England vs All Blacks

[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)

[number9]

Ofa is not a Loosehead, should have selected Perry.

[Billy Tell]

Strongest ABs side this year. Only missing Moody, Cane and I would argue ALB from the best possible 23.

Will be interested to see how the overhyped Retallick goes. Stephen Jones is sceptical, so I’m worried Brodie might not be up to it...

[MN5]

@billy-tell said in England vs All Blacks:

Strongest ABs side this year. Only missing Moody, Cane and I would argue ALB from the best possible 23.

Will be interested to see how the overhyped Retallick goes. Stephen Jones is sceptical, so I’m worried Brodie might not be up to it...

He's right. You never saw Martin Johnson galloping in the open and shirking his duties like BR does.

[kiwiinmelb]

Interesting Shag saying , we want to play two playmakers ,

Could be a sign from here on in , Beaudy , Dmac and Richie will be all in the 23 ,

With 2 being on the field at one time , gives us more flexibility where we attack from , and takes the heat off Beauden to create everything

[Bovidae]

@chris-b said in England vs All Blacks:

I guess Angus is yet another who plays both sides?

According to Hansen, yes. He was selected over Perry for that reason.

[Frank]

Richie Mo'unga setting up SBW on the crash late in the game. Sweet.

[Crucial]

Crotty on the bench doesn’t fill my excitement meter.
The England plans will revolve a lot around trying to shut down BBs space, hence the DMac at 15 experiment turns into a big game tactic.

[Machpants]

@crucial Pretty much every other teams plan revolves around shutting down BBBBB, but not many succeed enough.

Funny that the non NZ media seem to be leading with SBW to start. Well not a surprise, what is interesting is return of BBBR, noob Goodhue to start, and two playmakers. But SBW is famous I guess.

[Crucial]

@machpants said in England vs All Blacks:

@crucial Pretty much every other teams plan revolves around shutting down BBBBB, but not many succeed enough.

England (and Ireland) are actually quite good at stopping other teams from playing. Dragging them down to the swamp of boredom.

[Tim]

An Eddie Jones team will avoid kicking a lot of ball to the AB back three?

I'm thinking that they will attack close to the fringe and try to deny the AB's much ball, especially quick ball?

[Bones]

Really like that team, thanks Ardie for stepping up! And DMac, Goodhue to a lesser extent.

Contrary to others, I'm quite happy with Crotty on the bench. He's got a habit of making an impact from there, especially in the big matches.

[Tim]

Mils Muliaina is tipping NZ by 20+. Most bookies have the spread at 14 points.

[Gunner]

What happens when SBW leaves the field after 20 minutes then Crotty 10 minutes later?

BFA to centre, BB to FB, DMac to the wing, Mo’unga to 10?

Happy to see Ofa offering punch on the bench at LHP instead of the very ordinary Perry. That’s the Luxury of having Laulala fit again I guess.

[booboo]

@bovidae said in England vs All Blacks:

• 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.

Press Officer been reading the Fern?

[booboo]

@number9 said in England vs All Blacks:

Ofa is not a Loosehead, should have selected Perry.

Funny how Ta'avao and Ofa have both swapped sides.

[booboo]

@gunner said in England vs All Blacks:

What happens when SBW leaves the field after 20 minutes then Crotty 10 minutes later?

Ardie to 2nd 5/8?

[Bones]

OK so what's the origins of the storied thing? I missed it.