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Someone just posted this team in the Stuff comments (yes I know it's not reliable) but it's interesting.
AB team: Love, Tele'a, Lam, ALB, Clarke, Perofeta, Perenara, Sititi, Cane, Lakai, Holland, Tuipolotu (c), Tosi, Taylor EDG.
Subs: Williams, Aumua, Ofa, S Barrett, Savea, Roigard, B Barrett, Reiko
I'm going to take a stab at the AB 23 for Italy and see how close we can get:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2024:
@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2024:
@Tim said in All Blacks 2024:
@Canes4life Who is most likely to play 6 for the Canes?
It depends where they see Delany, they will either play Delany at lock and have Flanders at 6, or they’ll play Delany at 6 and have Gallagher at lock. Flanders and Iose will share duties at 8.
Flanders and Shields will also cover 6 if Delany plays lock.
Would've liked to see Delaney at 6 more, but just don't think he plays the right mongrel type game and after Flanders' season am leaning more towards him.
Yeah, technically Delany is a very good player but I agree he might lack the mongrel to be a test 6. I wouldn’t mind seeing him get more time at 6 during Super to prove otherwise though, especially if the Canes see Zach Gallagher as one of their starting locks.
I tend to feel the same about Flanders, I feel like he has a good skill set but lacks a bit of mongrel.
Maybe next year is the coming of age for both of them, both coming into their prime years.
Personally I wouldn’t mind the Canes run with a loose trio of 6. Delany, 7. Lakai and 8. Flanders with Iose and Kirifi as impact.
@Tim said in All Blacks 2024:
@Canes4life Who is most likely to play 6 for the Canes?
It depends where they see Delany, they will either play Delany at lock and have Flanders at 6, or they’ll play Delany at 6 and have Gallagher at lock. Flanders and Iose will share duties at 8.
Flanders and Shields will also cover 6 if Delany plays lock.
@Nepia said in Super Rugby 2025:
@Steven-Harris said in Super Rugby 2025:
@Canes4life 💯..it’s quite an irony that when Godfrey was on the field for HB they looked more threatening.
I have just that got that feeling that he’s got another ceilingHe was great after he came back into the side at 15 after we'd been running that non tackling Welsh dude, but as this discussion is about 10 let's not pretend he was good there in the game he played in that position.
Jury is still out on him as a 10, cracking fullback though.
Yeah in that game against North Harbour I think it was, he was pretty disappointing in the 10 jersey.
If the Canes persist with him at 10 he’s going to have a few shockers but hopefully his performances will get more consistent over time. They just have to back him and ride the waves. No better player to play outside than Roigard.
@Steven-Harris said in Super Rugby 2025:
One player I was super impressed with when he finally got back on the field during the NPC was Harry Godfrey his touch line conversion against Auckland from the wrong side of the field was sensational and his individual try against Bop in the quarter final was box office
Would love to see Godfrey given a run in the 10 jersey first five for the Canes pre season for me he looks more of a 10 than a 15 where as Ruben Love looks more of a 15 than a 10 imo
He's definitely has x-factor written all over him, it will just be whether the Canes want a more conservative 10 running the show in Cashmore, or someone like Godfrey who has that real attacking mindset.
I vote for Godfrey, the Canes play an attacking brand of footy anyway, so why not have a 10 to complement that style of rugby.
A playmaking axis of Roigard, Godfrey and Love would be fun to watch.
@African-Monkey said in Super Rugby 2025:
@Canes4life Nice work, but in the Blues front, Ta'avao will start ahead of Sheck.
Nice, I knew I was forgetting one of the Blues props.
@darylmitchell said in Super Rugby 2025:
@Canes4life Dallas McLeod & Daniel Rona make Saders/Chiefs best 23 - not Leroy Carter & old man O'Connor FFS.
Some of the selections are obviously debatable. Who covers Reihana at the Saders then? Havili? We all saw how that turned out this year.... not good at all.
I've made a stab at the top 23 for each of the Kiwi sides (below), aside from MP. Will be interesting to see what people's thoughts are on where these teams will end up at the end of the year if they can keep most of these players fit. (Apologies for CAPS LOCK).
Personally, both the Chiefs and Blues look to be the squads to beat on paper. The Landers look to be a fair amount stronger than last year, I think the Crusaders will do much better than this year, and the Canes will be there or there abouts once again. 1 or 2 of these sides will likely miss the playoffs due to the new top 6 format.
BLUES
STARTERS: 1. OFA TU'UNGAFASI 2. RICKY RICCITELLI 3. MARCEL RENATA 4. PATRICK TUIPOLOTU 5. SAM DARRY 6. CAMERON SUAFOA 7. DALTON PAPALI'I 8. HOSKINS SOTUTU 9. FINLAY CHRISTIE 10. HARRY PLUMMER 11. CALEB CLARKE 12. AJ LAM 13. REIKO IOANE 14. MARK TELEA'A 15. STEPHEN PEROFETA
RESERVES: 16. KURT EKLUND 17. JOSH FUSITUA 18. ANGUS TA'AVAO 19. JOSH BEEHRE 20. ANTON SEGNER
21. TAUFA FUNAKI 22. BEAUDEN BARRETT 23. ZARN SULLIVAN
CHIEFS:
STARTERS: 1. AIDEN ROSS 2. SAMISONI TAUKEI'AHO 3. GEORGE DYER 4. AH KOUI 5. TUPOU VA'AI 6. SAMIPENI FINAU 7. LUKE JACOBSEN 8. WALLACE SITITI 9. CORTEZ RATIMA 10. DAMIAN MCKENZIE 11. ETENI NANAI-SETURO 12. QUINN TUPAEA 13. ANTON LEINERT-BROWN 14. EMONI NARAWA 15. SHAUN STEVENSON
RESERVES: 16. BRODIE MCALISTER 17. OLLIE NORRIS 18. JARED PROFFIT 19. JOSH LORD 20. SIMON PARKER
21. XAVIER ROE 22. JOSH JACOMB 23. LEROY CARTER
HURRICANES:
STARTERS: 1. XAVIER NUMIA 2. ASAFO AUMUA 3. TYREL LOMAX 4. CALEB DELANY 5. ISAIA WALKER-LEAWERE 6. DEVAN FLANDERS 7. PETER LAKAI 8. BRAYDEN IOSE 9. CAMERON ROIGARD 10. HARRY GODFREY 11. KINI NAHOLO 12. RILEY HIGGINS 13. BILLY PROCTOR 14. KADE BANKS 15. RUBEN LOVE
RESERVES: 16. RAYMOND TUPUTUPU, 17. TEVITA MAFILEO, 18. PASILIO TOSI, 19. ZACH GALLAGHER, 20. DU PLESSIS KIRIFI 21. JORDI VIJOEN, 22. LUCAS CASHMORE, 23. BAILYN SULLIVAN
CRUSADERS:
STARTERS: 1. TAMAITI WILLIAMS 2. CODIE TAYLOR 3. FLETCHER NEWELL 4. SCOTT BARRETT 5. QUINTEN STRANGE 6. ETHAN BLACKADDER 7. COREY KELLOW 8. CHRISTIAN LIO-WILLIE 9. NOAH HOTHAM 10. RIVEZ REIHANA 11. CHAY FIHAKI 12. DAVID HAVILI 13. BRAYDEN ENNOR 14. SEVU REECE 15. WILL JORDAN
RESERVES: 16. GEORGE BELL 17. FINLAY BREWIS 18. GEORGE BOWER 19. JAMIE HANNAH 20. CULLEN GRACE
21. KYLE PRESTON 22. JAMES O'CONNOR 23. LEVI AUMUA
HIGHLANDERS:
STARTERS: 1. ETHAN DE GROOT 2. JACK TAYLOR 3. SAULA MA'U 4. MITCHELL DUNSHEA 5. FABIAN HOLLAND 6. OLIVER HAIG 7. SEAN WITHY 8. HUGH RENTON 9. FOLAU FAKATAVA 10. CAMERON MILLAR 11. JONA NAREKI 12. THOMAS UMAGA-JENSEN 13. TANIELU TELE'A 14. TIMOCI TAVATAVANAWAI 15. TAINE ROBINSON
RESERVES: 16. HENRY BELL 17. JOSH BARTLETT 18. SOSEFO KAUTAI 19. TK HOWDEN 20. NIKORA BROUGHTON 21. JAMES ARSCOTT 22. SAM GILBERT 23. MICHAEL MANSON
@canefan said in New Zealand v Italy:
@Landers92 said in New Zealand v Italy:
@Bovidae said in New Zealand v Italy:
Back to their preferred loose forward trio. Reece doesn't deserve to start.
Or be in the 23 for that matter.
I'd play Clarke, Love, and Jordan. But I don't expect Razor to do that either. Just a lack of imagination
He'll likely play Reece again. 
@Mr-Fish said in New Zealand v Italy:
Word is Stephen P at 10, Ruben Love and Fabian Holland both starting.
So not exactly the top team.
I know it's only Italy but we need Ruben Love to have a blinder. I think our best back three going forward is 11. Clarke 14. Jordan and 15. Love. Love just needs more opportunity to prove himself.
I went Roigard, Lakai and Clarke
@His-Bobness said in All Blacks v France:
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.
I recall a game the ABs played out of their skins in Marseille back in 2009 when they were in white, a lot of players saw that game as a turning point which eventually lead to the success at the 2011 WC.
Hopefully a similar result in the weekend will be the making of this side as well.
Bloody hell, golden boy Beauden Barrett has had a pretty sweet ride over the last four years. Never sets the house on fire but seems to always squeeze himself in.
DMac should be starting after last week. Disappointing.
@Bovidae I'm hoping Hugo Plummer is part of that WTG squad as well, he should be in the Canes instead of 'Mr no brains' Josh Taula.
@gt12 said in Hurricanes 2025:
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2025:
@foobaNZ said in Hurricanes 2025:
@Canes4life that's great news re: Harkin.
I am a bit miffed that the Canes brain's trust have decided he's good enough for a training contract, but not a proper contract, when you consider who was selected ahead of him.
My concern would be another team loses a 10, snaps him up, and they're in his ears for a contract next year.
The general consensus seems to be he's the unluckiest player not to make any squad.
I would have preferred Lennox and Harkin over Enari and Hohepa. Who cares if the latter two have experience, they aren't good enough which makes it super frustrating.
Neither are the future, that's for sure.
I will be super annoyed if both of them have gained two year contracts.
@foobaNZ said in Hurricanes 2025:
@Canes4life that's great news re: Harkin.
I am a bit miffed that the Canes brain's trust have decided he's good enough for a training contract, but not a proper contract, when you consider who was selected ahead of him.
My concern would be another team loses a 10, snaps him up, and they're in his ears for a contract next year.
The general consensus seems to be he's the unluckiest player not to make any squad.
I would have preferred Lennox and Harkin over Enari and Hohepa. Who cares if the latter two have experience, they aren't good enough which makes it super frustrating.
Some updated information from Clubrugby.co.nz
Callum Harkin (OBU) has a training contract with the Hurricanes, while we have sought clarification on the status of others, in particular both James ‘O’Reilly (HOBM) and Hugo Plummer (Tawa). O’Reilly’s recent NPC season was hampered by a neck injury so he could be injured.
Plummer’s Tawa and Wellington Lions locking teammate Akira Ieremia is off to Japan for three years. It is understood that he was offered a training contract with the Chiefs but has opted for Japan, the land of his birth, for his immediate playing future.
For clarification, does training contract mean WTG?
@reprobate said in Hurricanes 2025:
@DurryMexted I really think the development of our young 10s is hampered by playing at 15. If you want to learn how to play 10, by far the fastest way to do that is to play 10.
Pick an experienced playmaking fullback or 9 or 12 and an extra good kicking option to help them out by all means, but they need to play 10.
That's exactly why I'm happy for the Canes to throw Godfrey the 10 jersey next year and back him to the hill. We'll quickly find out if he's up to it or not. Roigard was that guy a couple years ago and now look at him.