All Blacks 2024

sparky

The back row needs a rethink because we are getting outplayed there every week.

Bones

@Jet said in All Blacks 2024:

Williams

Samisoni

Tosi

Fabian Holland

Vaii

Sititi

Lakai

Sotutu

Roigard

DMAC

Rieko

Clarke

Proctor

Narawa

Jordan

Lets go mental in 2025.

No idea about Williams but would be intriguing to have the rest of the forward pack be open to claims of poaching.

darylmitchell

I'm still not convinced about Ardie Savea's place in this team looking at the long-term going forward, I think NZ's backrow will continue to get outplayed against the top sides with him at 8, especially as he's only getting older and less effective.

The Hurricanes had their best season in 8 years off the platform of their back row functioning a lot better than last year and appearing much more cohesive without his individualistic headless 'cannonball' style clogging up every play...

He has to transition into a Kwagga Smith-type utility bench option if he's to make it through to the 2027 World Cup.

booboo

@Jet said in All Blacks 2024:

Williams

Samisoni

Tosi

Fabian Holland

Vaii

Sititi

Lakai

Sotutu

Roigard

DMAC

Rieko

Clarke

Proctor

Narawa

Jordan

Lets go mental in 2025.

Where's your bench? You've only picked half a team.

booboo

@Bones said in All Blacks 2024:

@Jet said in All Blacks 2024:

Williams

Samisoni

Tosi

Fabian Holland

Vaii

Sititi

Lakai

Sotutu

Roigard

DMAC

Rieko

Clarke

Proctor

Narawa

Jordan

Lets go mental in 2025.

No idea about Williams but would be intriguing to have the rest of the forward pack be open to claims of poaching.

Whangarei apparently

Jet

@booboo said in All Blacks 2024:

@Jet said in All Blacks 2024:

Williams

Samisoni

Tosi

Fabian Holland

Vaii

Sititi

Lakai

Sotutu

Roigard

DMAC

Rieko

Clarke

Proctor

Narawa

Jordan

Lets go mental in 2025.

Where's your bench? You've only picked half a team.

I ran out of fast twitch poaches.

brodean

@darylmitchell

Agree with this.

Chris B.

@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2024:

I never watch a 2nd time so can't back any of this up. I do think this pattern for want of a better term absolutely fatigues us, and the opposition take advantage. South Africa replace half the team at half time. Australia starting competing in rucks (Argentina did too), and our tired guys are starting to miss assignments. I do think our replacement strategy is having a huge effect. Guys who are even playing well (possibly even especially those guys) need to come off regardless, and earlier to give their replacements time to get in to the rhythm of the game. Can we rely on DMac skinning guys for 80 minutes, AND make as many decisions as we are asking? Is replacing a winger actually helping us at all?

That's a very interesting point.

When Fozzie got asked last year about a 6-2 bench, he reckoned our guys are fit enough to play 80 minutes and that would just encourage us to make unnecessary substitutions.

But, I suspect there was also an element of resistance to being seen to be copying the Jaapies.

We would be very silly not to at least look very closely at whether 6-2 would give us an advantage - and whether we can cover all the back positions adequately. We certainly can if Beauden is playing fullback and covering first five. Not as easy to cover the midfield if Jordan is fullback.

Rancid Schnitzel

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@LatsToTheMax said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@LatsToTheMax said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@Horatio said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

This is a classic Bledisloe fluffer match for the ABs. An awful, awful Wallabies side to give them confidence they aren't on the wrong trajectory ahead of an EOYT.

A real team would have punished them for some of the silly mistakes they made out there.

It's the same Wallabies side that didn't entirely get humped by the Springboks, and won away against Argentina. For 120 minutes we owned the Springboks. It may have just been the game they needed to answer some questions.

It's the same Wallabies side that's ranked 10th in the world. The one we came close to losing to 2 weeks ago after leading 28-7 when we went to shit in the second half

In a dead rubber with nothing to lose this was the perfect game to try new players. Instead Robertson went safety-first with players past their best, learned little and, as far as questions are concerned, answered little

Some improvement in focus overall in this game (not hard considering the nadir of 2 weeks ago) but still nowhere near as good as we were this time last year.

So a 20 point win is not an improvement? Did we go to shit? Did we score points in the last quarter? Did we blank in the second half?

As I said, there was some improvement in focus, but it's bonkers to think not going to pieces and actually scoring points in the last quarter against the 10th based side is some magical, corner-turning improvement. Less than 12 months ago we came within one point of winning the RWC and - to use your words - we owned the Springboks for 75% of the game a few weeks back. Seriously?

Your memory is really short. Fosters side got humped 35-7 and was only a freak run from CamRoi from being blanked. Also lost for the first time in a pool match and almost lost to Australia twice.

Foster's gone. Live with it and focus on this teams direction.

TBF you're making comparisons with the RWC final 12 months ago. Let's face it, that RWC run was a complete anomaly for the Foster era. Give Razor Smith, Whitelock and RM and I dare say we'd be seeing some better results.

Ultimately I like what Razor is trying to achieve here, but we don't have the cattle to pull it off just yet. That's obviously on him to plan according to the strengths of what's available, but I feel there are plenty of positive signs

brodean

@Rancid-Schnitzel

I'm not convinced that Razor's game plan will bring the results we want against Ireland, France, and South Africa.

Jet

@Chris-B said in All Blacks 2024:

@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2024:

I never watch a 2nd time so can't back any of this up. I do think this pattern for want of a better term absolutely fatigues us, and the opposition take advantage. South Africa replace half the team at half time. Australia starting competing in rucks (Argentina did too), and our tired guys are starting to miss assignments. I do think our replacement strategy is having a huge effect. Guys who are even playing well (possibly even especially those guys) need to come off regardless, and earlier to give their replacements time to get in to the rhythm of the game. Can we rely on DMac skinning guys for 80 minutes, AND make as many decisions as we are asking? Is replacing a winger actually helping us at all?

That's a very interesting point.

When Fozzie got asked last year about a 6-2 bench, he reckoned our guys are fit enough to play 80 minutes and that would just encourage us to make unnecessary substitutions.

But, I suspect there was also an element of resistance to being seen to be copying the Jaapies.

We would be very silly not to at least look very closely at whether 6-2 would give us an advantage - and whether we can cover all the back positions adequately. We certainly can if Beauden is playing fullback and covering first five. Not as easy to cover the midfield if Jordan is fullback.

I never want to see Beauden at 15 ever again.

Machpants

@Jet said in All Blacks 2024:

@Chris-B said in All Blacks 2024:

@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2024:

I never watch a 2nd time so can't back any of this up. I do think this pattern for want of a better term absolutely fatigues us, and the opposition take advantage. South Africa replace half the team at half time. Australia starting competing in rucks (Argentina did too), and our tired guys are starting to miss assignments. I do think our replacement strategy is having a huge effect. Guys who are even playing well (possibly even especially those guys) need to come off regardless, and earlier to give their replacements time to get in to the rhythm of the game. Can we rely on DMac skinning guys for 80 minutes, AND make as many decisions as we are asking? Is replacing a winger actually helping us at all?

That's a very interesting point.

When Fozzie got asked last year about a 6-2 bench, he reckoned our guys are fit enough to play 80 minutes and that would just encourage us to make unnecessary substitutions.

But, I suspect there was also an element of resistance to being seen to be copying the Jaapies.

We would be very silly not to at least look very closely at whether 6-2 would give us an advantage - and whether we can cover all the back positions adequately. We certainly can if Beauden is playing fullback and covering first five. Not as easy to cover the midfield if Jordan is fullback.

I never want to see Beauden at 15 ever again.

Or ten

Frank

That last 20 minutes of the Wallabies game involved some brutal defence by Aumua, Patty T, and our two giant props. Our point of difference to other international teams (potentially) is the amount of ball running raw power we can bring off the bench.

canefan

@Machpants said in All Blacks 2024:

@Jet said in All Blacks 2024:

@Chris-B said in All Blacks 2024:

@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2024:

I never watch a 2nd time so can't back any of this up. I do think this pattern for want of a better term absolutely fatigues us, and the opposition take advantage. South Africa replace half the team at half time. Australia starting competing in rucks (Argentina did too), and our tired guys are starting to miss assignments. I do think our replacement strategy is having a huge effect. Guys who are even playing well (possibly even especially those guys) need to come off regardless, and earlier to give their replacements time to get in to the rhythm of the game. Can we rely on DMac skinning guys for 80 minutes, AND make as many decisions as we are asking? Is replacing a winger actually helping us at all?

That's a very interesting point.

When Fozzie got asked last year about a 6-2 bench, he reckoned our guys are fit enough to play 80 minutes and that would just encourage us to make unnecessary substitutions.

But, I suspect there was also an element of resistance to being seen to be copying the Jaapies.

We would be very silly not to at least look very closely at whether 6-2 would give us an advantage - and whether we can cover all the back positions adequately. We certainly can if Beauden is playing fullback and covering first five. Not as easy to cover the midfield if Jordan is fullback.

I never want to see Beauden at 15 ever again.

Or ten

BB seems like another one of the undroppables of the old guard. He'll leave when he's ready

canefan

Rassie is out thinking Razor right now. He realises how short the time is between RWCs, he realises a number of his senior players won't make it to the next cup. He's working hard to run the rule over his pool of young players, trying to work out who can step up, creating depth. Razor does not appear to be feeling the clock ticking, based on his selection policy to date

MN5

@Rancid-Schnitzel said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@LatsToTheMax said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@LatsToTheMax said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@Horatio said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

This is a classic Bledisloe fluffer match for the ABs. An awful, awful Wallabies side to give them confidence they aren't on the wrong trajectory ahead of an EOYT.

A real team would have punished them for some of the silly mistakes they made out there.

It's the same Wallabies side that didn't entirely get humped by the Springboks, and won away against Argentina. For 120 minutes we owned the Springboks. It may have just been the game they needed to answer some questions.

It's the same Wallabies side that's ranked 10th in the world. The one we came close to losing to 2 weeks ago after leading 28-7 when we went to shit in the second half

In a dead rubber with nothing to lose this was the perfect game to try new players. Instead Robertson went safety-first with players past their best, learned little and, as far as questions are concerned, answered little

Some improvement in focus overall in this game (not hard considering the nadir of 2 weeks ago) but still nowhere near as good as we were this time last year.

So a 20 point win is not an improvement? Did we go to shit? Did we score points in the last quarter? Did we blank in the second half?

As I said, there was some improvement in focus, but it's bonkers to think not going to pieces and actually scoring points in the last quarter against the 10th based side is some magical, corner-turning improvement. Less than 12 months ago we came within one point of winning the RWC and - to use your words - we owned the Springboks for 75% of the game a few weeks back. Seriously?

Your memory is really short. Fosters side got humped 35-7 and was only a freak run from CamRoi from being blanked. Also lost for the first time in a pool match and almost lost to Australia twice.

Foster's gone. Live with it and focus on this teams direction.

TBF you're making comparisons with the RWC final 12 months ago. Let's face it, that RWC run was a complete anomaly for the Foster era. Give Razor Smith, Whitelock and RM and I dare say we'd be seeing some better results.

Ultimately I like what Razor is trying to achieve here, but we don't have the cattle to pull it off just yet. That's obviously on him to plan according to the strengths of what's available, but I feel there are plenty of positive signs

Brodie Retallick after reading this post…….

nzzp

pakman

@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@MN5 said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@Stag said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@Dan54 because that’s his best position, 6 is Blackadder’s best position and he has been a stellar performer there as well, and 7 is Ardies best position.

I didn’t realise the ABs played a bunch of tests that I missed this season

Hey come on, he's played a grand total of 14 tests since his debut in 2021,half of those against tier 2 nations. I wouldn't have him there and we've gone on and on about it on here, but it wouldn't surprise me if he slots in at 7 for the 1 test that he's fit for a year. Razor loves him. I'd have Papali'i for the mean time, not because I'm his biggest fan, but I feel like he's reliable enough as a 7 without being spectacular.

Savea ain't getting moved from 8, when was the last time he actually played there? 2018? Yet people still keep going on about how he should be there, and yeah Sititi is undroppable these days.

What I think they go with.

Sititi

Blackadder

Savea

Jacobsen

What I'd go with (It won't happen)

Sititi

Papali'i

Savea
.
Sotutu

Clear Blues bias I could be accused for, but it would be nice to have an extra ball carrier off the bench and I feel like Sotutu could really make an impact there if given the opportunity. Papali'i would be my 7 for now, as I said earlier, he's reliable enough there. I would like to see Peter Lakai introduced at some stage, I think he could mke a real case for that 7 jersey going forward.

I’d quite like to see a game with Paps at 7, Suafoa at 6 and WS at 8.

pakman

@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@African-Monkey Papalii seems to be on the outer so let's see if he replaces Cane. Lakai might be the player they look at to provide more mobility. It's clear that Robertson prefers some versatility in the loose forwards, and that the 7 needs to do the dirty work to allow Savea to do his thing.

Yeah don't know what the go is with Papali'i, but I do agree that they don't seem overly keen on him. They seem to prefer Jacobsen due to his ability to cover all 3 positions, so he seems like a lock for the bench spot with Papali’i or Blackadder gunning for the starting 7 spot which you would have to say if fit, Blackadder is probably the frontrunner.

It's always been the case with Savea, hence why they loved Frizzell and Cane partnering him, as they were both deemed as the best cleaners and played better in close quarters under the previous management.

Frizell did polarise opinion. Great athlete and seem to recall him scoring four in an early Superb game. But inconsistent for ABs although seemed to work more effectively with Cane than any other combo.

His try against Boks at Mt. Smart when he Lomued WLR was a thing of beauty.

MN5

@pakman said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Wallabies 2:

@African-Monkey Papalii seems to be on the outer so let's see if he replaces Cane. Lakai might be the player they look at to provide more mobility. It's clear that Robertson prefers some versatility in the loose forwards, and that the 7 needs to do the dirty work to allow Savea to do his thing.

Yeah don't know what the go is with Papali'i, but I do agree that they don't seem overly keen on him. They seem to prefer Jacobsen due to his ability to cover all 3 positions, so he seems like a lock for the bench spot with Papali’i or Blackadder gunning for the starting 7 spot which you would have to say if fit, Blackadder is probably the frontrunner.

It's always been the case with Savea, hence why they loved Frizzell and Cane partnering him, as they were both deemed as the best cleaners and played better in close quarters under the previous management.

Frizell did polarise opinion. Great athlete and seem to recall him scoring four in an early Superb game. But inconsistent for ABs although seemed to work more effectively with Cane than any other combo.

His try against Boks at Mt. Smart when he Lomued WLR was a thing of beauty.

The fern hated Frizell because he apparently took Akira Ioanes jersey.

When he was good he was really good, why couldn’t he have more storming matches like the one against SA ?

Vaea Fifita was arguably even more physically gifted and he was even less consistent.

The Silver Fern

All Blacks 2024