All Blacks EOYT
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@frugby said in All Blacks EOYT:
@nzzp said in All Blacks EOYT:
@frugby said in All Blacks EOYT:
Moaning for moaning sake.
Tight 5 is largely uncontroversial. Happy days. If your reserve hooker winds up on teh bench through injury and has to throw in the lineout, I wouldn't have Bell, but them's the breaks.
Our loose forwrads look slow and uninspiring. I think we're going to get beaten here by most teams.
Halfbacks - well two pick themselves. Razor suddenly decided he really really likes TJP. Wild if you want to play a fast game, but hey.
Backline - anyone exciting there? Telea and Reece havne't looked good. Better pray CC and WJ stay fit to play on the wings. I am still unconvinced by WJ at fullback - defence, kickign and positioning all get questionmarks for me.
So yeah. I think you'd say this is a year where we haven't really done much more than evolve the squad, and play senior players on teh decline into the ground. We're on course for the equal most losses in a year, so it's not moaning for moaning sake - it is recognising that this is a profoundly disappointing AB selection.
Here's the thing. If we picked Ioane and he failed, I can be almost certain the other half of the population would be saying why have we gone back to that old has been.
If we picked Sotutu and he failed, the claim would be why isn't Sititi in the ABs (presumably would be ripping up the NPC, in the same way people are crying out for Lakai).
It is human nature to think that the best solutions are the ones not already employed, but people don't want to admit that Sotutu could actually be worse. I'd argue that a loose trio of Sititi, Papalii and Savea, with Finau coming in to smash people for the last 20 could be worth looking at, but to say the ABs loose forwards are failing I think is a shade unfair - they're still battling for balance.
Sititi (despite what the odd person claims) has made himself undroppable. Despite the new hipster opinion, you'd also be hard pushed to say Ardie Savea shouldn't be starting either. People also wanting to see Finau and Papalii, but lets not forget Cane was very good in South Africa, and Finau was shite.
Outside of Savea, they have been tweaking it all year... and to be fair, I am not sure they have given those in the squad a fair crack yet to say they are worth dropping.
Should Sotutu have been there in the first instance? On pure ability, probably yes, but anyone who has been in any sporting environment knows there is more to it then just ability. Even if in the squad, at best Sotutu was on the bench at the start of the year as Ardie was viewed as a 7.
The way he carried on, on social media after not being picked to me is quite telling. Is he the guy you want holding tackle bags, or is he just going to have a sulk that he isn't playing?
We forget that the All Blacks are just like any other sporting team in the world. Experience is not just about on the field, but it is also about the intangible people bring off the field and how they fit into the group.
Ioane leaving means no point in selecting him. Couldn't care less about the conspiracies re which happened first, that's done and dusted.
On Sotutu, I assume you don't know the man, so why undermine his character? Plenty of these kids are on social media with silly shit. If being a top coach isn't getting the best out of the most talented players, then what is it?
It is no way unfair to say the AB loose forwards have been failing. They have been. Our tighties have been okay, and our loosies have been getting outplayed by their opposition, and we've been losing games. -
Social media etiquette should not be a criteria for AB selection.
I don't participate in the social medias but I accept that Gen Y does. Coaches need to be able to manage a range of personalities like Cotter has. You can't limit the ABs by only picking personalities like your own.
Guys like Segner and Christie are not going to be the same as Sotutu and Ioane personality wise but some how an old grump like Vern can make it work.
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@Machpants said in All Blacks EOYT:
Ignore the first third or so about the French not turning up, some good loose forward analysis
Will the withdrawal of the ‘top 20’ devalue France’s tour of New Zealand?
In resting Antoine Dupont and the rest of his 'premiums', has Fabien Galthie undermined a mouth-watering voyage?
That pass from ALB to Reece (for his try) was a thing of beauty. I didn't fully appreciate it at the time.
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@Kirwan said in All Blacks EOYT:
By the way, all the stupid shit written on this thread about Sotutu and Ioane reminds me of the days of rabid posters defending Mark Robinson being selected over Tana.
I wasn't around then, but that's funny. We're they they same people who rated Caleb Ralph over Jonah?
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@African-Monkey said in All Blacks EOYT:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks EOYT:
By the way, all the stupid shit written on this thread about Sotutu and Ioane reminds me of the days of rabid posters defending Mark Robinson being selected over Tana.
I wasn't around then, but that's funny. We're they they same people who rated Caleb Ralph over Jonah?
Now THAT was funny not funny 😆
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@frugby said in All Blacks EOYT:
The same people calling for Plummer are largely the same people who think DMac is doing a perfectly fine job
No, am not calling for Plummer
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giving spots to guys that are primarily there to mentor does my head in.....you dont have to be in the playing squad to pass on your knowledge
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@reprobate said in All Blacks EOYT:
Ioane leaving means no point in selecting him.
but they still selected Cane and TJP...
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks EOYT:
@reprobate said in All Blacks EOYT:
Ioane leaving means no point in selecting him.
but they still selected Cane and TJP...
and I wouldn't have - but there is a significant gap in their respective AB experience, especially Cane - so you can see the thinking (even if it's wrong).
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@reprobate said in All Blacks EOYT:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks EOYT:
@reprobate said in All Blacks EOYT:
Ioane leaving means no point in selecting him.
but they still selected Cane and TJP...
and I wouldn't have - but there is a significant gap in their respective AB experience, especially Cane - so you can see the thinking (even if it's wrong).
I'm just saying that isn't a hard and fast rule, and Ioane had 21 tests himself.
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@African-Monkey said in All Blacks EOYT:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks EOYT:
By the way, all the stupid shit written on this thread about Sotutu and Ioane reminds me of the days of rabid posters defending Mark Robinson being selected over Tana.
I wasn't around then, but that's funny. We're they they same people who rated Caleb Ralph over Jonah?
How the hell could you ?
Even Caleb’s mum said he sucked compared to Jonah
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@MN5 said in All Blacks EOYT:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks EOYT:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks EOYT:
By the way, all the stupid shit written on this thread about Sotutu and Ioane reminds me of the days of rabid posters defending Mark Robinson being selected over Tana.
I wasn't around then, but that's funny. We're they they same people who rated Caleb Ralph over Jonah?
How the hell could you ?
Even Caleb’s mum said he sucked compared to Jonah
Even Caleb Ralph himself said he sucked compared to Jonah.
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It's funny how big a whipping boy Caleb has become. The way he is spoken about you would think he was rusted in to the jersey for a decade, and keeping generational talents out of the team. He played 14 tests in like 6 years. He did manage to score 9 tries in those 14 games too.
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks EOYT:
It's funny how big a whipping boy Caleb has become. The way he is spoken about you would think he was rusted in to the jersey for a decade, and keeping generational talents out of the team. He played 14 tests in like 6 years. He did manage to score 9 tries in those 14 games too.
Yep, against Tonga, Canada, Italy and a 2002 version of Ireland.
