The Silver Fern

Won SR and briefly became an All Black. With the lack of genuine interest from these selectors the choice was basically made for him

If there's 50/50 selection calls the Blues have to make this year I think they should go against the guy leaving

Kerevi suspended so Sua'ali'i should get another start

On at a good time for NZ viewers. 9am on Sat morning

France change four for their series-ending game with Argentina

Fabien Galthie has made four changes to his France side to host Argentina in Paris on Friday in the Autumn Nations Series.

15 Leo Barre, 14 Gabin Villiere, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Charles Ollivon , 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros

Reserves: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Alexandre Roumat, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Marko Gazzotti, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Emilen Gailleton

15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Matias Moroni, 11 Bautista Delguy, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Juaqin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo

Reserves: 16, Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Marcos Kremer, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Santi Carreras, 23 Mateo Carreras

@MiketheSnow said in UFC / MMA:

Turns out it was a great card

Cracking finishes from Oban Elliot, Brahimaj, Tybura, Miller and Jones

Nickal needs to show more to fight for the belt

Charles v Mike was one for the ages

Jones picked Stipe apart

Yeah some fun fights

The gap between Jones and Miocic was huge but Stipe was disappointing. He looked his age. Good decision from JJ to attack the body so much

Aspinall will be confident against Jones, he's considerably quicker and he's larger. I'm picking Jones will drag out negotiations and then try to talk up a Pereira fight.. I'm sure he could make that fight mostly happen off the feet

Charles was great but Chandlers resilience made that fight. The last round was an unbelievable effort

We know where Bo Nickal is at now. I thought he might be reluctant to take Craig down but I expected him to have more success with his striking. Unfortunately we had a kickboxing match between two limited kickboxers. The UFC have done Nickal no favours by talking him up so much.. who do they match him up against next? Maybe 15th ranked Michel Pereira?

@reprobate said in All Blacks MOTM v France:

Savea was good at 7 eh?

He played 6 for most of the match

Current Standings:

23 Wallace Sititi
15 Tupou Vaa'i
12 Caleb Clarke
10 Patrick Tuipulotu
10 Cortez Ratima
10 Codie Taylor
10 Damian McKenzie
9 Sam Darry
9 Asafo Aumua
8 Anton Lienert-Brown
7 Dalton Papali'i
7 Jordie Barret
6 Tamaiti Williams
5 Rieko Ioane
5 Beauden Barrett
5 Sevu Reece
4 Mark Tele'a
3 Sam Cane
3 Scott Barrett
3 Samipeni Finau
3 Billy Proctor
2 Will Jordan
2 Cam Roigard
1 Pasilio Tosi
1 Stephen Perofeta
1 Ethan de Groot
1 Ardie Savea
1 Ethan Blackadder

3 votes

The weakest PPV for a while with a couple of fights dropping off

I hate how the main event has held up the HW division. Any HW title fight should involve Aspinall

Jones should win, I'll be cheering for Stipe though. If Jones wins I hope he doesn't retire. He should fight Aspinall, and if he gets past him, fight Pereira. That would make an unbeatable record on paper

Chandler has been screwed over by waiting around for Conor. I assume Oliveira will be too good again

Nickal v Craig is the fight I'm most looking forward too. Craig, despite being on slide, is better than what Nickal has faced so far. Specialist wrestler v specialist BJJ. I hope Craig gets the upset but I think Bo gets a KO.. he's not subtle with his striking but he has natural power and Craig is really hittable

Argies almost got the first try. Called back for a YC

It's on at a good time for NZ viewers.. 9am tomorrow morning

Four Ireland talking points as Aki axed and two rookies make bench

Andy Farrell has kept faith with most of the Ireland starters that ran out for last Friday’s disappointing loss to New Zealand in Dublin.

15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter

Reserves: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Jamie Osborne

15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Matias Moroni, 11 Bautista Delguy, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo

Reserves: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Santiago Grondona, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Justo Piccardo

That would help to get the best players into the 23

9 Funaki/Christie
10 Plummer
11 Clarke
12 AJ/Sullivan
13 Ioane
14 Telea
15 BB/Perofeta

21 Funaki/Christie
22 AJ/Sullivan
23 BB/Perofeta

@george33 said in Blues 2025:

So Zarn Sullivan a possibility of moving into the midfield

Interesting

His kicking is too slow at 10 but would be useful at 12.

A similar shape to the Blues preferred midfielders too AJ/RI and the injured Heem

All the squads are listed here:

Duluth  /  Nov 11

2025 Super Rugby Squads

As the 2025 Super Rugby squads are announced they'll be listed here

@KiwiMurph said in Blues 2025:

I would rather see Lam as a midfielder and have another wing option.

It's interesting that we lost two wingers (Tangitau & Banks) but didn't add another specialist

I suspect the centre pairing will be Lam/RI. So there's a question about who plays wing when Clarke or Tele'a are injured.

@Crazy-Horse said in Blues 2025:

I haven't seen anything of Spencer. Does he warrant a spot now or is he more of a hopeful pick for the future?

He's been injured almost all year. Had some good moments in the 2023 NPC.. but that was only 3 games

So it is slightly risky