2025 All Blacks v France series
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Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
No, more a case of folk expressing concern at his limitations as a player
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
Hands up if you've joined the pile-on
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Fk me, how many times can people talk about Blackadder on this forum?
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
Interesting response to statistics
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Hearing from a source that Naitoa Ah Kuoi has been bought into the All Black squad , i have no reason to doubt this info and i stand to be corrected but if it is correct i would be keen to know who he is replacing
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
No.
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@reprobate said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Kirwan said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Well that was a methodic dismantling of the Blackadder myth. Confirmed beyond all doubt the "busy but ineffective" label.
As a ball carrier, sure. He's almost McCaw-like in his lack of metres and evasiveness.
Is a ball carrier what we need to accompany and balance Sititi and Savea?I don't care if he's a ball carrier, I want his ruck clear outs and tackles to be effective.
Who cares if he makes 15 tackles if he's escorting guys over the try line? Espcially at six, you need stoppers there. Obviously Kaino and Collins used to cut people in half, but I could mention another six that tackled harder than Ethan.
Reminds me when I started work on a helpdesk, I had awesome call stats because I took all the easy items off the queue. Not actually that useful but looks great on paper.
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
It's the opposite really. If he played for the Highlanders he would be nowhere near the All Backs. Not the first or the last to be selected purely on club mana opposed to individual ability.
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@Canes4life said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Fk me, how many times can people talk about Blackadder on this forum?
That's what happens when there's a perception that someone is getting an easy ride without justification
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@Canes4life said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Fk me, how many times can people talk about Blackadder on this forum?
About equal to the number of times the Canes are mentioned.
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@Frank said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Canes4life said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Fk me, how many times can people talk about Blackadder on this forum?
About equal to the number of times the Canes are mentioned.
I still reckon mentions of Blackadder would outnumber the accumulation of mentions that Canes players have had in this thread.
Blackadder hasnât made the ABs, let it go people.
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@Steven-Harris said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Hearing from a source that Naitoa Ah Kuoi has been bought into the All Black squad , i have no reason to doubt this info and i stand to be corrected but if it is correct i would be keen to know who he is replacing
Quite happy with that. Unsure if he's the answer, but he, like Kirifi, has proven himself time and time again at domestic level and is worth a look.
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@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Pretty astounded Higgins wasn't named captain tho
Thought Brad Shields was a Shoe in once he became eligible.
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@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Pretty astounded Higgins wasn't named captain tho
All in good time.
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You Cantabs are great with AIâŚ..
Itâs hard to ignore a guy who bleeds for every carry, smashes every ruck like it owes him money, and covers every inch of the field like itâs personal. But somehow, Ethan Blackadder still didnât make the cut. And when Scott Robertson tried to explain that away with the word âversatility,â it felt less like a coaching philosophy and more like a convenient smokescreen.
This is the same Blackadder who was a wrecking ball in the Super Rugby Pacific finalâstarting at 6, finishing at 7, and dominating both roles like he owned the jersey. His absence isnât just surprisingâitâs baffling. Meanwhile, DuâPlessis Kirifi, whoâs been on and off the All Blacks radar and is built strictly for openside, gets the nod again. A new cap? Technically, yes. But to hear some folks call him the best 7 in the comp this yearâwhile Ardie Savea literally took home Player of the Yearâmakes you wonder what tape theyâre watching.
You can respect Kirifiâs hustle, his flair for being noticed, maybe even his off-ball charisma. But in a squad being sold on âversatility,â this is where it gets shaky. Because if versatilityâs the ticket, Blackadderâs resume shouldâve been laminated.
Throw in Tom Christie, another machine whoâs somehow invisible to national selectors, and it starts to feel like those with flash outshine those with fire. And that's a dangerous message to send in a World Cup cycle.
Sure, Savea at 7 with Sititi at 8 and Finau at 6 is a trio you can back. But what happens if Savea limps off in the 62nd minute against France? Do you plug in Kirifi, who plays one position, or do you wish you had someone who could flex like Blackadder?
Maybe this is all part of Razorâs master plan. Maybe thereâs a bigger vision we havenât seen yet. But when a player performs like a man possessed in the biggest game of the year and still gets left behind, itâs fair to question the mapâespecially if the compass points to âversatilityâ but the selections donât.
For now, congratulations to the 35 who made it. No one gets there by accident. But some names missing from that list deserve more than just a shrug and a buzzword. They deserve answers.
#AllBlacks #EthanBlackadder #ScottRobertson #RugbySelectionDrama #SuperRugby #DuPlessisKirifi #RugbyUnion #ArdieSavea #AllBlackSquad2025
