2019 Māori All Blacks
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@Steven-Harris said in 2019 Māori All Blacks:
Otere Black offers nothing in my opinion..I would rather have Fletcher Smith who is more likely to challenge the line with his pace..!
The same one playing terribly at fullback?
The MAB are almost to a man being outplayed and certainly not helped by obviously forward passes ignored.
@antipodean that’s because he’s not a fullback..
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If the game has made one thing clear thus far, it's that TTT and Akira indeed didn't deserve a spot in the ABs. Akira looked fat and lazy; TTT not half as good in the first half as Hall in his first 15 minutes.
@Stargazer TTT has looked poor, question is though has playing 10min a game all year then expecting to play int. Rugby in Fiji a factor?
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Be a much different story on a cold 5 degrees night in Rotorua next weekend ..
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This is a good Fiji side. With most of their team cemented in nth hemisphere they could rattle cages at WC. I would suspect not many int. Teams Would come away with a W playing in Suva. Gone are the days of them being beaten by 70-100.
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@antipodean that’s because he’s not a fullback..
@Steven-Harris said in 2019 Māori All Blacks:
@antipodean that’s because he’s not a fullback..
That much is evident but given extra time and space and playing like that is not inspiring confidence he'd be any better using his pace at five-eighth.
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Yep Black is mediocre.
Interestingly I was looking at stats for Super Rugby and defensively Thompson doesn't make nearly as many tackles as AB centres.
ALB, Goodhue and Crotty all made between 110 - 120 tackles and Thompson had made only 59. Number of games played was pretty similar.
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@Stargazer TTT has looked poor, question is though has playing 10min a game all year then expecting to play int. Rugby in Fiji a factor?
@98blueandgold Chicken and egg thing, probably. Not getting much game time because he started the season unfit and wasn't good enough; and not having the opportunity to improve because he didn't get much game time.
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@98blueandgold Chicken and egg thing, probably. Not getting much game time because he started the season unfit and wasn't good enough; and not having the opportunity to improve because he didn't get much game time.
@Stargazer agree with you

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After watching this game, I suspect their will be several changes from the starting lineup
The first changes I would make is in the halves..with Hall and Smith,.. -
Yep Black is mediocre.
Interestingly I was looking at stats for Super Rugby and defensively Thompson doesn't make nearly as many tackles as AB centres.
ALB, Goodhue and Crotty all made between 110 - 120 tackles and Thompson had made only 59. Number of games played was pretty similar.
@KiwiMurph Can't take too much from those stats. The 1014 guys had an item on that about a month ago. The Landers overall made far less tackles than last season, for example.
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This is a good Fiji side. With most of their team cemented in nth hemisphere they could rattle cages at WC. I would suspect not many int. Teams Would come away with a W playing in Suva. Gone are the days of them being beaten by 70-100.
@98blueandgold Yeah, they're looking good and are going to be dangerous. The French test last November was a sign of things to come. I wonder whether this is already their strongest line-up. I vaguely remember reading that they're still missing a few players.
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@KiwiMurph Can't take too much from those stats. The 1014 guys had an item on that about a month ago. The Landers overall made far less tackles than last season, for example.
@Stargazer thanks that's interesting. I did notice his defence get exposed in the quarter final however.
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Parkinson has confirmed to me today what I have been thinking all season - at this stage of his career he is showing he is going to be another Dominic Bird.
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Parkinson has confirmed to me today what I have been thinking all season - at this stage of his career he is showing he is going to be another Dominic Bird.
@Crazy-Horse Play for the Chiefs?
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Parkinson has confirmed to me today what I have been thinking all season - at this stage of his career he is showing he is going to be another Dominic Bird.
@Crazy-Horse will cut him some slack, he’s only a young fella, little bit early to start comparing him to a Bird..the damage was done in the first half when we decided to kick all our ball away..the reserves all added energy,Hall added some much needed direction, Nankerville some much needed thrust.but unfortunately they were left too much to do..
Thought Karpick was industrious throughout, and Sean Wainui tried hard..but apart from those 2,the rest of the starting VX should be taking a long look at themselves
Quite confident they will turn it around in 7 x days..miracle passes don’t often stick when it’s 5 degrees and dew is around. -
After watching this game, I suspect their will be several changes from the starting lineup
The first changes I would make is in the halves..with Hall and Smith,..@Steven-Harris said in 2019 Māori All Blacks:
After watching this game, I suspect their will be several changes from the starting lineup
The first changes I would make is in the halves..with Hall and Smith,..Yeah, it's going to be interesting what they are going to do, particularly in the backrow. The player who didn't get game time is Harmon, so he's likely to play next game; however, he's an openside and Karpik was the best loosie on the field today, so you don't want to take him out of the line-up. Akira was the worst, but do they dare to leave him out? Douglas should start at 8. I think the question will be, who will play at 6, Prinsep or Akira? Harmon will probably end up on the bench; I'd give Karpik the start again.
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Plenty of work to do before Rotovegas. Outmuscled up front and dysfunctional in the backs.
Changes need to be made. Agree with @Steven-Harris that Wainui and Karpik were the pick of the players.
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It would be nice if the TJs could actually have kept up with the play as plenty of forward passes were missed too.