All Blacks vs Fiji 2
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The matchday 23 is (Test caps in brackets)
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George Bower (2)
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Codie Taylor (57)
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Nepo Laulala (30)
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Scott Barrett (41)
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Samuel Whitelock (124) - captain
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Akira Ioane (3)
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Ardie Savea (49)
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Luke Jacobson (4)
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Aaron Smith (98)
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Richie Mo’unga (23)
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Sevu Reece (9)
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David Havili (4)
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Anton Lienert-Brown (49)
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Will Jordan (4)
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Damian McKenzie (29)
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Dane Coles (76)
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Ethan de Groot (1)
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Angus Ta’avao (15)
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Brodie Retallick (82)
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Shannon Frizell
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Brad Weber (8)
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Beauden Barrett (90)
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Rieko Ioane (35)
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@tim said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Prop depth is not great ...
It is our biggest problem.
For all that we got lauded for our ball-playing props a few years ago, behind Moody and Ofa, we've got a pair of statues and a bunch of rookies - and Angus.
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An important game for the loose forward combination
When Papali'i returns you'd assume SF drops out of the 23. Savea is an almost certain starter for the big matches given the lack of experienced loosies
The question for those big Tests will be does Savea start 7 or 8? Depending on where he starts it will be Jacobson or Papali'i on the bench
At the moment I think Papali'i has his nose on front but that could easily change
@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
An important game for the loose forward combination
When Papali'i returns you'd assume SF drops out of the 23. Savea is an almost certain starter for the big matches given the lack of experienced loosies
The question for those big Tests will be does Savea start 7 or 8? Depending on where he starts it will be Jacobson or Papali'i on the bench
At the moment I think Papali'i has his nose on front but that could easily change
Slightly surprising that Frizell is on the bench rather than Blackadder. If Ardie goes down early, does Akira move to 7?
I don't want Ardie wearing 8 on his back.
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@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
An important game for the loose forward combination
When Papali'i returns you'd assume SF drops out of the 23. Savea is an almost certain starter for the big matches given the lack of experienced loosies
The question for those big Tests will be does Savea start 7 or 8? Depending on where he starts it will be Jacobson or Papali'i on the bench
At the moment I think Papali'i has his nose on front but that could easily change
Slightly surprising that Frizell is on the bench rather than Blackadder. If Ardie goes down early, does Akira move to 7?
I don't want Ardie wearing 8 on his back.
@chris-b i wish it was surprising but these coaches seem to think new players can only play one game in a row and thats all they need to get up to international speed....
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@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
An important game for the loose forward combination
When Papali'i returns you'd assume SF drops out of the 23. Savea is an almost certain starter for the big matches given the lack of experienced loosies
The question for those big Tests will be does Savea start 7 or 8? Depending on where he starts it will be Jacobson or Papali'i on the bench
At the moment I think Papali'i has his nose on front but that could easily change
Slightly surprising that Frizell is on the bench rather than Blackadder. If Ardie goes down early, does Akira move to 7?
I don't want Ardie wearing 8 on his back.
@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Slightly surprising that Frizell is on the bench rather than Blackadder. If Ardie goes down early, does Akira move to 7?
Jacobson will be covering 7 (SF to 6 and Akira to 8 probably)
I agree it's surprising they didn't go for Blackadder.
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@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
An important game for the loose forward combination
When Papali'i returns you'd assume SF drops out of the 23. Savea is an almost certain starter for the big matches given the lack of experienced loosies
The question for those big Tests will be does Savea start 7 or 8? Depending on where he starts it will be Jacobson or Papali'i on the bench
At the moment I think Papali'i has his nose on front but that could easily change
Slightly surprising that Frizell is on the bench rather than Blackadder. If Ardie goes down early, does Akira move to 7?
I don't want Ardie wearing 8 on his back.
@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Slightly surprising that Frizell is on the bench rather than Blackadder.
Definitely surprised me too.
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Following today’s team naming, Foster confirmed that Vaa’i was available for selection after recovering from a minor injury but that he’d missed out to his more experienced teammates. He also suggested that an extra week of rest won’t harm the young forward.
“He had a niggle at the start,” Foster confirmed. “21 years old, had a massive Super Rugby campaign, probably played more than even what the Chiefs would have wanted with their shortage of locks and so this campaign is really about getting his Achilles right. His has come right this week but he’s just missed his opportunity.”
https://www.rugbypass.com/news/why-three-chiefs-wont-feature-for-the-all-blacks-this-weekend/
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Like the look of team. Understand no Blackadder really, he went well last week, but happy to see Jacobson cover 7. Can even understand Barrett at lock, think they probably feel we need to shift bodies at ruck time, and BR can keep working on getting back up to where he needs to be, give Akira another chance to show what he can do or maybe depart, and I thought Frizell went better than many gave him credit for last week, so happy with him on bench.
Only thing is I hope they put on good performance so we (or I) have to admit we don't know as much as we think!
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I'd say it tells us that Frizell is still ahead of Blackadder amongst their options for 6. Jacobson has played a lot at openside.
@bovidae said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
I'd say it tells us that Frizell is still ahead of Blackadder amongst their options for 6. Jacobson has played a lot at openside.
That first bit doesn't surprise me - but, strange that they'll have to re-jig the entire backrow if Ardie has to depart.
Maybe they want Shannon's extra size coming off the bench?
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@bovidae said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
I'd say it tells us that Frizell is still ahead of Blackadder amongst their options for 6. Jacobson has played a lot at openside.
That first bit doesn't surprise me - but, strange that they'll have to re-jig the entire backrow if Ardie has to depart.
Maybe they want Shannon's extra size coming off the bench?
@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@bovidae said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
I'd say it tells us that Frizell is still ahead of Blackadder amongst their options for 6. Jacobson has played a lot at openside.
That first bit doesn't surprise me - but, strange that they'll have to re-jig the entire backrow if Ardie has to depart.
Maybe they want Shannon's extra size coming off the bench?
I think Ioane is the player likely to be substituted so they have chosen Frizell with that in mind. If we have the starting 3 loose forwards and Papalii in the 23-man squad there is much more versatility.
I don't mind Ardie ending the game at no.8 but not as a starter.
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Like the look of team. Understand no Blackadder really, he went well last week, but happy to see Jacobson cover 7. Can even understand Barrett at lock, think they probably feel we need to shift bodies at ruck time, and BR can keep working on getting back up to where he needs to be, give Akira another chance to show what he can do or maybe depart, and I thought Frizell went better than many gave him credit for last week, so happy with him on bench.
Only thing is I hope they put on good performance so we (or I) have to admit we don't know as much as we think!
@dan54 said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Like the look of team. Understand no Blackadder really, he went well last week, but happy to see Jacobson cover 7. Can even understand Barrett at lock, think they probably feel we need to shift bodies at ruck time, and BR can keep working on getting back up to where he needs to be, give Akira another chance to show what he can do or maybe depart, and I thought Frizell went better than many gave him credit for last week, so happy with him on bench.
Only thing is I hope they put on good performance so we (or I) have to admit we don't know as much as we think!
I think Shannon gets a rougher ride on here than he's merited - but, I think the backrow would be more balanced if Blackadder was on the bench. As Bovidae points out - Frizell is probably a better option to sub on, but less versatile in case of injury.
Getting close to the best team we could field on Saturday (though if we were playing Australia, I reckon we'd find the much maligned Bridge on the wing).
It's a bit concerning to look through the starting XV and only find half a dozen players that are genuinely world class (would start for most test teams) - the others are either not or yet to prove it. Go back not many years and I reckon we would have had a dozen or more.
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@yeetyaah said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Excited to see this midfield combo. Great to see Dmac start over Jordie
That’s just one-eyed provincial bias.
Long may it continue
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@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Slightly surprising that Frizell is on the bench rather than Blackadder. If Ardie goes down early, does Akira move to 7?
Jacobson will be covering 7 (SF to 6 and Akira to 8 probably)
I agree it's surprising they didn't go for Blackadder.
@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Slightly surprising that Frizell is on the bench rather than Blackadder. If Ardie goes down early, does Akira move to 7?
Jacobson will be covering 7 (SF to 6 and Akira to 8 probably)
I agree it's surprising they didn't go for Blackadder.
Blackadder’s played in both tests so I think he was due to be rotated given the other available options.
I reckon if Vaai was fit they would’ve had him on the bench and Retallick and Barrett starting.
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@yeetyaah said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Excited to see this midfield combo. Great to see Dmac start over Jordie.
Those are two of the most interesting selections.
The Havili-ALB one was probably pretty predictable. But, the DMac over Jordie might be a pointer to their preferences (might not be, as well).
Have to say - Toddy's point about midgets worries me a bit. Get some big Fijians running at this backline and they're going to win a lot of collisions.
Still - it's only Fiji!
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@yeetyaah said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Excited to see this midfield combo. Great to see Dmac start over Jordie.
Those are two of the most interesting selections.
The Havili-ALB one was probably pretty predictable. But, the DMac over Jordie might be a pointer to their preferences (might not be, as well).
Have to say - Toddy's point about midgets worries me a bit. Get some big Fijians running at this backline and they're going to win a lot of collisions.
Still - it's only Fiji!
@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@yeetyaah said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Excited to see this midfield combo. Great to see Dmac start over Jordie.
Those are two of the most interesting selections.
The Havili-ALB one was probably pretty predictable. But, the DMac over Jordie might be a pointer to their preferences (might not be, as well).
Dmac and Richie seemed to gel really nicely against Tonga, opportunity to see if that holds up against proper opposition.
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@dan54 said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Like the look of team. Understand no Blackadder really, he went well last week, but happy to see Jacobson cover 7. Can even understand Barrett at lock, think they probably feel we need to shift bodies at ruck time, and BR can keep working on getting back up to where he needs to be, give Akira another chance to show what he can do or maybe depart, and I thought Frizell went better than many gave him credit for last week, so happy with him on bench.
Only thing is I hope they put on good performance so we (or I) have to admit we don't know as much as we think!
I think Shannon gets a rougher ride on here than he's merited - but, I think the backrow would be more balanced if Blackadder was on the bench. As Bovidae points out - Frizell is probably a better option to sub on, but less versatile in case of injury.
Getting close to the best team we could field on Saturday (though if we were playing Australia, I reckon we'd find the much maligned Bridge on the wing).
It's a bit concerning to look through the starting XV and only find half a dozen players that are genuinely world class (would start for most test teams) - the others are either not or yet to prove it. Go back not many years and I reckon we would have had a dozen or more.
@chris-b said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@dan54 said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Like the look of team. Understand no Blackadder really, he went well last week, but happy to see Jacobson cover 7. Can even understand Barrett at lock, think they probably feel we need to shift bodies at ruck time, and BR can keep working on getting back up to where he needs to be, give Akira another chance to show what he can do or maybe depart, and I thought Frizell went better than many gave him credit for last week, so happy with him on bench.
Only thing is I hope they put on good performance so we (or I) have to admit we don't know as much as we think!
I think Shannon gets a rougher ride on here than he's merited - but, I think the backrow would be more balanced if Blackadder was on the bench. As Bovidae points out - Frizell is probably a better option to sub on, but less versatile in case of injury.
Getting close to the best team we could field on Saturday (though if we were playing Australia, I reckon we'd find the much maligned Bridge on the wing).
It's a bit concerning to look through the starting XV and only find half a dozen players that are genuinely world class (would start for most test teams) - the others are either not or yet to prove it. Go back not many years and I reckon we would have had a dozen or more.
I think the post you quoted kind of highlights why Shannon gets a rougher ride on here. @Dan54 is suggesting Akira gets another chance or he maybe depart. Shannon has had multiple starts yet Akira has had two and he's apparently on his last chance.
I think even the diehardest of Ta$man fans, you and your boy TJ, can admit that Shannon hasn't set the world on fire at test level, and certainly not up to his Super standard.
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@bayimports said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Is Bridge injured? Its going to make for a boring fern match day thread, without his availablility to distribute ..
@crucial said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
@bayimports said in All Blacks vs Fiji 2:
Is Bridge injured? Its going to make for a boring fern match day thread, without his availablility to distribute ..
I thought they were for living under while throwing stones at
