All Blacks 2021
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https://tiponrugby.substack.com/p/late-bloomer
In a piece touting David Havili and Anton Lienert-Brown as the All Blacks’ likely starters in the midfield next month, Liam Napier of the NZ Herald had this to say about Blues centre Rieko Ioane:
“This season for the Blues he's made plenty of metres but his decision-making and instinctive ability to create and feed his outsides hasn't dramatically improved, leaving the same conundrum of where he should feature for the All Blacks.”Is this assertion supported by data? Looking at his try-involvement numbers, it’s true that not much has changed since last year. Across all Super Rugby in 2020, in 889 minutes played he provided 5 scoring passes to teammates and 1 penultimate pass in a scoring sequence for a rate of 0.5 primary and secondary try assists per 80 minutes; in 928 minutes in 2021, he has contributed 5 and 2 respectively for a rate of 0.6 per 80. It’s true that this is only a slight uptick in performance, but it’s worth emphasising that he still blows his competitors for the black 13 jersey out of the water by this metric overall: his average of 0.6 primary and secondary assists per 80 across the last 2 seasons is much higher than Lienert-Brown’s (0.2) and Braydon Ennor’s (0.3). The discussion around Rieko’s rugby continues to be one with more of a basis in perception than reality.
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ALB is our centre right? Only way I can't see that happening is if they don't select Havili.
@bones said in All Blacks 2021:
ALB is our centre right? Only way I can't see that happening is if they don't select Havili.
Maybe I am wrong but there is ALB Havili, RI and PUJ (even though the Hurricanes coaching don't pick him, given their other selections that doesn't seem a black mark against him).*
NB Leicester Fainga’anuku-Robertson has praised him with potential from 12 to wing but I see him, at 21, as future centre/wing cover. Perhaps a future competitor to RI, but, as I said, very young and had a busy season.
So of those 4, DH and ALB are best distributors but DH a 12 and ALB adept and experienced at 12/13; RI and PUJ are 13s (in my eyes PUJ not so good yet at 12) and they are the flashier explosive runners with more risk and less distribution than ALB..
So DH+ALB at 12/13 with RI off the bench or possibly PUJ (who is less experienced than RI, more of a natural centre, but weaker in wing cover).
Another option is RI on bench or starting as wing or wing/cover (arguably still one of NZ's best wings), with option to move in to 13 if the centre is injured.
So I think RI has the advantage as bench player, could be highly impactful in second half of a game (but I hope PUJ gets matchtime, I like the look of him).
*I'm not sure Ennor would or could be in the conversation, not enough recent gametime I would have thought. -
Jacobson did himself few favours with his play today.
I like the guy, but I'm not convinced he is the answer, although a few opportunities at 8 could be worthwhile.
Right now, I like the idea of Akira, Paps, and Blackadder with Robinson and Ardie off the bench, but that won't happen (I think Robinson may finally be the lock/6 we've been looking for though).
So, Akira, Ardie, Blackadder with Robinson and Paps on the bench has all positions covered with enough ball running and defence to slow some teams down.
It will get very very tricky when Cane comes back and when Grace gets a bit stronger with his run involvements (his workrate is good but he's miles behind Blackadder with ball in hand).
That's not even considering some wildcards like Flanders who I think may be a bigger and better version of Jacobson.
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
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https://tiponrugby.substack.com/p/late-bloomer
In a piece touting David Havili and Anton Lienert-Brown as the All Blacks’ likely starters in the midfield next month, Liam Napier of the NZ Herald had this to say about Blues centre Rieko Ioane:
“This season for the Blues he's made plenty of metres but his decision-making and instinctive ability to create and feed his outsides hasn't dramatically improved, leaving the same conundrum of where he should feature for the All Blacks.”Is this assertion supported by data? Looking at his try-involvement numbers, it’s true that not much has changed since last year. Across all Super Rugby in 2020, in 889 minutes played he provided 5 scoring passes to teammates and 1 penultimate pass in a scoring sequence for a rate of 0.5 primary and secondary try assists per 80 minutes; in 928 minutes in 2021, he has contributed 5 and 2 respectively for a rate of 0.6 per 80. It’s true that this is only a slight uptick in performance, but it’s worth emphasising that he still blows his competitors for the black 13 jersey out of the water by this metric overall: his average of 0.6 primary and secondary assists per 80 across the last 2 seasons is much higher than Lienert-Brown’s (0.2) and Braydon Ennor’s (0.3). The discussion around Rieko’s rugby continues to be one with more of a basis in perception than reality.
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@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
@Stargazer would be the person who probably has the pics from his insta (or someone's) but he is huge this year, looks like he's been on roids.
193cm puts him at the same height as Read and I'd say he's bigger, even if the 'official' stats don't see to indicate that.
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
@Stargazer would be the person who probably has the pics from his insta (or someone's) but he is huge this year, looks like he's been on roids.
193cm puts him at the same height as Read and I'd say he's bigger, even if the 'official' stats don't see to indicate that.
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
@Stargazer would be the person who probably has the pics from his insta (or someone's) but he is huge this year, looks like he's been on roids.
193cm puts him at the same height as Read and I'd say he's bigger, even if the 'official' stats don't see to indicate that.
I was a few metres away from the Hurricanes bench last weekend and he looks a big lad.
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@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
@Stargazer would be the person who probably has the pics from his insta (or someone's) but he is huge this year, looks like he's been on roids.
193cm puts him at the same height as Read and I'd say he's bigger, even if the 'official' stats don't see to indicate that.
I was a few metres away from the Hurricanes bench last weekend and he looks a big lad.
Is Boshier not even a lookin this year? Doesn't seem to have much AB luck..
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Is Boshier not even a lookin this year? Doesn't seem to have much AB luck..
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
Is Boshier not even a lookin this year? Doesn't seem to have much AB luck..
Over who?... every other main all black flanker chance has shown more than he has
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@mackerzzzz Well, it's a revisionist interpretation.......
@sparky said in All Blacks 2021:
@mackerzzzz Well, it's a revisionist interpretation.......
That was part of the point...
No real point in having a team of 35 year olds.
But if you think of ages of the people I didn't pick you will see that they will all have retired or be shit old buggers.
Tu'inukuafe, coles, whitelock, smith, tj, Weber, beaudie, havili, etc.
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@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
@Stargazer would be the person who probably has the pics from his insta (or someone's) but he is huge this year, looks like he's been on roids.
193cm puts him at the same height as Read and I'd say he's bigger, even if the 'official' stats don't see to indicate that.
I was a few metres away from the Hurricanes bench last weekend and he looks a big lad.
@antipodean him and Numia walked past me on Cuba Street a couple weeks ago and Flanders looks like a big lad. Numia was athletic as hell aswell but probably needs to put a couple of kgs on if he ever wants to reach that next level.
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Does anybody think fidow will become good at some stage?
He has the power and running skill to become a tupou...
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@antipodean him and Numia walked past me on Cuba Street a couple weeks ago and Flanders looks like a big lad. Numia was athletic as hell aswell but probably needs to put a couple of kgs on if he ever wants to reach that next level.
@canes4life I had to laugh last week when the commentators about the canes hooker with the "big boppers" beside him. Numia has got to be the smallest prop in years!
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@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
@Stargazer would be the person who probably has the pics from his insta (or someone's) but he is huge this year, looks like he's been on roids.
193cm puts him at the same height as Read and I'd say he's bigger, even if the 'official' stats don't see to indicate that.
I was a few metres away from the Hurricanes bench last weekend and he looks a big lad.
@antipodean said in All Blacks 2021:
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
@Stargazer would be the person who probably has the pics from his insta (or someone's) but he is huge this year, looks like he's been on roids.
193cm puts him at the same height as Read and I'd say he's bigger, even if the 'official' stats don't see to indicate that.
I was a few metres away from the Hurricanes bench last weekend and he looks a big lad.
Breakfast?
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
@Stargazer would be the person who probably has the pics from his insta (or someone's) but he is huge this year, looks like he's been on roids.
193cm puts him at the same height as Read and I'd say he's bigger, even if the 'official' stats don't see to indicate that.
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
@Stargazer would be the person who probably has the pics from his insta (or someone's) but he is huge this year, looks like he's been on roids.
193cm puts him at the same height as Read and I'd say he's bigger, even if the 'official' stats don't see to indicate that.
For comparison of height, this was the only useful photo I could find on Getty's website (Scrafton is - according to his Hurricanes profile - 7cm taller, but it looks less):
Someone posted this photo from his instagram during preseason (with Jonah Lowe tagging Drugfree Sport NZ in the comments):
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@canes4life I had to laugh last week when the commentators about the canes hooker with the "big boppers" beside him. Numia has got to be the smallest prop in years!
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@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2021:
@gt12 said in All Blacks 2021:
bigger
abut 2 cm and a few kilos in it at most I'd have thought, or has Flanders grown since the official stats?
@Stargazer would be the person who probably has the pics from his insta (or someone's) but he is huge this year, looks like he's been on roids.
193cm puts him at the same height as Read and I'd say he's bigger, even if the 'official' stats don't see to indicate that.
For comparison of height, this was the only useful photo I could find on Getty's website (Scrafton is - according to his Hurricanes profile - 7cm taller, but it looks less):
Someone posted this photo from his instagram during preseason (with Jonah Lowe tagging Drugfree Sport NZ in the comments):@stargazer all he nees to say is "chenny GET DOWUN... ARGhh.." nah jokes aside hes massive, huge fan future AB right there
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@bones maybe true, also never seen anyone play like him before...ever, given that the game is evolving quickly into a fast pace game he will set the platform for a new breed of props needed .. my honest opinion
@berhamporeninja said in All Blacks 2021:
@bones maybe true, also never seen anyone play like him before...ever, given that the game is evolving quickly into a fast pace game he will set the platform for a new breed of props needed .. my honest opinion
Yeah have heard that plenty of times in yesteryears, I remain unconvinced.
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What about really ambitious: 2027 world cup:
- The Groot
- Aumua
- The mighty Williams
- Scott Barrett
- Vaiiiiii
- Robinson/ Blackadder
- Sam Cane (may be to old - if so papalii)
- Sotutu
- Fakatava
- Moanga
- Clarke
- J Barrett (could become a very good 12)
- Lenert-Brown
- Likley bolter/young gun. Ratumituvuki- knepkins?
- Jordan (could become cullen good)
- A Ross?
- S Vikena?
- Tuangafasi?
- Lord or Darry
- Savea
- Only other good young guy is Roe
- DMac or Z Sullivan
- Not sure - nani-seturo? narawa? Fihaki?
@mackerzzzz said in All Blacks 2021:
What about really ambitious: 2027 world cup:
- The Groot
- Aumua
- The mighty Williams
- Scott Barrett
- Vaiiiiii
- Robinson/ Blackadder
- Sam Cane (may be to old - if so papalii)
- Sotutu
- Fakatava
- Moanga
- Clarke
- J Barrett (could become a very good 12)
- Lenert-Brown
- Likley bolter/young gun. Ratumituvuki- knepkins?
- Jordan (could become cullen good)
- A Ross?
- S Vikena?
- Tuangafasi?
- Lord or Darry
- Savea
- Only other good young guy is Roe
- DMac or Z Sullivan
- Not sure - nani-seturo? narawa? Fihaki?
Replacement hookers always wear the 16 jersey, but this is just a detail of your 2027 team. What you mean is that no youngsters that we don't know yet will emerge during the next few years ! NZ rugby is known for its capacity to dig out new talents every year. It won't change.
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@tim Reiko Ioane is a dangerman at Centre who is tough to defend against and creates chances for the players around him.
@sparky said in All Blacks 2021:
@tim Reiko Ioane is a dangerman at Centre who is tough to defend against and creates chances for the players around him.
Unless Foster is able to come up with tactics to get around the rush defence - which is becoming very clear - Rieko Ioane is apparently the only answer we have to that question
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ALB is our centre right? Only way I can't see that happening is if they don't select Havili.
@bones said in All Blacks 2021:
ALB is our centre right? Only way I can't see that happening is if they don't select Havili.
He's a definite starter. I think there's two pairings the coaches will want to look at seriously:
DH/ALB
ALB/RIThe first is brand new but has more of a traditional 2nd 5.
The second has been used a few times late in games and started the North/South game.
