All Blacks Squad for France
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I don't see why Taufua coukdn't be perfectly adequate 7 cover off the bench. He pretty much plays the same role as recent AB 7s which is high work rate. Tackle like crazy and do a bit of ball carrying and support work. If anything he is more suited to that role than 6 or 8.
One of the big problems we have in the loose forwards is that Squire seems to have been made out of the same material as Crotty.
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@booboo said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@nzzp said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@kiwiinmelb said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@tim said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@mariner4life Weak loose forwards. Cane the only top quality player.
Good thing we're only playing France, and the SANZA teams are so weak.
Now that perma-crocked Read can't be relied on, what's the plan at #8? If it's A Savea (who is a shit test player) then we're basically Australia.
If we lose either of our top locks we are fucked.
I don’t want to sound like a stuck record , the one bloke we couldn’t afford to lose was victor Vito , he should’ve been a priority to keep , couldn’t believe how he left with a minimum of fuss .
Or Luatua. Both those guys would have slotted into this lineup very nicely , thank you very much.
Wiki tells me VV is 1.92, and Luatua is 1.94
for fun, Ardie is apparently 1.88 m. Doesn't say with or without hair
Or if doing handstands
Taufua's hair towers over Hansen!
Actually, that's a nice Harry and Megan moment!
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@chris-b so how tall is Thorin Taufua? 187cm?
@duluth said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@nepia said in All Blacks Squad for France:
rugby player's weights are so suss sometimes
As are players heights
Which reminds me, I looked up Taufua's height recently and he was listed as being taller than I thought he would be.
Then I did a quick check of the archive versions of the crusaders website
2013 - 1.82m (21yrs)
2014 - 1.82m (22yrs)
2015 - 1.82m (23yrs)
2016 - 1.85m (24yrs)
2017 - 1.87m (25yrs)
2018 - 1.87m (26yrs)It's not particularly important, but its worth noting how bullshit these stats can be
All Blacks' website says 1.82m.
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Crusaders have used Taufua a lot in the lineout this year I think?
Conversely, the highlanders hardly ever use Luke Whitelock as a jumper.
@sammyc said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Crusaders have used Taufua a lot in the lineout this year I think?
Conversely, the highlanders hardly ever use Luke Whitelock as a jumper.
Line-outs won by ABs loosies this season (on own throw):
A Savea (playing at 7 ) 0
Cane (playing at 7 ) 1
Whitelock (playing at 8 ) 1
Squire (playing at 6 ) 3
Frizell (playing at 6 ) 8
Taufua (playing at 8 ) 8 -
@sammyc said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Crusaders have used Taufua a lot in the lineout this year I think?
Conversely, the highlanders hardly ever use Luke Whitelock as a jumper.
Line-outs won by ABs loosies this season (on own throw):
A Savea (playing at 7 ) 0
Cane (playing at 7 ) 1
Whitelock (playing at 8 ) 1
Squire (playing at 6 ) 3
Frizell (playing at 6 ) 8
Taufua (playing at 8 ) 8 -
@stargazer Akira (injury cover AB) close to 20 lineout wins I think
@kiwimurph said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@stargazer Akira (injury cover AB) close to 20 lineout wins I think
I saw a stat that had Akira with 16 Lineout wins.
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@sammyc said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Crusaders have used Taufua a lot in the lineout this year I think?
Conversely, the highlanders hardly ever use Luke Whitelock as a jumper.
Line-outs won by ABs loosies this season (on own throw):
A Savea (playing at 7 ) 0
Cane (playing at 7 ) 1
Whitelock (playing at 8 ) 1
Squire (playing at 6 ) 3
Frizell (playing at 6 ) 8
Taufua (playing at 8 ) 8@stargazer said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@sammyc said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Crusaders have used Taufua a lot in the lineout this year I think?
Conversely, the highlanders hardly ever use Luke Whitelock as a jumper.
Line-outs won by ABs loosies this season (on own throw):
A Savea (playing at 7 ) 0
Cane (playing at 7 ) 1
Whitelock (playing at 8 ) 1
Squire (playing at 6 ) 3
Frizell (playing at 6 ) 8
Taufua (playing at 8 ) 8Very damning for someone as tall as Ardie not to have won a single lineout.
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@kiwimurph said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@stargazer Akira (injury cover AB) close to 20 lineout wins I think
I saw a stat that had Akira with 16 Lineout wins.
@mimic said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@kiwimurph said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@stargazer Akira (injury cover AB) close to 20 lineout wins I think
I saw a stat that had Akira with 16 Lineout wins.
Yes, Akira has 16 line-out wins.
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Weird to see people saying Whitelock and Mounga aren't up to it. They've been brilliant and fill me with far more confidence than say...Fifita and DMac.
Weird squad though.
My only thought on Frizzell is maybe they see him as a lock/6 that has potential to be more grunty than Fifita?
Think I would have taken Lam over an NMS who's living off his breakout season.
Very happy they chose TTT.
Did I see Mounga shifting to fullback yesterday? Please yes.
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@tim said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Wynne Gray with some cutting insight:
Rugby has changed immensely since the 1987 RWC, the game we thought was fast then is very different from the one we see now.
Christ he's an old bore. He makes Phil Gifford look good.
Looking forward to seeing Frizell play cos I sure as shit haven't thus far.
@mn5 said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@tim said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Wynne Gray with some cutting insight:
Rugby has changed immensely since the 1987 RWC, the game we thought was fast then is very different from the one we see now.
Christ he's an old bore. He makes Phil Gifford look good.
Looking forward to seeing Frizell play cos I sure as shit haven't thus far.
Most surprising statement in the whole thread.
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Weird to see people saying Whitelock and Mounga aren't up to it. They've been brilliant and fill me with far more confidence than say...Fifita and DMac.
Weird squad though.
My only thought on Frizzell is maybe they see him as a lock/6 that has potential to be more grunty than Fifita?
Think I would have taken Lam over an NMS who's living off his breakout season.
Very happy they chose TTT.
Did I see Mounga shifting to fullback yesterday? Please yes.
@bones said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Mounga aren't up to it
Did I miss that? I thought the prevailing fern wisdom (which I share) was that he was a significantly better 10 than DMac.
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@bones said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Mounga aren't up to it
Did I miss that? I thought the prevailing fern wisdom (which I share) was that he was a significantly better 10 than DMac.
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Weird to see people saying Whitelock and Mounga aren't up to it. They've been brilliant and fill me with far more confidence than say...Fifita and DMac.
Weird squad though.
My only thought on Frizzell is maybe they see him as a lock/6 that has potential to be more grunty than Fifita?
Think I would have taken Lam over an NMS who's living off his breakout season.
Very happy they chose TTT.
Did I see Mounga shifting to fullback yesterday? Please yes.
@bones No, that was Hunt (who made an incredible break from that position, almost leading to a try). That was when Mataele left the field injured and Havili moved to the right wing.
Mo'unga has, however, regularly played at fullback for Canterbury.
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@bones No, that was Hunt (who made an incredible break from that position, almost leading to a try). That was when Mataele left the field injured and Havili moved to the right wing.
Mo'unga has, however, regularly played at fullback for Canterbury.
@stargazer dammit.
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@stargazer said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@sammyc said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Crusaders have used Taufua a lot in the lineout this year I think?
Conversely, the highlanders hardly ever use Luke Whitelock as a jumper.
Line-outs won by ABs loosies this season (on own throw):
A Savea (playing at 7 ) 0
Cane (playing at 7 ) 1
Whitelock (playing at 8 ) 1
Squire (playing at 6 ) 3
Frizell (playing at 6 ) 8
Taufua (playing at 8 ) 8Very damning for someone as tall as Ardie not to have won a single lineout.
@mn5 it gets caught in his hair
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@marty not saying I agree, just pointing out what ABs are probably thinking
@98blueandgold I fully concur
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I don't see why Taufua coukdn't be perfectly adequate 7 cover off the bench. He pretty much plays the same role as recent AB 7s which is high work rate. Tackle like crazy and do a bit of ball carrying and support work. If anything he is more suited to that role than 6 or 8.
One of the big problems we have in the loose forwards is that Squire seems to have been made out of the same material as Crotty.
@pukunui said in All Blacks Squad for France:
I don't see why Taufua coukdn't be perfectly adequate 7 cover off the bench. He pretty much plays the same role as recent AB 7s which is high work rate. Tackle like crazy and do a bit of ball carrying and support work. If anything he is more suited to that role than 6 or 8.
Interesting you say that. Akira has more tackles*, line breaks, tackle busts and won more turnovers (and pilfers) compared to Taufua (and every other #8 in NZ).
*Only Luke has more tackles than Akira, but Luke is known for his tackling, not so much his ability with the ball.
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@no-quarter what about who they select is arrogance?
Surely they want the team to win as well, which means they are selecting the best group they feel can achieve that; arrogance would be deliberately choosing a weak team to show how good you are.
I think Akira would thrive in the AB environment, not having to carry half his team.
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@no-quarter what about who they select is arrogance?
They've picked a guy who currently can't make the grade at Super level if his squad is fit, over a guy that has been consistently outstanding all season and who also put in a dominant performance against the Lions.
I have to assume they've done that because they believe they can make Frizell a world beater at the top level, despite other coaches not picking him in their starting team at the level down.
Seems... a little arrogant and stupid. This is the ABs, pick the best available players for fuck sake.
