All Blacks 2023
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@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2023:
How long have we been looking for a new Kaino or have had a settled 6 - let alone a settled 6/7/8 combination? Beggars belief.
Does it though?
The way I see it is that they’ve tried a number of players, some given pretty decent stints to come good or fit in. Poor form, injuries, changes at 7 and 8 have all been contributing factors to why we haven’t settled.
Balance of the trio is important and physical attributes are critical, but IMO the blindside position has become the most difficult position to fill in a pack because there’s this mentality of “flexibility” in the position or a horses for courses approach. So often we hear, should it be a bruiser, a workhorse, a 6.5, a lock/6 type because of the lineout, a ranging ball runner.
Look at all the different players we have started there since 2000, Thorne, Randell, Flavell, Collins, Gibbes, Kaino, Lauaki, Rodders, Thomson, Read, Messam, Vito, Luatua, Dixon, Squire, Fifita, Frizell, Akira, Ardie, Barrett, Blackadder, Jacobson.
And not to mention the one offs like Tiatia, MacDonald, Holah, Masoe, McCaw, Papali’i.
Not just the sheer number of different players but the variety of skill sets is pretty different too.
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It would work if they stuck with the Kaino McCaw Read (til 2015) types. Core areas:
6. Smashes tackles/rucks, and scares people
7. Steals ball, links, and works hard
8. Can range wide, useful in l/o and fast off the backPaps or Cane cover that 7, Ardie the 8. We need a Kaino type at 6. But in SR and everywhere they swap so much and the roles are blurred that the simplicity of the trio covering different things is now lost in NZ rugby
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@Machpants said in All Blacks 2023:
It would work if they stuck with the Kaino McCaw Read (til 2015) types. Core areas:
6. Smashes tackles/rucks, and scares people
7. Steals ball, links, and works hard
8. Can range wide, useful in l/o and fast off the backIt would work if we simply had an all time great loose forward trio?
Ardie is nothing like Read and you can't just replace a Kaino - the guy was the prototypical modern 6.
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2023:
@Machpants said in All Blacks 2023:
It would work if they stuck with the Kaino McCaw Read (til 2015) types. Core areas:
6. Smashes tackles/rucks, and scares people
7. Steals ball, links, and works hard
8. Can range wide, useful in l/o and fast off the backIt would work if we simply had an all time great loose forward trio?
Ardie is nothing like Read and you can't just replace a Kaino - the guy was the prototypical modern 6.
I'm not saying that they are the same or as good, but what the core roles are. Even during the era of those 3 the 3WM tried Vito, a wide running 8, in 6 for no reason at all. He would have been a better AB the Read if he had been played in the right position, as was shown by his dominance up North. But no, gotta muck with core roles and positions.
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@Machpants But at 6 they've tried numerous players that have shown glimpses or the potential of what you describe in core roles etc at lower levels - Squire, Akira, Frizell, Dixon, Blackadder, Jacobson etc with no one grabbing the jersey and making it his.
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Good point, but I think we should have settled on a decent 6 (poss. 2 depending on game type) who form an effective unit with 7/8 by now.
Seems we've had almost 2 RWC cycles since we've had any semblance of a settled trio.
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2023:
@Machpants But at 6 they've tried numerous players that have shown glimpses or the potential of what you describe in core roles etc at lower levels - Squire, Akira, Frizell, Dixon, Blackadder, Jacobson etc with no one grabbing the jersey and making it his.
I realise but several of those are not Kaino/Jerry types. So they shouldn't have been tried in 6, elsewhere if they were good enough
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2023:
I wonder if anyone on the bubble played themselves in/out of the squad tonight.
The Crusaders did what I expected them to at the breakdown which made Christie ineffective. Nock looked much better.
F Christie played himself out.
Faingaanuku played himself in.
Think that's probably the best we can hope for from Foster.
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@Steven-Harris Tighthead. Had a great day in the scrum last time Chiefs played Crusaders.
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