All Blacks 2025
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I mentioned yesterday that an international defensive trend right now is to rush the midfield, negating any real chance for a centre to have much impact offensively, especially if they are seen as more of a distributor than a line breaking athlete.
One thing Lester could bring to 13 that no other centre can right now is his game breaking ability via his power game. Getting him into 13 could be one way to somewhat negate the rush D that we are seeing because he is a player that will cut open a defence if they don't get it quite right.
As many on here know, I'm a fan of Proctor but I don't think his style of game suits the way we are trying to play. We are conservative on attack, and we are currently using our centres as battering rams. If that's the gameplan we want to implement, fine, but surely you then need to pick a power player who is going to get us over the advantage line. Lester could be that guy but I'd rather them make a call., I'm so sick of the chopping and changing.
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Heard Preston to start.
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@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:
@MN5 he's more likely to fall off them in defence.
The only reason he needs to defend is because our 10's kick possession away.
That will change when we get the quality 10 that is Mo'unga on the field.
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@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2025:
Heard Preston to start.
He had a great start to the SR season, but wasn't that mainly his running and support play? From what I recall his kicking isn't exactly the best, which if my memory serves me correctly would be a worry after our last outing.
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@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:
@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2025:
Heard Preston to start.
He had a great start to the SR season, but wasn't that mainly his running and support play? From what I recall his kicking isn't exactly the best, which if my memory serves me correctly would be a worry after our last outing.
Kicking is strength of his he can kick off both feet.
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@handa457 said in All Blacks 2025:
@taniwharugby I genuinely can't understand it. In my opinion he's one of the best game managing halfbacks in New Zealand at the moment and he's a constant threat around the ruck.
Especially when Fakatava went pretty close to signing with Razor's Crusaders after they approached him.
I wonder when he is eligible for Tonga?
On the LF front I thought he wasn't eligible (from an NZR point of view) until the EOYT?
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@canefan said in All Blacks 2025:
@pakman said in All Blacks 2025:
'I can’t physically play like Ma’a Nonu' - All Blacks centre rejects legendary comparisons
🗣️ "Rugby’s so tough at the highest level these days"
Maybe we should find out if he's free at the moment...
Jordie is 28, Ma'a is 43. I'd hope Jordie has at least a speed advantage at this time in life.
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@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:
@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2025:
Heard Preston to start.
He had a great start to the SR season, but wasn't that mainly his running and support play? From what I recall his kicking isn't exactly the best, which if my memory serves me correctly would be a worry after our last outing.
Kicking is strength of his he can kick off both feet.
Generally yes, super final tight match off the bench no. I'd rather him start than finish, based on that admittedly very limited snapshot.
edit to add: and you just know that Rassie has brought Faf in to target our last man standing halfbacks. Faf is not a complete player, but he is a royal pain in the arse for opposition halfbacks, and very experienced. -
@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2025:
Heard Preston to start.
The starting side is stronger than the last test already.
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Are the https://all.rugby/player/ stats reliable?
I had a look through the yellow cards stats for some of our 12 options over the last few years. QT looks to have cleaned his record well, JB, DH and Big Jim had quite a few (but JB balanced them out with some nice red colours), ALB's yellow card count was also worrying (certainly a worrry at international level). The only one I found with a clean record at 12 was A J Lam.
Jordie BARRETT profile and stats
Jordie BARRETT : bio, stats, play time, birthdate, height, weight...
Timoci TAVATAVANAWAI profile and stats
Timoci TAVATAVANAWAI : bio, stats, play time, birthdate, height, weight...
Anton LIENERT-BROWN profile and stats
Anton LIENERT-BROWN : bio, stats, play time, birthdate, height, weight...
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I forgot QT's but I didn't mean to flood the thread. Those interested can use the search button.
I assume positional changes affected some of these stats but have no simple way to balance that. -
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2025:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:
@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2025:
Heard Preston to start.
He had a great start to the SR season, but wasn't that mainly his running and support play? From what I recall his kicking isn't exactly the best, which if my memory serves me correctly would be a worry after our last outing.
Kicking is strength of his he can kick off both feet.
Generally yes, super final tight match off the bench no. I'd rather him start than finish, based on that admittedly very limited snapshot.
Yeah I think 10 minutes of the bench in the final doesn’t out way the other starts he has had where he kicked really well off both feet kicked better than Hotham through the SR season.
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@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2025:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:
@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2025:
Heard Preston to start.
He had a great start to the SR season, but wasn't that mainly his running and support play? From what I recall his kicking isn't exactly the best, which if my memory serves me correctly would be a worry after our last outing.
Kicking is strength of his he can kick off both feet.
Generally yes, super final tight match off the bench no. I'd rather him start than finish, based on that admittedly very limited snapshot.
Yeah I think 10 minutes of the bench in the final doesn’t out way the other starts he has had where he kicked really well off both feet kicked better than Hotham through the SR season.
In terms of skill no, the worry is if that display was due to the pressure of the big match - then this is much bigger... I'd be much happier easing him in in a different game.
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@reprobate said in All Blacks 2025:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2025:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:
@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2025:
Heard Preston to start.
He had a great start to the SR season, but wasn't that mainly his running and support play? From what I recall his kicking isn't exactly the best, which if my memory serves me correctly would be a worry after our last outing.
Kicking is strength of his he can kick off both feet.
Generally yes, super final tight match off the bench no. I'd rather him start than finish, based on that admittedly very limited snapshot.
Yeah I think 10 minutes of the bench in the final doesn’t out way the other starts he has had where he kicked really well off both feet kicked better than Hotham through the SR season.
In terms of skill no, the worry is if that display was due to the pressure of the big match - then this is much bigger... I'd be much happier easing him in in a different game.
I like the idea someone who can kick off both feet quicker pass is quick on the ground better option than Christie who is a handbrake.
