All Blacks 2025
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@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
Although after a post just above I now have serious doubts Barrett and Ioane will even be selected.
Well, not on SR form.
Barrett the incumbent captain so can't see him getting dropped. Maybe, like Roigard last night, he'll start to come right. Ditto for Reiko starting in Test 1, but if Proctor isn't given good game time/starts a French Test, I'll be pretty pissed off.
Assuming Billy does start and is a success, who's the 12? Jordie or QT? That's the interesting question for me.
@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2025:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
Although after a post just above I now have serious doubts Barrett and Ioane will even be selected.
Well, not on SR form.
Barrett the incumbent captain so can't see him getting dropped. Maybe, like Roigard last night, he'll start to come right. Ditto for Reiko starting in Test 1, but if Proctor isn't given good game time/starts a French Test, I'll be pretty pissed off.
Assuming Billy does start and is a success, who's the 12? Jordie or QT? That's the interesting question for me.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Tupaea and Proctor together. They scored very similar tries this weekend, have the ability to beat players through sheer smarts and footwork.
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I'd probably also have Roigard starting. Have to value combinations but realistically, McKenzie should be playing 80 minutes at 10, so you're not going to be seeing much of the Roigard-Love combination regardless. Roigard is the better halfback than Ratima and has an excellent kicking game. Ratima tends to do better when his team have a bit of momentum.
@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2025:
I'd probably also have Roigard starting. Have to value combinations but realistically, McKenzie should be playing 80 minutes at 10, so you're not going to be seeing much of the Roigard-Love combination regardless. Roigard is the better halfback than Ratima and has an excellent kicking game. Ratima tends to do better when his team have a bit of momentum.
I agree, I think we’ll see Love coming off the bench at 15 and Jordan moving to the wing if anything. Who knows though, injuries always play a hand so wouldn’t be surprised if Love gets a run at 10 at some point. We also need to build depth so would be cool if he got a start in the last French test if we have the series wrapped up by then.
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@ARHS said in All Blacks 2025:
Why unpopular?
Because Tupou Vaa'i
It's nit been popular to rate him.
@booboo said in All Blacks 2025:
@ARHS said in All Blacks 2025:
Why unpopular?
Because Tupou Vaa'i
It's nit been popular to rate him.
Aye? He was many Ferners AB forward of the year last year. Had a great season.
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@ARHS said in All Blacks 2025:
Why unpopular?
Because Tupou Vaa'i
It's nit been popular to rate him.
@booboo said in All Blacks 2025:
@ARHS said in All Blacks 2025:
Why unpopular?
Because Tupou Vaa'i
It's nit been popular to rate him.
Tupou Vaa'i was a Fern favourite by about mid-way through 2024. Close to being the All Blacks' best of the season.
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@Landers92 said in All Blacks 2025:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
All speculation its not what I hear, very destructive talk.
The Captain will be Scott Barrett 100%.It most probably will be because at the end of the day Razor gets to make the decision. Doesn’t mean the players don’t gravitate and look to someone else though… and that’s a fact. Nothing destructive at all.
The captain is also supported by the leadership group who endorse that selection and they have including Ardie so no issue.
@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
@Landers92 said in All Blacks 2025:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
All speculation its not what I hear, very destructive talk.
The Captain will be Scott Barrett 100%.It most probably will be because at the end of the day Razor gets to make the decision. Doesn’t mean the players don’t gravitate and look to someone else though… and that’s a fact. Nothing destructive at all.
The captain is also supported by the leadership group who endorse that selection and they have including Ardie so no issue.
You can defend your boys as much as you want mate and that’s totally fine. I’m just stating that it doesn’t mean the players don’t gravitate and look to someone else and that is a fact. Nothing else to be said.
We all know who Razor is picking mate. It is what it is. Just hope Barrett can pick his game up because as of right now based off form there’s an argument he shouldn’t even be in the starting XV.
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2025:
Reece will likely make the squad but if he is a regular starter we've got problems.
But with Caleb Clarke out of sorts, Will Jordan playing fullback, Reiko Ioane no longer a Wing and out of sorts to put it mildly, Mark Telea leaving and Caleb Tangitau and Kimi Naholo injured, who do have who is remotely as good as Sevu Reece?
Wing is our problem position.
Yes I worry about Reece's top-end pace in comparison with Louis Bielle-Biarrey, but he works hard, has lovely hands, kicks intelligently and has scored eight tries this Super Rugby season which is joint top of NZ players.
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2025:
Reece will likely make the squad but if he is a regular starter we've got problems.
But with Caleb Clarke out of sorts, Will Jordan playing fullback, Reiko Ioane no longer a Wing and out of sorts to put it mildly, Mark Telea leaving and Caleb Tangitau and Kimi Naholo injured, who do have who is remotely as good as Sevu Reece?
Wing is our problem position.
Yes I worry about Reece's top-end pace in comparison with Louis Bielle-Biarrey, but he works hard, has lovely hands, kicks intelligently and has scored eight tries this Super Rugby season which is joint top of NZ players.
@sparky I think Reece is a fine stop-gap at the moment. Narawa isn't bashing down the door and Tangitau is injured.
In saying that, I'd rather see a Clarke/Carter combination on the wings, or see Love given a run at 14 (or even Jordan at 14 with Love at the back).
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2025:
Reece will likely make the squad but if he is a regular starter we've got problems.
But with Caleb Clarke out of sorts, Will Jordan playing fullback, Reiko Ioane no longer a Wing and out of sorts to put it mildly, Mark Telea leaving and Caleb Tangitau and Kimi Naholo injured, who do have who is remotely as good as Sevu Reece?
Wing is our problem position.
Yes I worry about Reece's top-end pace in comparison with Louis Bielle-Biarrey, but he works hard, has lovely hands, kicks intelligently and has scored eight tries this Super Rugby season which is joint top of NZ players.
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Also, was Ardie getting bulldozed over the top of by Taukeiaho close to the line cause for concern or am I reading too much into it?
Test rugby is defence focused lets not forget people, and there will be plenty of traffic coming his way close to the line if he's gonna be that weak close to the ruck. He ain't gonna be hovering out wide chipping and chasing either at a test 7 like he does for Moana.
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Clarke has been in good form this season apart from his last match. Being a bit rusty in his first match after a 5 week injury doesn’t push him down the pecking order
@Duluth said in All Blacks 2025:
Clarke has been in good form this season apart from his last match. Being a bit rusty in his first match after a 5 week injury doesn’t push him down the pecking order
Correct. Some people seem to think that mass changes will be made and we're picking a SuperRugby form XV as opposed to the actual test team.
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Clarke has been in good form this season apart from his last match. Being a bit rusty in his first match after a 5 week injury doesn’t push him down the pecking order
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Also, was Ardie getting bulldozed over the top of by Taukeiaho close to the line cause for concern or am I reading too much into it?
Test rugby is defence focused lets not forget people, and there will be plenty of traffic coming his way close to the line if he's gonna be that weak close to the ruck. He ain't gonna be hovering out wide chipping and chasing either at a test 7 like he does for Moana.
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks 2025:
Also, was Ardie getting bulldozed over the top of by Taukeiaho close to the line cause for concern or am I reading too much into it?
Ardie got low. Taukei'aho got even lower and was going forward and had players behind pushing him on. I'm not sure even prime Jerome Kaino was going to do much about that one.
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@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
@Duluth How many tries has Caleb Clarke scored in Super Rugby this season?
Apart from the fact that he's been injured, have you missed the memo about Super rugby form?
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@African-Monkey said in All Blacks 2025:
Also, was Ardie getting bulldozed over the top of by Taukeiaho close to the line cause for concern or am I reading too much into it?
Ardie got low. Taukei'aho got even lower and was going forward and had players behind pushing him on. I'm not sure even prime Jerome Kaino was going to do much about that one.
@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks 2025:
Also, was Ardie getting bulldozed over the top of by Taukeiaho close to the line cause for concern or am I reading too much into it?
Ardie got low. Taukei'aho got even lower and was going forward and had players behind pushing him on. I'm not sure even prime Jerome Kaino was going to do much about that one.
Yeah, he got low and thrown off. It wasn't a great attempt.
Like yeah, he'll be starting somewhere, but these are more important aspects to focus on for the next level instead of him getting favourable penalties from refs and asI said earlier, chipping and chasing on the wing like a primeJeff Wilson.
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@sparky I think Reece is a fine stop-gap at the moment. Narawa isn't bashing down the door and Tangitau is injured.
In saying that, I'd rather see a Clarke/Carter combination on the wings, or see Love given a run at 14 (or even Jordan at 14 with Love at the back).
@Mr-Fish Thinking towards the next World Cup, I think Ruben Love is going to be (if fit) the back-up 10 behind DMac and I'd like to see him given some game time there this year for the ABs. But yeah, he's an option on the wing or fullback too. He's an awesome player to have on your bench.
