All Blacks 2024
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With Lord or Vai'i at lock, who are both not very physical, two big bruisers are going to be needed in the loose forwards. Akira Ioane is making a very good comeback and I would not be against a trio made of Finau - Savea - Ioane, with Sotutu or Papa'ali on the bench.
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I still think that Josh Lord and Fabian Holland will be our next version of Sam W and BBR, don't want clones of those 2 but just think these 2 have age etc to end up forming a long partnership at lock.
Potentially mate they could be.
I think all of this speculation from some newspaper articles is just that. Speculation.
If Whitelock doesn’t want to extend his contract then he will be looking for another gig and I am sure having a discussion with Razor about coming back is an option for him, amongst others.
I can see the benefit of bringing him back for the next 2 years - he could still provide lots of experience off the bench, starting at a pinch and mentor a number of young locks that are coming through and be a de facto lineout/lock coach.
As you say, the next 2 years are important for Razor to establish himself in international rugby and give him the platform for the lead up to and including the next RWC, and he is looking at all the tools he can use to make him successful, especially in a short term problem area of locking depth.
Look at Fozzie after 2 years - should have been sacked and it caused civil war in rugby circles.
Razor would do well to avoid the same scenario so I see no issue with him having discussions with ex-players and giving himself the best chance of being successful. Let’s face it, this year is a brutal test schedule.
Where would we rather be? Winning 14/tests with Sam Whitelock playing 30 minutes of 10 of those games as they blood Lord and Darry further?
Or winning 9 out of 15 games but thankfully we didn’t waste any money on a lock who is past it?
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Potentially mate they could be.
I think all of this speculation from some newspaper articles is just that. Speculation.
If Whitelock doesn’t want to extend his contract then he will be looking for another gig and I am sure having a discussion with Razor about coming back is an option for him, amongst others.
I can see the benefit of bringing him back for the next 2 years - he could still provide lots of experience off the bench, starting at a pinch and mentor a number of young locks that are coming through and be a de facto lineout/lock coach.
As you say, the next 2 years are important for Razor to establish himself in international rugby and give him the platform for the lead up to and including the next RWC, and he is looking at all the tools he can use to make him successful, especially in a short term problem area of locking depth.
Look at Fozzie after 2 years - should have been sacked and it caused civil war in rugby circles.
Razor would do well to avoid the same scenario so I see no issue with him having discussions with ex-players and giving himself the best chance of being successful. Let’s face it, this year is a brutal test schedule.
Where would we rather be? Winning 14/tests with Sam Whitelock playing 30 minutes of 10 of those games as they blood Lord and Darry further?
Or winning 9 out of 15 games but thankfully we didn’t waste any money on a lock who is past it?
@DaGrubster said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
Look at Fozzie after 2 years - should have been sacked and it caused civil war in rugby circles.
you mean,
a) his two year contract shouldn't have been renewed, and
b) it should not have been done after the home part of the second season, before we went north and the wheels fell offNZR governance is appalling.
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Half of them will be Hurricanes, good times.
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@pakman everybody's saying Kirifi is too small for international footy. I would have agreed with them a year ago but he's had a huge off season and looks to have put on plenty of muscle, he's really playing well this year. Quite a number of good sevens running around atm including Harmon at the Landers so will be interesting to see who they pick.
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A bit more details in this article, if correct shows that Sam sounded the waters with NZE, Razor gave a positive response - as he should
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A bit more details in this article, if correct shows that Sam sounded the waters with NZE, Razor gave a positive response - as he should
@Machpants Thanks for posting that, does seem what I said and supected, perhaps Sam just wasn't finding France great place to live/play rather than he was getting chased!
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@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@cgrant Was going to say exactly same thing mate, Micheal Hooper wasn't big either.
Kirifi isn't Hooper level as a player even if he compares sizewise.
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@cgrant Was going to say exactly same thing mate, Micheal Hooper wasn't big either.
Kirifi isn't Hooper level as a player even if he compares sizewise.
Wasn't suggeting he was or wasn't, just answering the he's to small for test rugby. I say crap, if h's good enough he's big enough, he's not that small.
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@Machpants Thanks for posting that, does seem what I said and supected, perhaps Sam just wasn't finding France great place to live/play rather than he was getting chased!
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@Nepia said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@cgrant Was going to say exactly same thing mate, Micheal Hooper wasn't big either.
Kirifi isn't Hooper level as a player even if he compares sizewise.
Wasn't suggeting he was or wasn't, just answering the he's to small for test rugby. I say crap, if h's good enough he's big enough, he's not that small.
@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@cgrant Was going to say exactly same thing mate, Micheal Hooper wasn't big either.
Kirifi isn't Hooper level as a player even if he compares sizewise.
Wasn't suggeting he was or wasn't, just answering the he's to small for test rugby. I say crap, if h's good enough he's big enough, he's not that small.
Yeah but a big crap player will always be better than a small crap player
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@Dan54 that part of the world would be a fantastic place to live. I suspect the meat grinder that is the top 14 is the problem.
@DaGrubster said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Dan54 that part of the world would be a fantastic place to live. I suspect the meat grinder that is the top 14 is the problem.
Oh yeah mate, but even with a great place to live, he's got young kids that are shool age who may or maybe not keen on being away from it all, and as you say top 14 could be a grind, especially if your heart wasn't in it.
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@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@cgrant Was going to say exactly same thing mate, Micheal Hooper wasn't big either.
Kirifi isn't Hooper level as a player even if he compares sizewise.
Wasn't suggeting he was or wasn't, just answering the he's to small for test rugby. I say crap, if h's good enough he's big enough, he's not that small.
Yeah but a big crap player will always be better than a small crap player
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@cgrant Was going to say exactly same thing mate, Micheal Hooper wasn't big either.
Kirifi isn't Hooper level as a player even if he compares sizewise.
Wasn't suggeting he was or wasn't, just answering the he's to small for test rugby. I say crap, if h's good enough he's big enough, he's not that small.
Yeah but a big crap player will always be better than a small crap player
Personally would never say he a crap player either mate, there not many crap players make super rugby anyway. Not all are ABs though.
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@DaGrubster said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Dan54 that part of the world would be a fantastic place to live. I suspect the meat grinder that is the top 14 is the problem.
Oh yeah mate, but even with a great place to live, he's got young kids that are shool age who may or maybe not keen on being away from it all, and as you say top 14 could be a grind, especially if your heart wasn't in it.
Yes an, there are lot of reasons that people may or may not settle in a place or want to stay long term.
There should be very good international schools for his kids - that shouldn’t be an issue and his club will have that down to a fine art I am sure.
If it is a decision to prolong his playing career and play in a comp that would suit him, then I have thought that Japan would be his best option to do that.
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Yes an, there are lot of reasons that people may or may not settle in a place or want to stay long term.
There should be very good international schools for his kids - that shouldn’t be an issue and his club will have that down to a fine art I am sure.
If it is a decision to prolong his playing career and play in a comp that would suit him, then I have thought that Japan would be his best option to do that.
@DaGrubster yep mate other thing is as I have said, Anton Oliver said he knew as soon as he played first game for Toulon it wasn't for him. As he said the day he stopped playing for ABs was day the music died, and he knew he was playing just for money. Some people it doesn't suit, some ot does.
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Potentially mate they could be.
I think all of this speculation from some newspaper articles is just that. Speculation.
If Whitelock doesn’t want to extend his contract then he will be looking for another gig and I am sure having a discussion with Razor about coming back is an option for him, amongst others.
I can see the benefit of bringing him back for the next 2 years - he could still provide lots of experience off the bench, starting at a pinch and mentor a number of young locks that are coming through and be a de facto lineout/lock coach.
As you say, the next 2 years are important for Razor to establish himself in international rugby and give him the platform for the lead up to and including the next RWC, and he is looking at all the tools he can use to make him successful, especially in a short term problem area of locking depth.
Look at Fozzie after 2 years - should have been sacked and it caused civil war in rugby circles.
Razor would do well to avoid the same scenario so I see no issue with him having discussions with ex-players and giving himself the best chance of being successful. Let’s face it, this year is a brutal test schedule.
Where would we rather be? Winning 14/tests with Sam Whitelock playing 30 minutes of 10 of those games as they blood Lord and Darry further?
Or winning 9 out of 15 games but thankfully we didn’t waste any money on a lock who is past it?
@DaGrubster said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
As you say, the next 2 years are important for Razor to establish himself in international rugby
He's already established in international rugby - he's the bloody Head Coach of the bloody All Blacks.. He didn't think lack of international experience was an issue when going for the job so I don't see why it should be now NZR's actually given him the gig for 4 years.
I'd prefer he uses his time to develop his team based on the current AB core and the talent available to him. If he loses a few on the way then fine, as long as there's development I'd be OK with that.
But if he want's to go for a short-term sticking plaster approach with 37 yr-old retired players in key positions to ensure a good win ratio, then that speaks volumes for his player development skills to me - and not in a good way.
