All Blacks Vs England, Twickenham
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Is De Groot injured?
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I’d guess that EDG not a 💯. Perhaps also Fletch.
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Talking points:
A 5-3 bench when England are going 6-2
No sign of De Groot
Vaii ahead of Patrick T
Sititi at 6 rather 8
Ratima at 9 ahead of Roigard
B. Barrett at 10 ahead of DMac
Will Jordan picked at 15 not 14.
No sign of Reece -
@sparky have a look at 15 again
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@KiwiInLondon Thanks, typing error on my phone, edited.
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@sparky said in All Blacks Vs England, Twickenham:
Talking points:
A 5-3 bench when England are going 6-2
No sign of De Groot
Vaii ahead of Patrick T
Sititi at 6 rather 8
Ratima at 9 ahead of Roigard
B. Barrett at 10 ahead of DMac
Will Jordan picked at 14 rather than 15.
No sign of ReeceVaii ahead of PT is not a talking point imo
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@sparky said in All Blacks Vs England, Twickenham:
Talking points:
A 5-3 bench when England are going 6-2
No sign of De Groot
Vaii ahead of Patrick T
Sititi at 6 rather 8
Ratima at 9 ahead of Roigard
B. Barrett at 10 ahead of DMac
Will Jordan picked at 14 rather than 15.
No sign of ReeceVaa’i starts or not at all. Patty brings impact. So no surprise.
Must be one of the heaviest pack benches we’ve ever fielded. -
Those five forwards on the bench have a real opportunity to come on and boss the English. Last time at Twickenham that forwards on the bench (including our Lord and Saviour) lost us the game
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EDG not there I suspect is a fitness issue.
TJP now just a mentor.
Good to see Finau getting more minutes. -
@Billy-Tell Maybe that's conversation. At the start of the year, we were worried about Lock. Now it's an area of strength.
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10 is now our only real worry
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Is Finau best used off the bench?
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@Jimmy-Jimmy said in All Blacks Vs England, Twickenham:
10 is now our only real worry
And complacency.
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Will England find a way to run away from or past Mark Telea?
He's a great stepper, but his lack of top speed as been notable in other Tests this year.
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EDG's absence is a disciplinary thing apparently.
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@sparky said in All Blacks Vs England, Twickenham:
@Jimmy-Jimmy said in All Blacks Vs England, Twickenham:
10 is now our only real worry
And complacency.
True
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God I hate the backline..
Beauden at 10..why? He is going to kick most the ball away, and barely gets our attack going compared to Dmac.
Last game against Aussie we looked decidedly average for the first 60 minutes he was leading. His passing is just quite poor. He shuffles and the rest of the backline pays the price.
And he's 33...so what is this working towards?
Jordie/Rieko continuing their tenure as guaranteed starting midfielders. No surprise the last 5 years we have struggled on attack coincides with when we decided to stick two midfielders who either can't pass or choose not to as our starting pair.
Why are we obsessed with ATHLETES at centre? Conrad was our best center ever and all he did was spend the entire game trying to set up players outside him.
Meh..
At least our pack is trending towards World Class
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Once you factored in who didn't play vs Japan and injuries - a very predictable 23 outside of no EDG.
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Yeah, that should take care of England without too much stress.
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They can't be happy with DMac because BB is nothing more than a stopgap measure.
I like the bench. Proper impact if used correctly.
And thank God TJP isn't on the pine. -
@sparky said in All Blacks Vs England, Twickenham:
Talking points:
A 5-3 bench when England are going 6-2
No sign of De Groot
Vaii ahead of Patrick T
Sititi at 6 rather 8
Ratima at 9 ahead of Roigard
B. Barrett at 10 ahead of DMac
Will Jordan picked at 15 not 14.
No sign of ReeceOther than EDG being out - because there is a back story that is not public - the others are barely worth raising a breath.
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England to win by 6+
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NZ should be good for this. Probably 7 or less.
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Current forecast for the match is 14 degrees, a gentle breeze and a 4% chance of rain:
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@Bones said in All Blacks Vs England, Twickenham:
@sparky I highly doubt England have improved since they went down under, having not played. If Razor's team can't take care of them after a whole season of learnings, then that's a complete failure.
I have to agree Bones. They have also had some upheaval with Felix Jones leaving and his tactics were the main reason for England doing well in NZ.
Playing at Twickenham is a factor but if we get beaten or beaten well, then it does make you wonder if we have improved. Especially as we have better personnel in this side for Saturday
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@sparky said in All Blacks Vs England, Twickenham:
@Bones That was at the end of a very long season for England. They will be fresher now and have had a couple of weeks in camp to prepare.
What was so long about their season? Fresher, schmesher. Sounding like you're prepping to jump on the razor bandwagon, getting your excuses in early...
We should be vastly improved, they're playing their first game of the season, with a smidge of upheaval and an ordinary coach.
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@Bones said in All Blacks Vs England, Twickenham:
@sparky said in All Blacks Vs England, Twickenham:
@Bones That was at the end of a very long season for England. They will be fresher now and have had a couple of weeks in camp to prepare.
What was so long about their season?
Their season started in August 2023, World Cup Prep, World Cup, English domestic Rugby and European club Rugby, the Six Nations, then back to Domestic and European Rugby and then in July 2024 a tour of NZ to round it off. Very long season for England's players. And they came within a smidgin of winning both tests in New Zealand.
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Only two VCs?! Amateurs. We've got this in the bag.
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I like fast wingers
Backline not instilling confidence -
Pretty happy with that team - BB aside. Really pleased the likes of Tamiti Williams & Ratima starting and Finau, Tosi, etc in the 23.
Be interesting to see how Will J goes but good to see him get another start at 15
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Wish Proctor would teach Rieko how to run a line and pass.
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2025 gotta be the year of the backline sort out
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And find a 7
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