All Blacks vs Fiji

voodoo

I see we no longer have a bench, we have "Impact"

Sounds pretty good

nzzp

I'm really liking that loose forward trio. Probably better balanced than the first two tests IMO. Sititi coming off the bench for impact will be awesome.

Ethan at 7 feels slow. Hope he goes well, but I'd swap him and Luke.

antipodean

My concern rests largely with the bench which is short of the experience required to steady the ship if this is in the balance with 20 to go.

Bovidae

@antipodean said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I'm really liking that loose forward trio. Probably better balanced than the first two tests IMO. Sititi coming off the bench for impact will be awesome.

By balance you mean three 7.5s ?

It will be interesting to see who goes where when Sititi comes on. Does Savea move to 7? Blackadder can't be a realistic option at 6 if he isn't starting there.

Machpants

This will be a mess with so many changes and debutants, should be too good for Fiji - who are struggling to get their team together - but messy open test. As long as not too error strewn it should be a fun one

Canes4life

@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I'm really liking that loose forward trio. Probably better balanced than the first two tests IMO. Sititi coming off the bench for impact will be awesome.

Ethan at 7 feels slow. Hope he goes well, but I'd swap him and Luke.

Richie McCaw was slow, he was still effective. Considering Ethan's the GOAT, I think he'll do just fine.

foobaNZ

I like it. However I agree that Jordie and Proctor in the centres would have made more sense.

No Quarter

That explains who the 2nd 6 in the squad is then

mariner4life

@antipodean said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I'm really liking that loose forward trio. Probably better balanced than the first two tests IMO. Sititi coming off the bench for impact will be awesome.

By balance you mean three 7.5s ?

i am looking forward to caners hammering A Savea next year when he is a Blues player

ACT Crusader

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

All Blacks team named for Fiji.

Would have rather seen Jordie partner his mate in the centres but congratulations to Billy Proctor on finally making his debut.

Interesting they've gone with Reece on the wing, thought Narawa would have been given a start. Overall a very solid side.

ALB and Proctor have been running in tandem in pretty much all the training sessions. Makes sense that they get a run together and have Jordie on the bench. I like it.

Excited to see the new players in black.

Fiji will be an unpredictable proposition. From what I’ve seen so far, their attack is pretty narrow and forward dominated. Will be a good test for some of our less experienced forwards.

Machpants

@mariner4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@antipodean said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I'm really liking that loose forward trio. Probably better balanced than the first two tests IMO. Sititi coming off the bench for impact will be awesome.

By balance you mean three 7.5s ?

i am looking forward to caners hammering A Savea next year when he is a Blues player

Rancid bait!

ACT Crusader

@chimoaus said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

6 Newbies, is that a recent record?

Only 84 caps on the ~~bench~~ impact would be a low for some time.

nzzp

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I'm really liking that loose forward trio. Probably better balanced than the first two tests IMO. Sititi coming off the bench for impact will be awesome.

Ethan at 7 feels slow. Hope he goes well, but I'd swap him and Luke.

Richie McCaw was slow, he was still effective. Considering Ethan's the GOAT, I think he'll do just fine.

he slowed down late career, but early on he was quick to teh breakdown. My memory was he wasn't top tier speed, but he certainly was up there when he was younger.

Look, I hope you're right ... but we've got 3x7.5 in the trio. Should b einteresting with all the new players coming through

Canes4life

@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I'm really liking that loose forward trio. Probably better balanced than the first two tests IMO. Sititi coming off the bench for impact will be awesome.

Ethan at 7 feels slow. Hope he goes well, but I'd swap him and Luke.

Richie McCaw was slow, he was still effective. Considering Ethan's the GOAT, I think he'll do just fine.

he slowed down late career, but early on he was quick to teh breakdown. My memory was he wasn't top tier speed, but he certainly was up there when he was younger.

Look, I hope you're right ... but we've got 3x7.5 in the trio. Should b einteresting with all the new players coming through

I think this trio will go fine against Fiji, would be different if we were playing a bigger pack.

Daffy Jaffy

Canes4life

@Daffy-Jaffy said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

What a rise for Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula. He was in the Hurricanes Under 20s behind Harry Godfrey not long ago and now he's the starting 10 for both the Drua and the Fijian national side. Awesome to see.

ACT Crusader

@Canes4life watched him live a couple of times and for a smallish 1st 5 he plays a robust style. Has quick feet like his uncle too!

chimoaus

Has TAB released odds on the different types of injuries that Blackadder might pick up?

MN5

Predictable team. No surprises.

How good is afternoon Rugby ? Perfect excuse to tuck into the home brew instead of doing chores. Can’t wait !

Chris B.

@antipodean said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

My concern rests largely with the bench which is short of the experience required to steady the ship if this is in the balance with 20 to go.

Eleven changes to the starting XV from last week, but it doesn't look like a massive step down in quality. There's half a dozen who could easily play better than the guy they've replaced.

Will be pretty uncomfortable if it's close with 20 minutes to go - we've got de Groot and Jordie to steady the ship, but not much else.

Hopefully, I won't need to be shouting advice at my TV. Even though Fiji has knocked off some big teams in recent times, I think we know how to play them better than most. Wouldn't want an early red card - though maybe it's now 20 minute red cards in tests?

The Silver Fern

All Blacks vs Fiji