RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland
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@stodders well we will find out, only thing must be experience on Finlay's side mite get him over the line ,as for Talea if he's out that's huge loss , Leister is quality but makes alot of errors and I worry about his pace and slowness to turn and chase at test level big matches, If I'm correct he played Ireland last season then basically disappeared after that series, and the other bench rumour Newell over Nepo just can't see it ,both De Groot and Lomax haven't played significant minutes for a while now, must b temptation to start Ofa,Nepo with De Groot,Lomax on bench,still think Newell is a way off yet at test level big matches, ok to look good against minnows ,Ireland different beast
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@chimoaus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
That is very interesting to see just how many minutes the Ireland top team have had. Shows how important their core players are but also shows why they are so well drilled and organised, they play a shitload of minutes together which simply can't be earnt on the training field.
To labour the point, 14 of the 23 are from Leinster so they play a lot together all year. That number would have been higher if Ryan was fit.
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I can't see Roigard getting dropped. Doesn't make sense, he's been excellent off the bench when Smith starts and he has a combination with McKenzie that's starting to hum. Roigard has the attacking prowess to change a game late in the piece, Christie doesn't. Yes he isn't the finished product but he's so much better than Christie in my view. Would be very odd if Foster picks Christie but then again I wouldn't be surprised because it's something he would do.
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@Canes4life did Roigard blot his copybook in Uruguay match by struggling with the messy breakdown in the first 20 mins perhaps? It’ll be similar at the weekend with Ireland.
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@stodders yeah but Christie struggles when we have parity so who the hell knows. I thought Roigard started off patchy but came right as the game went on. Just an experience thing. Roigard has so much more upside than Christie. No point going into Ireland picking experienced players if they don't do anything. If we are down late in the game I'd rather bring on someone like Roigard than Christie to break the game open.
Christie has literally shown nothing with his chances to say pick me. We are not going beat Ireland by picking players like that.
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@george33 said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@kiwiinmelb I never said leister was in 23, Talea but if rumours r true and he's picked up a niggle then he most likely will,unless they go back to Clarke
Nah opposite, I said rumour going around leister is in for telia ,
You said no he isn’t , not in the 23
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@Bovidae said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Newell's inclusion would be a bigger risk than Christie. If they select the young props it makes no sense to ignore Roigard.
Not sure I entirely agree. Newell has proved a good impact man for the All Blacks, and it is hardly like he is a worse scrummager than Laulala... who can't catch a cold when it comes to collecting passes in the midfield. Williams over Ofa is the only one, but it is the sort of bold selection we need in the pack. ABs have struggled for impact from their forwards right through the Foster era.
Christie is allegedly a 'safe' pair of hands, but this has become the most stupid of arguments. He isn't better than Roigard, but then again, picking Roigard is also a risk because of his inexperience. It is almost as if they should have picked Brad Weber...
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@stodders said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Pure conjecture from a post on X:
Too many in that selection that don't look right to me.
I think the second line props will be Ofa and Nepo - and they both may well start because de Groot will be undercooked and Lomax medium-rare.
Telea ahead of Leicester and Roigard over Christie.
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@kiwiinmelb that's what I mean not in 23
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not to mention no Samisoni?
How far he has fallen in the coaches estimation, when at one point he was the best 2, now rated 3rd...IMO, this is in part due to the way he has been managed and his form has fallen.
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The minutes played is interesting and reflective of Farrell & Co's mindset - stick with the winning combo to some degree - leaving aside injuries preventing earlier introduction of some back-ups such as Henshaw, O'Brien, McCarthy. If they manage to win at weekend, he's going to have to come up with a new selection plan for playing likely Wales who Gatland has flogged into superb shape over the last few months, and have had an arguably easier ride/rotation in the pool stages. The contrasts with NZ and SA are illuminating.
Their road could easily run out this weekend though if NZ get to turn on the pace of the game. -
@stodders said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@MiketheSnow Ryan was on the bench against Scotland. Henderson started.
So Ryan out, McCarthy in is the only change.
Strong, settled team. They are battle hardened, but they have also played a fair bit too. Compare the NZ backrow playing minutes to Ireland's:
Image taken from this post on X:
https://x.com/Selfimprove_Man/status/1712014608557338881?s=20
this is fascinating
you might wonder if ireland have another three big games in them...but you can also see why they are so well drilled
also see why we may not have developed our combinations well enough
South africa look to have managed their time right in the middle....
