All Blacks 2024
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@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Landers92 yeah he's eligible I'm pretty sure. Who do we select then if Finau and Blackadder aren't available? Razor isn't going to select Ioane, he's crumbled under pressure so many times and is far too inconsistent. Razor may go with Grace but the ABs won't dominate physically with him there. Who else is there? I mean if we're still picking Cane then why wouldn't Shields be in the mix? He's one of the form blindsides in Super this year.
I thought Akira had the better of Shields on Saturday even after TJP butted him.
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@African-Monkey said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Duluth Case in point being when he got the ball with space out wide in the first half against the Canes. In 2016 he probably goes the length of the field and scores. Today, definitely not haha.
He was better in the wider channels up until about 2022. He doesn't have the same athleticism to play wider anymore, so he has no choice but to play a tighter game that involves more contact.
It helps that he's playing under a coach domestically that can get the best out of him playing closer to the ruck.
I think he may have bulked up for SV.
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@gt12 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@DaGrubster said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
It was his first game in 2 months and people expected him to be playing the house down after watching Savea play for 2 months straight
and this is where our current season structure just sucks. Once super rugby finishes, these guys don't get to play high level rugby unless they are in the test team.
There could be an interesting idea there to build an NZ specific model to allow that focused on what NZR really cares about - the AB brand.
It would require cooperation from Oz and SA though, so I don't like the chances, however, if SANZAAR allowed two teams from the Pacific Nations Cup to come up to the Rugby Championship (likely Fiji and Japan who could play off with the other nations to allow movement between the competitions), we could add the ABXV or Maori AB team to that competition (likely alongside Australia A). If OZ didn't or couldn't participate, we could have two teams in the competition.
We could then have at least one of our second teams competing against Samoa, Tonga, USA, and Canada. Whether the level of that competition is stronger or weaker than NPC is a separate question, but it would allow for collaboration across the two squads and have guys in the next tier playing if and when injuries strike.
Feel free to bag this, I'm not wedded to it, just putting it up for discussion.
Or a second tier championship with islands, AB XV and Oz XV, and maybe Japan?
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@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@pakman I bet you anything in the world he won’t be unless dmac is injured.
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There was a lot of good will towards Scott Robertson's appointment, but to me he's blown it with his constant yearning after former All Blacks who have gone overseas. First it was Sam Whitelock, then Richie Mo'unga, not Shannon Frizell. No one forced those players to sign overseas and turn their backs on the All Blacks.
The All Blacks coach should be focussing on coaching the players he has available up to World-Cup winning standard. There's a lot of talent coming through our Super Franchise at the moment. I'd prefer to see those players given the chance rather than those who cashed in and choose to terminate their All Blacks careers.
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@African-Monkey said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
Brad Shields? How has his name even entered this thread 😂
Because Hurricanes
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I dont really see it as Robertson chasing them, more speculation in the media given some discussions and ill advised quotes earlier from Razor.
Whitelock, turned out to be a red herring and media beat up.
He hasn’t even named a squad yet so he is hardly in the position of needing to send an sos to save his job….just yet!
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It was a bit more than media hype. Whether he does come back is another matter, but Lendrum's words were:
“We would love Richie home as soon as we can. There are contracts. We respect those. He’s employed by Toshiba currently but we’ll be involved in conversations to see what’s possible.”
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I read that as:
We would like him home
We respect Toshibas contract even though we are talking about it to the press
We hope to be involved but have no meetings planned to talk about it but hope to.Mo’unga has been there 6 months and has not missed an AB test yet. He is on a 3 year deal.
Unless he and his family hates it there, it seems to be a non starter and poor timing to be mouthing off about it and will only serve to antagonise Mounga and his employer.
If I was in charge of player contracts at Toshiba, I would be asking Mounga what is going on? Are you not happy and want to leave? Why are you talking to NZR?
If NZR were in serious discussion with either party they would keep it very quiet so it doesn’t jeopardise a potential Deal. The fact they are talking like this makes me think they are very much on the outside looking in and have no talks
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@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
It was a bit more than media hype. Whether he does come back is another matter, but Lendrum's words were:
“We would love Richie home as soon as we can. There are contracts. We respect those. He’s employed by Toshiba currently but we’ll be involved in conversations to see what’s possible.”
Razor wants his first five back who he won 7 straight titles with who never lost a Super Rugby playoff game for him.
Shock horror.
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Razor can’t afford him. Shock horror😀
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Savea to 7. It makes sense.
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
Razor wants his first five back who he won 7 straight titles with who never lost a Super Rugby playoff game for him.
56 tests. 70% win record.
Solid, grew, but a long way from a high quality Test 10
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@nzzp said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
Razor wants his first five back who he won 7 straight titles with who never lost a Super Rugby playoff game for him.
56 tests. 70% win record.
Solid, grew, but a long way from a high quality Test 10
Sure - but we aren't exactly flush with 10 options.
The cupboard behind DMac domestically (and Beaudie returning) is bare.
I don't see why this is all so surprising.
He either cuts his deal short and comes back and there's a 56 test AB as an option or he doesn't.
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@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
Savea to 7. It makes sense.
No it doesn't. He's a stand-out at 8 and hasn't played there at SR for about 3 seasons. Makes as much sense as Robertson looking to put Havili at 10.
Oh, hang on.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
Savea to 7. It makes sense.
No it doesn't. He's a stand-out at 8 and hasn't played there at SR for about 3 seasons. Makes as much sense as Robertson looking to put Havili at 10.
Oh, hang on.
He's played all season in Japan at 7, has played in 7 in SR every year since 2019
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Of course we can understand Razor wanting his ‘quarterback’.
But it doesn’t really solve the depth issue at 10 for the ABs. If they somehow got Mounga back to play for the AB’s then it would probably mean DMAC leaving for an overseas contract. Unless Razor convinces him to play fullback.
I see it is an either or at 10. Got DMaC now. Richie overseas. Get Richie back to start, DMac very unlikely to want to play second fiddle so leaves.
We are back to square one.
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I don’t think Savea will change his style of play based on what number is on his back.
But it is a chance to address the balance of the backrow if he did
