England vs All Blacks

[mariner4life]

Crotty on the bench is a waste of a spot

[Chris B.]

Main (somewhat minor) surprise for me is that Goodhue is fit to play.

M4L - that's what they said about Cooper Cronk!

[KiwiMurph]

Very glad to see Coles and Mounga in the 23.

This will be a proper test of how DMac handles 15.

[Machpants]

Where that from, or is that a predicted 23?

[SouthernMann]

@machpants said in England vs All Blacks:

Where that from, or is that a predicted 23?

I have friends in the media.

[Machpants]

@southernmann said in England vs All Blacks:

@machpants said in England vs All Blacks:

Where that from, or is that a predicted 23?

I have friends in the media.

If they're right then this :

@mariner4life said in England vs All Blacks:

Crotty on the bench is a waste of a spot

[SouthernMann]

@machpants said in England vs All Blacks:

@southernmann said in England vs All Blacks:

@machpants said in England vs All Blacks:

Where that from, or is that a predicted 23?

I have friends in the media.

If they're right then this :

@mariner4life said in England vs All Blacks:

Crotty on the bench is a waste of a spot

They are correct. It is the embargoed squad that was released to media, it will be out to the public at 5pm.

[Hooroo]

@mariner4life said in England vs All Blacks:

Crotty on the bench is a waste of a spot

YEah but that is one hell of a sexy starting 15!

[mariner4life]

@hooroo said in England vs All Blacks:

@mariner4life said in England vs All Blacks:

Crotty on the bench is a waste of a spot

YEah but that is one hell of a sexy starting 15!

23 man game these days and all that

[Hooroo]

@mariner4life said in England vs All Blacks:

@hooroo said in England vs All Blacks:

@mariner4life said in England vs All Blacks:

Crotty on the bench is a waste of a spot

YEah but that is one hell of a sexy starting 15!

23 man game these days and all that

YEah but reserves are the Ciggie after not the foreplay and main event!

[taniwharugby]

@mariner4life said in England vs All Blacks:

man game these days and all that

Yeah I'd be more inclined to have ALB on the bench, or truth be told, ALB-JG mid-field. You'd assume they have the best medical advice and knowledge about where Goodhue's fitness, energy and all that in relation to his illness is.

Obviously from my couch, SBW should be last chance saloon...but they clearly see his influence on the game as different to mine.

[nzzp]

@southernmann said in England vs All Blacks:

A fairly predictable team. Jack Goodhue, Sonny Bill Williams,

Boomfa!

[Bovidae]

@nzzp said in England vs All Blacks:

@southernmann said in England vs All Blacks:

A fairly predictable team. Jack Goodhue, Sonny Bill Williams,

Boomfa!

The midfield they wanted to play in Pretoria (until injury). Let's hope it's as good as the hype.

I hope we see a ALB-Goodhue combo vs Italy.

[nzzp]

@bovidae said in England vs All Blacks:

@nzzp said in England vs All Blacks:

@southernmann said in England vs All Blacks:

A fairly predictable team. Jack Goodhue, Sonny Bill Williams,

Boomfa!

The midfield they wanted to play in Pretoria (until injury). Let's hope it's as good as the hype.

I think the hype is more anticipation -- it's going to be super tasty

[MN5]

@taniwharugby said in England vs All Blacks:

@mariner4life said in England vs All Blacks:

man game these days and all that

Yeah I'd be more inclined to have ALB on the bench, or truth be told, ALB-JG mid-field. You'd assume they have the best medical advice and knowledge about where Goodhue's fitness, energy and all that in relation to his illness is.

Obviously from my couch, SBW should be last chance saloon...but they clearly see his influence on the game as different to mine.

Sonny Bills window of "back from injury, playing himself back into form" seems to be a shitload bigger than any AB I can think of.

[Bovidae]

Only 7 of the AB starting XV and 10 of the 23 have played England before so a new experience for the majority of the team. That shows how infrequently NZ and England play eachother, the last test being in 2014.

[taniwharugby]

@bovidae Hilary Shield up for grabs too.

[Bovidae]

Other facts:

• The All Blacks will again have an embroidered poppy on their sleeves this weekend to mark the Centenary of Armistice Day. The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association's poppy was designed specifically for New Zealand and has been in use since 1978.
• The All Blacks and England will also be playing their tenth match for the Hillary Shield. The trophy, named in honour of Sir Edmund Hillary, was first contested for in 2008.
• The All Blacks and England have played each other 40 times in their much-storied history, with 32 wins to the All Blacks, seven to England and one draw. The most recent Test was in November 2014 at Twickenham, which the All Blacks narrowly won 24-21.
• Locks Brodie Retallick and Samuel Whitelock will be playing their 49th Test together, equalling the All Blacks starting locks partnership record set by Robin Brooke and Ian Jones. Meanwhile, Ben Smith will be playing his 75th Test and Codie Taylor his 40th.

[Virgil]

Think an All Blacks side to play England was just picked.....

[dK]

The matchday 23 is as follows (with Test caps in brackets):

1. Karl Tu'inukuafe (10)

2. Codie Taylor (39)

3. Owen Franks (104)

4. Samuel Whitelock (106)

5. Brodie Retallick (72)

6. Liam Squire (21)

7. Ardie Savea (32)

8. Kieran Read - captain (115)

9. Aaron Smith (80)

10. Beauden Barrett (70)

11. Rieko Ioane (21)

12. Sonny Bill Williams (50)

13. Jack Goodhue (5)

14. Ben Smith (74)

15. Damian McKenzie (20)

16. Dane Coles (57)

17. Ofa Tuungafasi (23)

18. Nepo Laulala (14)

19. Scott Barrett (26)

20. Matt Todd (15)

21. TJ Perenara (52)

22. Richie Mo'unga (5)

23. Ryan Crotty (42)