All Blacks 2025
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Over halfway through the season now so going to have a go at what a 34-man All Blacks squad might look like...
Hookers - Codie Taylor, Asafo Aumua, Samisoni Taukei'aho
Props - Ethan de Groot, Tamaiti Williams, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Pasilio Tosi
Locks - Scott Barrett, Tupou Vaa'i, two of Josh Lord, Patrick Tuipulotu and Josh Beehre*
Loose forwards - Ardie Savea, Ethan Blackadder, Wallace Sititi, Luke Jacobson, Peter Lakai, Cam Christie*
Halfbacks - Cam Roigard, Cortez Ratima, Noah Hotham
First fives - Damian McKenzie, Beauden Barrett, Xavi Taele*
Midfield - Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Quinn Tupaea
Outside backs - Will Jordan, Caleb Clarke, Ruben Love, Mark Tele'a, Sevu ReecePossibly another prop or loose forward instead of a midfielder/outside back. Obviously still a lot of time for players to get injured/come into form/lose form completely.
Feels a bit absurd to pick three Blues as the only debutants but think they've all been pretty good (in the case of Beehre/Christie) or shown immense promise - I can see Taele being a long-term option at 10.
Reece probably the luckiest of the bunch based on last year's form, this year's form, and the strength that NZ has in the outside backs but he's a Razor-favourite. Tangitau needs to back up next year (or in the NPC) to win a spot for my mind.
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@nonpartizan Stevenson is off to Japan at the end of the year so don't think Razor will bother investing in him now (different story if he were an established All Black).
I'm not sure Kirifi will ever be an All Black. He's playing well and is obviously excellent at the breakdown but I don't think he offers enough with ball in hand to justify how unbalanced any loose forward trio would end up being (and it's already unbalanced). A Sititi/Kirifi/Savea combo is incredibly undersized so until Razor gets his hands on a hulking 6, I can't see Kirifi getting the call up.
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@nonpartizan Stevenson is off to Japan at the end of the year so don't think Razor will bother investing in him now (different story if he were an established All Black).
I'm not sure Kirifi will ever be an All Black. He's playing well and is obviously excellent at the breakdown but I don't think he offers enough with ball in hand to justify how unbalanced any loose forward trio would end up being (and it's already unbalanced). A Sititi/Kirifi/Savea combo is incredibly undersized so until Razor gets his hands on a hulking 6, I can't see Kirifi getting the call up.
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@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2025:
@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2025:
@nonpartizan Stevenson is off to Japan at the end of the year so don't think Razor will bother investing in him now (different story if he were an established All Black).
I'm not sure Kirifi will ever be an All Black. He's playing well and is obviously excellent at the breakdown but I don't think he offers enough with ball in hand to justify how unbalanced any loose forward trio would end up being (and it's already unbalanced). A Sititi/Kirifi/Savea combo is incredibly undersized so until Razor gets his hands on a hulking 6, I can't see Kirifi getting the call up.
Understood on Stevenson.
For Kirifi I see the drawbacks about the balance of the team and sauad but I just don't see how coaches aren't curious enough to see him in their training sessions and in their environments doing their drills. It just seems a defeating mindset to write players off before they have been given a shot especially since it also messages non All Blacks that you might be dismissed without being ever really given a chance.
IMHO I think it's better to experiment and fail than to preemptively assume but never satisfy your curiosity.
I don't necessarily disagree but players are written off at all levels of the game for lacking the raw attributes needed to meet that level of play.
Who would you partner Kirifi with in the loose forwards?
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@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2025:
@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2025:
@nonpartizan Stevenson is off to Japan at the end of the year so don't think Razor will bother investing in him now (different story if he were an established All Black).
I'm not sure Kirifi will ever be an All Black. He's playing well and is obviously excellent at the breakdown but I don't think he offers enough with ball in hand to justify how unbalanced any loose forward trio would end up being (and it's already unbalanced). A Sititi/Kirifi/Savea combo is incredibly undersized so until Razor gets his hands on a hulking 6, I can't see Kirifi getting the call up.
Understood on Stevenson.
For Kirifi I see the drawbacks about the balance of the team and sauad but I just don't see how coaches aren't curious enough to see him in their training sessions and in their environments doing their drills. It just seems a defeating mindset to write players off before they have been given a shot especially since it also messages non All Blacks that you might be dismissed without being ever really given a chance.
IMHO I think it's better to experiment and fail than to preemptively assume but never satisfy your curiosity.
I don't necessarily disagree but players are written off at all levels of the game for lacking the raw attributes needed to meet that level of play.
Who would you partner Kirifi with in the loose forwards?
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Over halfway through the season now so going to have a go at what a 34-man All Blacks squad might look like...
Hookers - Codie Taylor, Asafo Aumua, Samisoni Taukei'aho
Props - Ethan de Groot, Tamaiti Williams, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Pasilio Tosi
Locks - Scott Barrett, Tupou Vaa'i, two of Josh Lord, Patrick Tuipulotu and Josh Beehre*
Loose forwards - Ardie Savea, Ethan Blackadder, Wallace Sititi, Luke Jacobson, Peter Lakai, Cam Christie*
Halfbacks - Cam Roigard, Cortez Ratima, Noah Hotham
First fives - Damian McKenzie, Beauden Barrett, Xavi Taele*
Midfield - Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Quinn Tupaea
Outside backs - Will Jordan, Caleb Clarke, Ruben Love, Mark Tele'a, Sevu ReecePossibly another prop or loose forward instead of a midfielder/outside back. Obviously still a lot of time for players to get injured/come into form/lose form completely.
Feels a bit absurd to pick three Blues as the only debutants but think they've all been pretty good (in the case of Beehre/Christie) or shown immense promise - I can see Taele being a long-term option at 10.
Reece probably the luckiest of the bunch based on last year's form, this year's form, and the strength that NZ has in the outside backs but he's a Razor-favourite. Tangitau needs to back up next year (or in the NPC) to win a spot for my mind.
@Mr-Fish About right.
I think Fabian Holland, Samipeni Finau and Stephen Perofeta will be there ahead of the three Blues debutants you suggest, but the rest looks correct at the moment.
It wouldn't surprised me if there are no new All Blacks at all in the July Squad.
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@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2025:
@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2025:
@nonpartizan Stevenson is off to Japan at the end of the year so don't think Razor will bother investing in him now (different story if he were an established All Black).
I'm not sure Kirifi will ever be an All Black. He's playing well and is obviously excellent at the breakdown but I don't think he offers enough with ball in hand to justify how unbalanced any loose forward trio would end up being (and it's already unbalanced). A Sititi/Kirifi/Savea combo is incredibly undersized so until Razor gets his hands on a hulking 6, I can't see Kirifi getting the call up.
Understood on Stevenson.
For Kirifi I see the drawbacks about the balance of the team and sauad but I just don't see how coaches aren't curious enough to see him in their training sessions and in their environments doing their drills. It just seems a defeating mindset to write players off before they have been given a shot especially since it also messages non All Blacks that you might be dismissed without being ever really given a chance.
IMHO I think it's better to experiment and fail than to preemptively assume but never satisfy your curiosity.
I don't necessarily disagree but players are written off at all levels of the game for lacking the raw attributes needed to meet that level of play.
Who would you partner Kirifi with in the loose forwards?
@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2025:
@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2025:
@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2025:
@nonpartizan Stevenson is off to Japan at the end of the year so don't think Razor will bother investing in him now (different story if he were an established All Black).
I'm not sure Kirifi will ever be an All Black. He's playing well and is obviously excellent at the breakdown but I don't think he offers enough with ball in hand to justify how unbalanced any loose forward trio would end up being (and it's already unbalanced). A Sititi/Kirifi/Savea combo is incredibly undersized so until Razor gets his hands on a hulking 6, I can't see Kirifi getting the call up.
Understood on Stevenson.
For Kirifi I see the drawbacks about the balance of the team and sauad but I just don't see how coaches aren't curious enough to see him in their training sessions and in their environments doing their drills. It just seems a defeating mindset to write players off before they have been given a shot especially since it also messages non All Blacks that you might be dismissed without being ever really given a chance.
IMHO I think it's better to experiment and fail than to preemptively assume but never satisfy your curiosity.
I don't necessarily disagree but players are written off at all levels of the game for lacking the raw attributes needed to meet that level of play.
Who would you partner Kirifi with in the loose forwards?
Not sure you can have Kirifi and Savea in the same loose forward trio. One has to come off the bench for the other
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Kirifi is much more robust now than he was a couple of years ago. I used to think that he was undersized but you regularly see him charge into contact and bust through tackles now. And if he is over the ball he is very difficult to move. There was a recent article saying he has had conversations with the AB coaches, which is a positive.
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I fully expect him to be picked, but Blackadder is looking even more average than I thought he would in SR. I really don't get the attraction.
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I fully expect him to be picked, but Blackadder is looking even more average than I thought he would in SR. I really don't get the attraction.
@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
I fully expect him to be picked, but Blackadder is looking even more average than I thought he would in SR. I really don't get the attraction.
Arguably an attraction for the AB selectors in both Jacobson and Blackadder is that they can cover all three positions in the back row. So it could be argued that they are good players to have on the bench.
But yeah, Blackadder's an average Super Player at best and would be nowhere near my AB squad on current form.
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Over halfway through the season now so going to have a go at what a 34-man All Blacks squad might look like...
Hookers - Codie Taylor, Asafo Aumua, Samisoni Taukei'aho
Props - Ethan de Groot, Tamaiti Williams, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Pasilio Tosi
Locks - Scott Barrett, Tupou Vaa'i, two of Josh Lord, Patrick Tuipulotu and Josh Beehre*
Loose forwards - Ardie Savea, Ethan Blackadder, Wallace Sititi, Luke Jacobson, Peter Lakai, Cam Christie*
Halfbacks - Cam Roigard, Cortez Ratima, Noah Hotham
First fives - Damian McKenzie, Beauden Barrett, Xavi Taele*
Midfield - Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Quinn Tupaea
Outside backs - Will Jordan, Caleb Clarke, Ruben Love, Mark Tele'a, Sevu ReecePossibly another prop or loose forward instead of a midfielder/outside back. Obviously still a lot of time for players to get injured/come into form/lose form completely.
Feels a bit absurd to pick three Blues as the only debutants but think they've all been pretty good (in the case of Beehre/Christie) or shown immense promise - I can see Taele being a long-term option at 10.
Reece probably the luckiest of the bunch based on last year's form, this year's form, and the strength that NZ has in the outside backs but he's a Razor-favourite. Tangitau needs to back up next year (or in the NPC) to win a spot for my mind.
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I fully expect him to be picked, but Blackadder is looking even more average than I thought he would in SR. I really don't get the attraction.
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So who is our 7 once Blackadder goes down? I wouldnt have him there, but we know he will be until injury, so who's the backup? I don't think they're keen on Papali'i, Lakai ended up there last year but Kirifi gets preferred at club level, Ardie started there against France but had to move out of there quickly and we all know he ain't a 7, so who is 2nd choice?
My choice is Lakai.
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So who is our 7 once Blackadder goes down? I wouldnt have him there, but we know he will be until injury, so who's the backup? I don't think they're keen on Papali'i, Lakai ended up there last year but Kirifi gets preferred at club level, Ardie started there against France but had to move out of there quickly and we all know he ain't a 7, so who is 2nd choice?
My choice is Lakai.
Savea then Lakai then Papalii for me.
Finau at 6. Sititi at 8. Lakai or Jacobson on the bench.
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@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
Savea then Kirifi then Lakai for me.
Caveat that we're only halfway through the comp but I'm in agreement.
Savea is having a career renaissance playing openside for MP. Looks much better than the player that came out of Japan.
Kirifi has matured and is playing with greater smarts and impact.
Lakai looks nothing like the player that made the All Blacks. Much more subdued and less impact.
