All Blacks v France
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Am enjoying the consistency of selection. Hoping for another win.
Will be intriguing to see if there is more than meets the eye with this EDG thing, because I thought they may have brought him back this week. He is still by far and away our best scrummaging loosehead, and would be a better pick than Ofa.
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I think the difference is that Barrett and Taylor 'lost' their places in the starting line-up due to injury whereas Ethan de Groot's was due to his own indiscipline.
Would still much rather see McKenzie at 10 (and Barrett left right out) and would probably opt for Aumua at 2 and Taylor on the bench (simply to keep allowing Aumua to grow as an international hooker), but I don't think Razor's messaging is necessarily inconsistent here.
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v France:
Interesting-are the coaches naturally conserative picking BB, or, conversely, can they not help wanting to tinker with the backline?
Based on what we've seen this year, fair to say they are naturally conservative in their gameday 23 selections.
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v France:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v France:
Interesting-are the coaches naturally conserative picking BB, or, conversely, can they not help wanting to tinker with the backline?
Based on what we've seen this year, fair to say they are naturally conservative in their gameday 23 selections.
Yes I am afraid so. I was hoping for fresher strategy this year.
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@reprobate said in All Blacks v France:
Not a fan of this selection. McKenzie is far and away the better ten, and Robertson is putting him in a position where he is likely to come on late and have to chase the game - then he's going to have to try things, mistakes will happen, and he will get rubbished as erratic. .
Or, he comes on and plays really well - and the other idiots pipe up with "see, I told you he is best used off the bench"
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@ARHS said in All Blacks v France:
Rather disappointed with the selection at 10, but happy elsewhere. We are playing in white against a team that needs early passion to fire up. Just not sure we can generate enough early threats to take the wind out of their sails.
I do hope they will use Finau on the sideline to challenge for some crosskicks.
Personally I see high level rugby using more attacking plays from league next year. E. G. High wide crosskicks to tall aerial specialists, pressuring defenders into error, grubbers into the in goal for a chaser, and 10 running crossfield to confuse defenders to cover both a switch and a long pass. Defences at test level are acting like league teams, so why not use league tactics to beat them. I do wonder if Ray is testing the waters in this area.Yuck, I hope not. If I want to watch league, I can do that already.
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@voodoo said in All Blacks v France:
@reprobate said in All Blacks v France:
Not a fan of this selection. McKenzie is far and away the better ten, and Robertson is putting him in a position where he is likely to come on late and have to chase the game - then he's going to have to try things, mistakes will happen, and he will get rubbished as erratic. .
Or, he comes on and plays really well - and the other idiots pipe up with "see, I told you he is best used off the bench"
Yep exactly. In fact I'd wager that's the thinking of the dimwit in charge: look at how our last 20 minutes have improved after all those mean things people were saying!
Yeah but your first halves have gone to shit dickhead. -
@frugby said in All Blacks v France:
Am enjoying the consistency of selection. Hoping for another win.
Will be intriguing to see if there is more than meets the eye with this EDG thing, because I thought they may have brought him back this week. He is still by far and away our best scrummaging loosehead, and would be a better pick than Ofa.
Ofa gets himself into shape though at least. De Groot is a lazy slug and his specialty which is supposedly scrummaging, was crap against the Wallabies, the last time he was seen.
Yes Ofa is just passable as a scrimmages and his discipline can be very poor, but at least he can get himself into decent shape, unlike De Groot.
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Just saw the team now, as I predicted Razor will swap around 10s creating uncertainty until he brings back Richie. (We need a tinfoil hat emoji).
Be interesting to see how Ardie goes at 7 (if he has a half decent game his team of Ardie at 7 fluffers are going to break the forum with I told you so's). I was actually looking forward to seeing how Lakai would go starting.
Not much of not outside of that.
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Fair to say Ofa has been bloody good his last couple of games so zero surprises he's still there over a scrummage only bench loose head
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in All Blacks v France:
All Blacks sadly in their away strip this week -
I preferred the old days when the home team always wore their alternate jersey for clashes. Or even better when France had a jersey that didn't clash. Although I suspect that WR would have enforced alternate's by now.
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Think that is harsh. de Groot is one of those guys who naturally just is not fit at all, so as soon as he misses a few weeks he takes a couple to get back up to speed.
Missing these few tests could be a great kick up the backside and will benefit the ABs long-term, but if he wasn’t fit he wouldn’t be there. Think that is pretty clear.
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@voodoo said in All Blacks v France:
@reprobate said in All Blacks v France:
Not a fan of this selection. McKenzie is far and away the better ten, and Robertson is putting him in a position where he is likely to come on late and have to chase the game - then he's going to have to try things, mistakes will happen, and he will get rubbished as erratic. .
Or, he comes on and plays really well - and the other idiots pipe up with "see, I told you he is best used off the bench"
I’ll happily put my hand up as an idiot because I still think that is where DMac has been at his best.
And yes, all until Mo’unga returns or FABRR makes the squad…..
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@frugby said in All Blacks v France:
Think that is harsh. de Groot is one of those guys who naturally just is not fit at all, so as soon as he misses a few weeks he takes a couple to get back up to speed.
Missing these few tests could be a great kick up the backside and will benefit the ABs long-term, but if he wasn’t fit he wouldn’t be there. Think that is pretty clear.
Hey, if he were fit, I'd have him on a rotation with Williams too, but he isn't. My wording was harsh, but if he had the same attitude off the field as Ofa, he'd be starting almost every game.
It was really noticeable against the Wallabies how off the pace he was. I rate him when fit, but it's up to him to show that he wants it. You're right, maybe this is the kick up the backside he needs.
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France:
@voodoo said in All Blacks v France:
@reprobate said in All Blacks v France:
Not a fan of this selection. McKenzie is far and away the better ten, and Robertson is putting him in a position where he is likely to come on late and have to chase the game - then he's going to have to try things, mistakes will happen, and he will get rubbished as erratic. .
Or, he comes on and plays really well - and the other idiots pipe up with "see, I told you he is best used off the bench"
I’ll happily put my hand up as an idiot because I still think that is where DMac has been at his best.
And yes, all until Mo’unga returns or FABRR makes the squad…..
You're not an idiot per se for thinking it's his best spot. You're only an idiot if you watch his recent great cameos and use them as your primary evidence as to why he shouldn't start over BB.
I mean heck, I reckon Dan would probably have gone Ok off the bench for 30mins too
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Oh no, not the white jerseys again. They’re like kryptonite, draining the power of the blackness. And don’t France know that? We used to play them all the time without the need to change strips. Think back to the 1987 WC final. France were in their mid-blue jerseys with the racing stripes down the arms. Then at some point they decided to go the deepest navy blue. Isn’t there a colour coordinating commandant employed by World Rugby to prevent these clashes? How can they be All Blacks if not all in black? It’s a conspiracy I tell you! Although at least they have not reverted to the revolting grey kit they wore in the 2007 QF against the French. The All Greys.
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Cant wait to see Dmac come on for Reece (not).. thankfully HIA fucked Razors selection last time and Telea came back on.
Apart from that bench looks strong, biggest improvement this year in the forwards at least has been impact from the bench
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Sunday morning prediction: Beauden Barrett MOTM, All Blacks win by 17 points.
