Italy v All Blacks

African Monkey

@Bones said in Italy v All Blacks:

@Darren said in Italy v All Blacks:

Sititi

I'm even loathe to give him credit for that - a newbie playing out of position. Got very fucking lucky.

Going off how the rest of the team has been selected, If it wasn’t for injuries , I’m not convinced sititi gets a run at all this year , particularly at 6 with Blackadder playing there before him

They fluked that one imo

Like, credit for picking Sititi and Tosi in the first place but yeah, if it weren't for injury, they probably would have only played against Japan if Blackadder and Newell stayed fit.

dogmeat

@ACT-Crusader said in Italy v All Blacks:

@Landers92 said in Italy v All Blacks:

@frugby said in Italy v All Blacks:

I would have liked to have seen Bell, Holland etc. get a game, but other than it being nice for them and their families, I am not sure it proves anything, because of the level of opposition, and the fact the next test is 9 months after this

And playing your near full strength squad does?

ALL BLACKS: v ITALY 2004 EOYT
S. Taumoepeau
A. D. Oliver
C. J. Hayman
C. R. Jack
N. M. C. Maxwell
J. Collins
R. H. McCaw
M. M. Tuiali'i
B. T. Kelleher
D. W. Carter
J. T. Rokocoko
J. F. Umaga (C)
C. G. Smith
R. L. Gear
J. M. Muliaina

Totally different circumstances. Italy was the first game of the NH tour, the AB's hadn't played for 3 months and Ted made 9 changes for the next game against Wales.

pakman

@Bones What time zone are you in at the mo?

Bones

@pakman said in Italy v All Blacks:

@Bones What time zone are you in at the mo?

I usually ask for the deposit first.

pakman

@Bones I'm just back in UK from NZ with jetlag and you were posting at 4 am!

Machpants

@sparky said in Italy v All Blacks:

I am pleased that Robertson and co. have picked what they think is the strongest possible 23 for this game. Italy deserve our respect and we want to go into the summer with as much positive momentum as possible.

On the other hand, what the fuck is David Havili doing in the 23?

Last time we almost put a ton on them, how the fuck do they deserve our respect?

Bones

@pakman said in Italy v All Blacks:

@Bones I'm just back in UK from NZ with jetlag and you were posting at 4 am!

Because someone paid their deposit!

sparky

@Machpants They drew with France in France earlier this year and we could only manage a loss away against the same country. Their other results in 2024 are mostly not bad.

https://www.flashscore.com/team/italy/dY0G5w4R/results/

KiwiMurph

@sparky you conveniently leave out that Italy got absolutely thrashed by Argentina 2 weeks ago and scraped home by 3 points vs Georgia last week

ACT Crusader

@dogmeat said in Italy v All Blacks:

@ACT-Crusader said in Italy v All Blacks:

@Landers92 said in Italy v All Blacks:

@frugby said in Italy v All Blacks:

I would have liked to have seen Bell, Holland etc. get a game, but other than it being nice for them and their families, I am not sure it proves anything, because of the level of opposition, and the fact the next test is 9 months after this

And playing your near full strength squad does?

ALL BLACKS: v ITALY 2004 EOYT
S. Taumoepeau
A. D. Oliver
C. J. Hayman
C. R. Jack
N. M. C. Maxwell
J. Collins
R. H. McCaw
M. M. Tuiali'i
B. T. Kelleher
D. W. Carter
J. T. Rokocoko
J. F. Umaga (C)
C. G. Smith
R. L. Gear
J. M. Muliaina

Totally different circumstances. Italy was the first game of the NH tour, the AB's hadn't played for 3 months and Ted made 9 changes for the next game against Wales.

We’ve just come off a loss so there will be some players who would be keen to avenge that loss. Razor has made 5 changes to the lineup that started last week.

ARHS

@ACT-Crusader duh. I thought it was just injury forced changes for starters except for swapping Vaai and Tuipolutu

Victor Meldrew

@Bones said in Italy v All Blacks:

@pakman said in Italy v All Blacks:

@Bones I'm just back in UK from NZ with jetlag and you were posting at 4 am!

Because someone paid their deposit!

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/454df05a-c590-4bd7-b3a0-734b0f26c6ac/d5lonet-2cb6c8e0-5611-4319-a593-d8c7651d4f41.gif?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzQ1NGRmMDVhLWM1OTAtNGJkNy1iM2EwLTczNGIwZjI2YzZhY1wvZDVsb25ldC0yY2I2YzhlMC01NjExLTQzMTktYTU5My1kOGM3NjUxZDRmNDEuZ2lmIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.VZ5uz64xn2YCcZjMQ_QHm94ole0mY-wk3wvZ4WWKorU

reprobate

@ACT-Crusader said in Italy v All Blacks:

@dogmeat said in Italy v All Blacks:

@ACT-Crusader said in Italy v All Blacks:

@Landers92 said in Italy v All Blacks:

@frugby said in Italy v All Blacks:

I would have liked to have seen Bell, Holland etc. get a game, but other than it being nice for them and their families, I am not sure it proves anything, because of the level of opposition, and the fact the next test is 9 months after this

And playing your near full strength squad does?

ALL BLACKS: v ITALY 2004 EOYT
S. Taumoepeau
A. D. Oliver
C. J. Hayman
C. R. Jack
N. M. C. Maxwell
J. Collins
R. H. McCaw
M. M. Tuiali'i
B. T. Kelleher
D. W. Carter
J. T. Rokocoko
J. F. Umaga (C)
C. G. Smith
R. L. Gear
J. M. Muliaina

Totally different circumstances. Italy was the first game of the NH tour, the AB's hadn't played for 3 months and Ted made 9 changes for the next game against Wales.

We’ve just come off a loss so there will be some players who would be keen to avenge that loss. Razor has made 5 changes to the lineup that started last week.

No he hasn't.

Williams is injured.
Finau HIA and Cane only missed last game due to injury.
Jordie HIA.
Tele'a back in after injury.

The only actual selection he's done is swapping Tupou Vaa'i with Pat Tuipolotu, and put TJ in for Ratima on the bench for a farewell.
Slick work by coaching genius Robertson, don't know how he comes up with this stuff TBH.

sparky

@KiwiMurph Italy are ranked 10th in the world at the moment, well below Argentina who are 5th just two place behind NZ. So an Argentina win was not a surprise.

I expect a 30-40 win by the ABs on Saturday, but I've seen Italy draw with France with year, beat Scotland and Wales and push England really close. Write them off at your peril.

KiwiMurph

It's going to very cold at kick off time in Turin.

Dropping below zero degrees Celsius.

Windows97

This is Fozzie 2.0 - BB is going to be our first 5 at the next RWC?

No innovation, only injury enforced changes and talent such as Soututu, Laki, Love, Lord, Proctor, Plummer all get left behind.

BerniesCorner

A pass mark this year will be winning comfortably against Italy.
Minimal pressure on Razor at the moment as the team has done pretty well.
2025 we seriously need to try out some new players and positions in the backline like Higgins, Love.
Forward pack coming together well.
If anything 2024 has been a bit conservative.
DMac is the first five in my book

voodoo

I’m fine with Cane starting and TJ getting a send off (Ratima needs a break, hopefully Lakai gets 20 after Cane leaves to a standing O)

But Havili and BB is so fucken idiotic.

Kiwiwomble

do people really look at thrashing italy with a full strength team as finishing the season strong? do people actually think winning by 50 achieves something that winning by 20 but with some fresh blood woudlnt?....honestly might not even watch

akan004

Another conservative selection from a very conservative coach. What's the point of picking Cane and TJ against a second rate team like Italy when they aren't going to be available next year? It's no wonder this team lacks the ruthless edge, how can they have it when the selections are so toothless by the coach. Rewarding mediocrity by continually picking guys like Reece and Havilli, and selections based on sentiment is not what you would expect in an AB setup.

The Silver Fern

Italy v All Blacks