All Blacks 2024
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@nostrildamus such is life in the All Blacks 10 jersey. If Dmac plays well again tomorrow night he should for sure be rewarded with a start again against Fiji. Continuity.
If anything, rest Jordie and Reiko and run ALB and Proctor against Fiji. That way Dmac is building chemistry with others outside him, keep in mind him and ALB most likely know each others game inside out as well.
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@george33 said in All Blacks 2024:
@Kiwiwomble there were photos of Blackadder training in full contact, don't no about the niggles, can't be much in it.
Fake news. They must have been staged
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@MN5 said in All Blacks 2024:
@george33 said in All Blacks 2024:
@Kiwiwomble there were photos of Blackadder training in full contact, don't no about the niggles, can't be much in it.
Fake news. They must have been staged
its true, i found them
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Some low impact match fitness work for Blackadder...
110K views · 1.5K reactions | Order up! 🛎️ On brunch duties this...
Order up! 🛎️ On brunch duties this morning in Auckland ☕️.
Seriously though, it would be good if he had an extended period of fitness to have a chance to show if he is upto test footy or not.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2024:
Some low impact match fitness work for Blackadder...
Order up! 🛎️ On brunch duties this morning in Auckland ☕️.
Seriously though, it would be good if he had an extended period of fitness to have a chance to show if he is upto test footy or not.
I hope he’s careful, he might get a nasty steam burn and be out for the rest of the year
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@taniwharugby Look, it would, but it ain't happening. His body isn't made to last. He's played what, just over 40 games for the Crusaders in 8 seasons? And 10 tests? 9 of which were in 2021?
His injuries are at a point where we can't really consider him as anything more than a squad member, and I'm not even trying to sound harsh.
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Interesting that Roigard is around the squad. I wonder if he is ahead of schedule
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2024:
Interesting that Roigard is around the squad. I wonder if he is ahead of schedule
I understand he's ahead of schedule massively (thanks to NZCIS facilities) but likely we won't see him until the EOYT.
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@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2024:
@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2024:
Interesting that Roigard is around the squad. I wonder if he is ahead of schedule
I understand he's ahead of schedule massively (thanks to NZCIS facilities) but likely we won't see him until the EOYT.
No rush, he's too valuable in the long term
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So, after a tight England series, thoughts?
Props: Scrum good. Defense good. Lineout work not good. Carrying not good. Overall look to be in a pretty good place, but shit we do need some yards out of these blokes.
Hookers. Taylor has been pretty good around the track defensively, still loves a dumb breakdown penalty. But threw poorly. Aumua looked good off the bench but i am not ready to chuck him the keys yet. Not our worst spot.
Locks. SBarrett got shown on Saturday what a real world class lock looks like. He's a trier Scott, but he lacks that bit of class to help separate us from other teams. Patty T was picked to carry, and didn't do it too well. Lineout was a bit shit. Vaa'i has added a bit off the bench in both games, has come a long was since last year. As a unit again not bad without being world beaters, obviously scrumming well but need to suss the fucking lineout.
The tight 5 is the least of our worries it seems. Not dominant, but pretty handy.Loosies. Disjointed is the best word i can come up with. Papali'i had an okay test and a good test. He is what he is, and when he's on like Saturday he's an asset. Sure to start going forward. Savea is a problem. All his weaknesses are really highlighted when the youtube reel shit isn't there to compensate. Two very quiet games, definitely beaten by his opposite. Finau barely fired a shot. Definitely looks hesitant where at the level below he's flat out. Could be instructions or it could be that the game is too quick. Needs to find something and quick. The other options aren't tall enough. If Finau isn't going to carry and hit like in Super season then the whole trio is too weak. Jacobson came on and worked, like he does, but he's no differnece maker at this level. Big area of improvement.
Halfbacks. At expectation. We got what we knew we already had because they are not new. TJ is TJ and will always be TJ. Christie slows the game down and has an average pass. Ratima looked better just because he got the ball out quick and let us play. In my mind decisions to be made, but the coaches may value the experience in South Africa which means the rest of the team will suffer. If our plan is fast and wide, then playing shitty passing halfbacks is an enormous handbrake.
- DMac was what we thought. At the heart of everything good we do. Incredible at getting others in to space, or finding mismatches by drawing players. We're obviously trying to get him the ball in wide channels to use his pace (like how the Crusaders used Mo'unga). Kicked from hand pretty well, brought back the wipers as well. When we get bogged down he battles, and definitely looks worse with ropey ball from 9. Tough as fuck in defense as well.
Midfield. Should be settled, probably isn't. I see the sentiment on here is still "play Reiko on the wing, he can't distribute" even though that is never happening. Looks to me like they are being asked to play narrow and straight to try and give DMac space to loop them and get out wide. Problem is, neither of our midfield are actually great passers of the ball. Jordie passes late, and often very inaccurately, putting everyone under pressure. Reiko is not a natural either. I still think this is our best combination, JB can really carry in traffic, and Reiko has pace. They just need to work out the new system. Defensively they are adequate, but neither rock solid.
Wingers: okay i guess. Reece is a livewire, happy to pin his ears, happy to stick his head over the ball. Telea beats tacklers for fun, but lacks top end pace, and defensively is pretty suspect. I am not sure either should be feeling confident about their place going forward.
Fullbacks: Hand up, very wrong about both these blokes. Perofeta went way better than i thought. Still put himself under pressure unnecessarily at times, but should have set up a try in both games, and looked quite lively in attack. Obviously my "BB is cooked" aged like milk. Ok in the first, but with the same shit we have whinged about for years. The 2nd had a ropey kick, and that skill/luck double kick. But he came on and added a lot. He and DMac always look like they play well together. Two good options. When Jordan comes back he's a wing again?
I don't really see what the plan is except to use DMacs passing to outflank the rush, or to loop him and get him in the wider spaces. Carrying needs work as the English rush defence was sitting guys down as soon as they got the ball. The way the Irish set up their forward runners compared to ours is night and day different.
Defence looks okay, but England got plenty of joy when they put pace on the game, and we are still quite passive. It looked to me like a huge focus on legs tackles rather than dominant hits, which is a big departure from previous years.Great to win 2-0. The Fiji game you would think makes it 3-0 to start. Plenty to work on before a big game in the Republic.
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oh, i just realised/found out we play Argentina at home twice before we play SA in like 7 weeks.
I feel a lot better about that trip now.
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I’m also happy to put my hand up about BB being past it. He looked great off the bench and I think that’s where he should stay - listening to his comments he sounded a bit Piri Weepu in that he was watching what was happening so could come on and tactically influence the game.
You are bang on about our locks, loosies, HBs, and wings. I feel like we have a few placeholders here though - waiting for Lord, Roigard, Jordan. That should mean that we’ll lose Pat T to the bench / competing with Vaii, one of TJ / Christie, and a big call between BB and Perofeta assuming Jordan goes to 15. If Jordan returns at 15, we might need a bigger boot 11/14 so a Narawa comes into play too.
The big area to me looks to be choosing our 6, and then backing them.
If we had Lord back, I can see value in trying Vaii but he’s doing well off the bench, so we give Finau time or go small. It’s just an area of weakness, again. God help us if Frizell is their answer.
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@gt12 said in All Blacks 2024:
If we had Lord back, I can see value in trying Vaii but he’s doing well off the bench, so we give Finau time or go small. It’s just an area of weakness, again. God help us if Frizell is their answer
perhaps playing 6 is far harder than we think, given the false starts here since 2017 (and even before that).
I still think Vaa'i is too slow to play 6. He's a lock, play lock.
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2024:
So, after a tight England series, thoughts?
Props: Scrum good. Defense good. Lineout work not good. Carrying not good.
I've been beating this drum forever. Despite what Ryan says our props offer nothing as ball-carriers, de Groot especially. With PT anonymous we had no go-forward in the tight five. When Slipper is more of a threat carrying the ball, we've got problems. We can't just be relying on the loose forwards to get over the advantage line.
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@Landers92 said in All Blacks 2024:
@Bovidae only 32 going I was told. Hoping to hear some names that aren’t going later today
Been told it’s the original 32 that were selected that are going minus TJ. Sounds like the 4 that were training with them aren’t going. Asked if Hotham was going but wasn’t sure, I would assume he is based off what happened at the position.
