The Silver Fern

@tubbyj said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:

@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:

@MiketheSnow said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:

Discarded / surplus to requirements for a lot of those players tbf

Fifita had multiple chances.

Running bigger packs off their feet with hybrid 7s playing in every loose forward position works in Super rugby but not in test rugby.

The Jason Holland philosophy... didn't work against teams not named Crusaders, Chiefs, Blues, Brumbies. So not entirely successful at Super Rugby level is it? Unless you are playing the comparatively unfit & poorly conditioned Australian teams.

you know that I think of it I reckon Fozzie has the biggest coaching staff in the tournament. Schmidt, Ryan, McLeod, David Hill, Greg Feek & also now Steve Hansen as an advisor, I assume for the pool stages. It's quite the contrast from having only Foster, McLeod, Cron in 2019..

@Duluth

@Duluth said in All Kiwi's not coaching ABs at the 2023 World Cup?:

@kiwi_expat

Vern Cotter is a consultant with Romania

can't believe they sacked Andy Robinson going into the WC

not including us but off the top of my head

Samoa - Andrew Goodman, Tana Umaga, Coventry.

Japan - Joseph, Mitchell, Brown, Scott Hansen.

Italy - Crowley.

Wales - Gatland.

Fiji - Daryl Gibson, Glen Jackson.

Georgia - Corey Brown, Paul Tito.

Argentina - Kidwell.

Any other NZ coaches in France at the moment?

It would be quite interesting to see how this compares to previous World Cups. In 2019 most teams except for SA, France, Australia, Italy & Scotland had a NZ head coach, assistant, or advisor/consultant. Milton Haig Georgia, Steve Jackson Samoa, Graham Henry Canada, Neil Barnes Fiji, etc.. In 2015 i'm pretty sure only France, England, Italy, Australia among the top teams did not, 2015 had the rarity of 2 brothers (Leo & Kieran) coaching the same side Canada, 2011 was full of NZ coaches like Aussie McLean (Samoa), Boyd (Tonga), Crowley (Canada), Gibbes (Georgia), Kirwan (Japan), Deans, Gatland, etc..

Who thinks NZ beat Aus if Umaga was selected at 13? McDonald was standing out of position when Spencer's pass was picked off by Mortlock. Umaga also wouldn't have let his midfield channel get dominated by the same guy throughout the match.

@Canes4life Haha, there's no way Dalton is 104kg. Tom Christie is 105kg and he looks miniscule compared to the Blues & Chiefs loosies. Dalton also has the jacked Polynesian genetics, look at his upper body, size of his torso & shoulders, he's definitely carrying a lot up top.

Man some of the forward's weights are all over the place here.

Frizell listed as 188cm when he's 195cm according to all other sources, and Papali'i listed as only 104kg/191cm when he's 113kg/193cm on the Blues page, lol.

rugbybworldcup.com

New Zealand - Team | Rugby World Cup 2023

The key moments of New Zealand's Rugby World Cup story.

@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2023:

Everyone: The All Blacks and the Wallabies are shit now and have shit players

Crusaders Fans: The Crusaders are fucking awesome because they beat NZ and Aus teams.

Is that really a thing now? They didn't lose a single game to SA opposition in the 4 seasons (2017-2020) under Razor before Covid, his results against quasi Argentina were 45-17 (2018), 19-3 (2019) & that was the year quasi Argentina under Quesada were arguably a better side than Ledesma's Argentina. It was the same squad except with a better coach.

@His-Bobness said in AB RWC Squad:

They’re taking only three working locks? They’re travelling with only five loose forwards and expecting Frizell to cover for broken Brodie at a pinch?

Finau should be on the plane, of all the loose-forward options only Barrett is bigger than Sampeni, at 194cm/115kg he's bigger than Frizell, Papali'i, Jacobson, Cane & Savea.

Finau has also played well at lock for Chiefs previously, should be going as the backup to Frizell at 6 and as emergency lock cover.

Don't have too much of an issue with Foster's 33-man squad, just would've liked to have seen Goodhue over Havili, Finau instead of Clarke, and Fakatava over Christie.

@Canes4life Blackwell is pretty stocky though at 114kg, Bedwell-Curtis is 103kg.

@KiwiMurph said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

@kiwi_expat said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

@KiwiMurph said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

@kiwi_expat said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

@Canes4life said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

Should we be really worried that both McDonald and Holland are in the ABs coaching setup next year.

But at least Ryan, Hansen, Razor are all proven class. 3/5 isn't too bad.

Holland is a good attack coach. It's not like he's gonna be shoehorning James Blackwell into the AB locks

Source?

Watching the Canes under Holland for years. Their set piece attack has been consistently top shelf - without a quality 10 either. A real ability to create space and attack to it.

But since Holland's been their head coach wouldn't be as heavily involved with that area, Tyler Bleyendaal's been the Hurricanes attack coach since 2021 hasn't he?

@KiwiMurph said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

@kiwi_expat said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

@Canes4life said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

Should we be really worried that both McDonald and Holland are in the ABs coaching setup next year.

But at least Ryan, Hansen, Razor are all proven class. 3/5 isn't too bad.

Holland is a good attack coach. It's not like he's gonna be shoehorning James Blackwell into the AB locks

Source? And hasn't Tyler Blydeendal been their attack coach for the last 3 seasons?

@Canes4life said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

Should we be really worried that both McDonald and Holland are in the ABs coaching setup next year.

But at least Ryan, Hansen, Razor are all proven class. 3/5 isn't too bad.

@Daffy-Jaffy said in Blues 2024:

Good news. I always loved the way O'Halloran's Manawatu teams attacked. All we need now are some good signings, especially Locks and props.
From the Herald -
O’Halloran is expected to assume the attack brief at the Blues after honing his coaching craft in Japan, Manawatū and Scotland, where he linked with Cotter from 2014-2017 to lead the national team to fifth in the world.

While Craig McGrath retains responsibility for the Blues defence, Dan Halangahu is expected to shift from attack to a skills focus in the coaching reshuffle.

Cotter’s traditional forwards focus and Paul Tito’s ongoing presence likely leaves no room for Tom Coventry, although he and Tana Umaga may be retained within the Blues in some capacity.

Cotter’s long-time relationship with All Blacks assistant Joe Schmidt - dating back to 2000 when they joined forces to lead Bay of Plenty to the Ranfurly Shield – could yet rekindle their ties at the Blues next year.

Cotter, O'Halloran, Tito, McGrath, Halangahu, Umaga, Schmidt would make 7, and they said Razor's AB staff was excessive, those Blue$$$$ are desperate to buy a title aren't they?

@akan004 said in NZ U20 v France U20 (World Rugby U20 Championship):

@Nepia said in NZ U20 v France U20 (World Rugby U20 Championship):

@akan004 said in NZ U20 v France U20 (World Rugby U20 Championship):

I know we tend to opt for mobility over size in NZ, but I do think we have to start to look at bigger athletes as well. That's where the game is heading, especially in the NH. Would players such as Tuilagi, Skelton, Meafou etc have been persevered with in NZ? Probably not.

Tamaiti Williams has just been selected as an AB. So maybe yes.

He's an exception rather than the rule due to his skill and mobility. We don't generally see too many big men in NZ rugby.

Our forwards certainly haven't lacked size. While our backline has been the 2nd heaviest in the world behind France since the last World Cup.

It's also been amusing hearing people continue to perpetrate the myth of our 'undersized' forwards against the much vaunted NH packs - the coaching wasn't the problem - it's cause our players are simply too small & weak to overpower those MASSIVE northern hemisphere packs.

The ironic thing is NZ's forward pack has consistently been either the heaviest or 2nd heaviest pack in the world during Foster's 4 year tenure. He just had them playing lateral helter-skelter rugby instead of utilizing our big men effectively, thankfully Schmidt & Ryan have got them playing more a lot more direct and varying the point of attack now.

@Chris-B as I said not the team Fozzie will pick, but I can hope.