpants tricky enough i missed it i guess i just find it a bit silly, anyone saying anything is 100% when they dont actually have any influence over it, its just an opinion piece dolled up to look like facts
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@Stargazer said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones So sports forums, by your definition, are repetitive?
Bang goes the illusion you even have a spreadsheet of my posts.
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On locks - was really impressed with Lord last week. Really hope he can stay injury free, was like a young Brodie!
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@nzzp said in All Blacks 2023:
I think his only real weakness at hte moment is his ongoing propensity to run upright. He had success at lower levels doing it, but it's a terrible habit for higher honours.
That said, he's had storming games in black; MOTM on more than one occasion, but you wouldn't know it with the blinders some folk wear.
Yep. He's come along hugely in the last 2-3 years and his propensity for dickheadedness has almost vanished. He's clearly worked hard so credit to him and the coaching team for that. Some of his D this year has been fantastic.
If there's any criticism it's that he he seems to go off the boil at times in Tests and you get the sense can still lose his composure at times.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2023:
you get the sense can still lose his composure at times.
I think it's maybe a hangover from his "bad" years. I'd thought he'd been starting to get niggly again, but there's a lot less handbags and seems to be more measured - he's not half as bad as Coles anyway.
As soon as I see him scruffing someone's hair though, I'm raising my scope.
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I am not convinced by Lio-Willie. Big workrate but not big enough physically if you have to face the French or SA loose forwards, especially when you already have two smallish (Cane and Savea) players.
I am not convinced either by Scott Barrett playing with the 6 jersey, as Iose showed it two weeks ago. -
@Chris-B said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bovidae I reckon he will be. Fozzie happily picked two rookies last year.
My main question mark is Christie or Weber?
Is Folau out of the equation?
I reckon it will be the hardest decision. I hope Roigard because he’s an abrasive type and whilst not the finished product, he has all the ingredients. But taking a rookie has some risk.
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks 2023:
@Chris-B said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bovidae I reckon he will be. Fozzie happily picked two rookies last year.
My main question mark is Christie or Weber?
Is Folau out of the equation?
I reckon it will be the hardest decision. I hope Roigard because he’s an abrasive type and whilst not the finished product, he has all the ingredients. But taking a rookie has some risk.
That's why you select Roigard and give him some tests before the RWC. Need to see if he can handle test match footy. See NMS 2015.
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@KiwiMurph Nehe is a bit of an outlier though. Plus wing and halfback are very different propositions when going into a RWC given how the majority of knock out footy is played. Pressure on all players to perform but the halfbacks role is where you need a bit of nous and experience given so much relies on them.
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@ACT-Crusader Folau only has 2 tests so far anyway and Roigard started all year for Canes and played well in a knockout game vs Brumbies.
As a Blues fan Christie scares the hell out of me so they are going to have to go with someone.
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@Bones said in All Blacks 2023:
On locks - was really impressed with Lord last week. Really hope he can stay injury free, was like a young Brodie!
Lord will be a Chiefs starter next season but I'd be surprised if he makes the RWC squad if all locks are fit. Next year though...
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2023:
On locks - was really impressed with Lord last week. Really hope he can stay injury free, was like a young Brodie!
Lord will be a Chiefs starter next season but I'd be surprised if he makes the RWC squad if all locks are fit. Next year though...
I think he's already better than Tupou Vaa'i and has a far higher ceiling. If he can stay injury free over the next few weeks, I would much rather see him selected for the RWC than Vaa'i.
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2023:
On locks - was really impressed with Lord last week. Really hope he can stay injury free, was like a young Brodie!
Lord will be a Chiefs starter next season but I'd be surprised if he makes the RWC squad if all locks are fit. Next year though...
I can see us with 5 locks, with Barrett covering 6.
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