All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2
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@Canes4life said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
@Yeahtheboys and to not even have DMac on the bench aye. WTF is Fozzie smoking?
Same thing as Gregor, it is all part of the 'master plan'. Obviously he misses the fact that the players he mentioned were only given a go when injury forced fosters hand
Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax have been the starting props since this time last year, and Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane may not have had many games together in the midfield, but theirs is a partnership that appears to be growing at an exponential rate.
The selection for this test is very much all about good management rather than good luck...
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@bayimports said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
The other point that I am concerned about is that is Jordan going to be ok to travel to France later this year with his medical condition? I really like Will Jordan, but i think it is a fair ask. If he cannot travel then why play him this year? Hopefully this means he will travel, however I am not convinced Fozzie has thought about this
Chuck him on a cruise ship to Europe after this weekend. He should get there in time for the French game.
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I suspect this will be our heaviest front row on the bench ever this week? Anyone think of one larger?
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Jeez. That 23 was a surprise. Here we go round the mulberry bush again - who said Rotation was dead?
initial thoughts were that DMac was injured, but no, he's been dropped. WTAF? At least we'll find out if Ritchie's poor play last week was down to Christie. Speaking of which, can only assume he's there for defence or they think he'll partner his Blues teammate BB, better when the latter moves to 10 (spot the flaw..). No problems with Telea and Jordan though. Think the battle out wide will be one to watch.
Kinda see the rationale for Sami T coming off the bench for impact if not agree with it. Would have given Lord a bench spot but apart from that pretty happy as that's a decent pack. Let's see if 6/7/8 do as well as last week.
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Really hope to see Williams and Samisoni on about the 50 min mark. Could be awesome.
Personally would have DMac and Roigard in the 23.
Biggest game in ages. Amped.
All Blacks, All Blacks, All Blac ... -
@Chris-B said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
That being the case - and this is harsh - giving those guys game time is potentially wasted time (except for the possibility of injury call ups).
I’m less concerned about this. The way things tend to go at a RWC, it can be quite dynamic. There’s planning for current games but also the longer game planning is occurring right now too.
Playing player x doesn’t necessarily mean they are going or vice versa. I agree that the majority of the squad is largely picked, but there are probably a few still to be determined for whatever reasons. And that wouldn’t be different from previous campaigns.
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Kind of funny that a year ago we couldn't string a front row together. Now is a potential weapon.
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Key Test in more ways than one.
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@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
Kind of funny that a year ago we couldn't string a front row together. Now is a potential weapon.
I think the plan was to play the experienced folk as long as we could to give the young crop time to get up to speed and prepared. I think that was reasonable, the problem was that the form of those experienced heads.
We are in a good position with a number of young props putting their hands up. Plenty to work on too.
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@reprobate said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
@Chris-B ...exactly, it is concerning. And if Havili had not been injured, or the props, we wouldn't know who our best options were at 1, 3, or 12 either. It would appear 'we haven't even got 2 figured out yet despite that being blindingly obvious for about 18 months.
Mate there is the thing WE don't understand. WE don't need to know who the best options are, the coaching team do, and I see no reason to think they don't. I wouldn't mind guessing they will know exactly who they are expecting to be in starting 15 for WC (apart from huge drop off in form or injury) and are not only confirming things , but also trying to make sure there is cover as well.
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@Chris-B said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
@gt12 said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
They don't appear to trust most of the new boys, so I'm ready to stand by my point that Roigard, Finau, and McCloud will likely make way for players from the ABXV when we get to the WC. I reckon Akira, Weber, and ?? will get the call up for that squad.
I'm not even slightly surprised those guys haven't got a run yet.
This is our biggest test of the pre-RWC - not really a time for rookies.
They've got to axe some players from the 36 man squad and there's some injured guys potentially to come back - e.g. Moody, Havili and Blackadder.
Barring injuries, I don't see McLeod going to RWC - I think it will be Jordie, Reiko, ALB and Dave.
I think Finau is pretty unlikely, because SBarrett and Frizz are likely their sixes and Blackadder and Akira are floating around.
That being the case - and this is harsh - giving those guys game time is potentially wasted time (except for the possibility of injury call ups).
Youre making my point for me then. They should be with the ABXV where they probably belong.
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@KiwiMurph File it, I have
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@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
Really hope to see Williams and Samisoni on about the 50 min mark. Could be awesome.
That's the key point. Sami needs to be playing a minimum of 30 mins if on the bench. And Christie to stay there...
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
Except for it taking multiple injuries and nearly 3 years before they tried Jordie at 12. That's a reason.
IIRC Jordie was one of the few successes (at 15) in '21 so they clearly saw him staying in that role, which isn't unreasonable.
As a matter of interest, how many SR games had JB played at 12 pre-2021?
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@Bovidae yep, the best hooker in our squad is wasted if he isn't playing 30+ minutes, we know Smith can play 80, and if this is tight, will probably play close to that, but he shouldn't be.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
IIRC Jordie was one of the few successes (at 15) in '21
He was first in the cumulative TSF MOTM voting that year. So plenty of people here thought he went well
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks Vs Springboks RC Week 2:
Really hope to see Williams and Samisoni on about the 50 min mark. Could be awesome.
That's the key point. Sami needs to be playing a minimum of 30 mins if on the bench. And Christie to stay there...
I'm shaking my head at Christie's selection. Used to be unspectacular but solid, now he's morphed into spectacularly fragile. Sure, there's a risk in picking a newbie for a big game but there's abigger risk with Christie I feel.
(Christie will now play a blinder and win the game in the 79th minute...)
Gregor Paul: The All Blacks selections that hint at Foster's World Cup plan
