All Blacks vs Fiji

sparky

My team for Fiji

Karl T
Taylor (c)
Laulala
BBBR
Patrick T
Frizell
A Savea
Sotutu
Weber
B Barrett
J Barrett
Havili
R. Ioane
Reece
D. Mac

Aumua, De Groot, Angus T, Vaii, Papalii, Christie, Mo'unga, Tupaea

Duluth

Yeah probably not far off. A lot of changes

I think Christie might start given he subbed on with Barrett last night. They might keep that combo going. Particularly if Sotutu is at eight

Bovidae

@arhs said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Disappointing lack of accuracy from Tuinukuafe and Lomax yesterday.

It was a strange game. Big Karl was gaining more ground than usual with his carries, and then getting himself isolated.

I think Whitelock remains captaining the team and the other 2 locks are rotated around him.

family man

@duluth good point! That could well happen

Canes4life

@sparky J Barrett as a left wing, ewww. Did we not learn anything from last year?

Drop Tupaea, start J Barrett at 15, DMac on the bench. J Barrett can cover 12/13.

I’d go with:
Karl T
Taylor
Laulala
BBBR
Whitelock (c)
Frizell
A Savea/DP
Sotutu
Weber
B Barrett
Reece
Havili
Ioane
Jordan
J Barrett

Aumua, De Groot, Angus T, Vaii, DP/Jacobsen, Christie, Mo'unga, DMac/Tupaea

Duluth

I see Richard Knowler thinks Papali'i and Frizell won't be risked because they have niggles. I assume that would be the same for Savea

A backrow of Blackadder, Sotutu & Akira? Not sure if you could start Jacobson and Sotutu in the same trio

Duluth

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/rugby-all-blacks-to-audition-for-starting-roles-this-month/PJJJMDC4TIHAORQ5MYHMEGHBSY/

Scott McLeod confirmed fellow loose forward Shannon Frizell is yet to be cleared to return from his high ankle sprain, and that Blues openside Dalton Papalii sustained a calf strain against Tonga, leaving the All Blacks light in this department.

"We have to wait until Tuesday. They're both in a similar boat in terms of their availability," McLeod said of Savea and Frizell. "We just have to test them a little bit more - it's not as if they're available as of today.

"Dalton came off as a precaution. Length or term we're not too sure we'll have to see how he unfolds over the next couple of days."

Also Aumua is concussed and Taukei’aho has been added as cover

Higgins

Have heard that Northern United winger Esi Komaisavai http://www.clubrugby.co.nz/wellington/clubs-teams-people.php?person_id=9401 has been training with the Flying Fijians Not much is really known about him down here in Wellington other than him being in the Wellington Development squad a couple of years ago and being Fijian obviously has played 7s for Wellington as well https://www.wrfu.co.nz/representative/latest-news/single/post/esi-komaisavai-looking-for-sevens-success/News/detail/ Will hit my source up when I next see them to see if he has any more info on the happenings on the FIjian side of things..

MN5

@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I see Richard Knowler thinks Papali'i and Frizell won't be risked because they have niggles. I assume that would be the same for Savea

A backrow of Blackadder, Sotutu & Akira? Not sure if you could start Jacobson and Sotutu in the same trio

Who plays open side out of that bunch ?

Chris

@mn5 said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I see Richard Knowler thinks Papali'i and Frizell won't be risked because they have niggles. I assume that would be the same for Savea

A backrow of Blackadder, Sotutu & Akira? Not sure if you could start Jacobson and Sotutu in the same trio

Who plays open side out of that bunch ?

Blackadder

Nepia

@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I see Richard Knowler thinks Papali'i and Frizell won't be risked because they have niggles. I assume that would be the same for Savea

A backrow of Blackadder, Sotutu & Akira? Not sure if you could start Jacobson and Sotutu in the same trio

For what reason? They have different styles. Size?

Crucial

@nepia said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I see Richard Knowler thinks Papali'i and Frizell won't be risked because they have niggles. I assume that would be the same for Savea

A backrow of Blackadder, Sotutu & Akira? Not sure if you could start Jacobson and Sotutu in the same trio

For what reason? They have different styles. Size?

I'm puzzled with that as well. I would actually think that they would compliment each other well.
Akira and Sotutu would be an obvious pairing but Jacobsen and Sotutu could work just as well.
Only thing would be that I would give Sotutu the 'roaming out wide' licence that Akira has.

Duluth

@crucial said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Only thing would be that I would give Sotutu the 'roaming out wide' licence that Akira has.

That would asking Sotutu to do a role he has never done for the Blues or AB's

It's possible, but I think they are more likely to pick players in roles they are familiar with

If Jacobson was in the same trio as Sotutu it would be more likely to be Jacobson at 7. If both opensides are out we'll be asking an all rounder to be at 7.
Whichever of Blackadder/Jacobson that doesn't start then makes most sense to be on the bench.

nzzp

@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I think Christie might start given he subbed on with Barrett last night. They might keep that combo going. Particularly if Sotutu is at eight

I was pleasantly surprised with how he went last week - looked fast to breakdowns and threw some faster passes than I expected. Starting to see what Macdonald sees in him

Kirwan

@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I think Christie might start given he subbed on with Barrett last night. They might keep that combo going. Particularly if Sotutu is at eight

I was pleasantly surprised with how he went last week - looked fast to breakdowns and threw some faster passes than I expected. Starting to see what Macdonald sees in him

And he put on some heavy tackles too, haven't seen him do that at the Blues.

nzzp

@kirwan said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@duluth said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I think Christie might start given he subbed on with Barrett last night. They might keep that combo going. Particularly if Sotutu is at eight

I was pleasantly surprised with how he went last week - looked fast to breakdowns and threw some faster passes than I expected. Starting to see what Macdonald sees in him

And he put on some heavy tackles too, haven't seen him do that at the Blues.

his defence for the Blues has been superb. He gets away from set pieces super quickly, and hits folk, particularly 10s with good timing. It may not be visible on the tv coverage, but he gets around and directs defenses as well. So a real strength for me

taniwharugby

@nzzp yeah slotted into the gameplan well, although TBF his style of play is def suited to that open game, its when things are a bit tighter I worry about his game.

BUt he wont get tested until TRC and then he is likely to miss out to TJ anyway..?

Duluth

@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I was pleasantly surprised with how he went last week - looked fast to breakdowns and threw some faster passes than I expected. Starting to see what Macdonald sees in him

I think there’s been too much emphasis on the Blues halfbacks on TSF. I think a bigger issue has been Blacks limitations. He rarely runs, his passing is poor and it makes it easy for the defence. After a few phases the whole attack is disjointed

I’m not surprised Christie played well with Barrett. I’m not surprised Nock looked crap with Black

Black was worse this year than 2020 but I think his goalkicking meant he avoided a lot of criticism

I did find MacDonalds comments on Christie interesting - first to training, last to leave, passes a huge amount during the week, world class box kick that the final game plan was built around etc etc
Currently he’s not that good. Maybe he’s already at his ceiling? But at least he has a chance of getting better with that attitude

KiwiMurph

@duluth yeah it's worth noting Christie's best game last season came when Beaudie was at 10 vs Highlanders in Dunedin. Both players were excellent.

African Monkey

@duluth Yeah Black's solid enough as a backup 10 or someone who can close a game out, but he's too slow in every department, and doesn't have a huge boot on him either. Our attack was severly stunted with him running the cutter due to his slow service with his passing which would allow opposition defences to cut off our outsides rather comfortably, and he lacks a yard of pace taking on the line, so he's no real threat when he decides to run.

He's got a clever brain on him, but lacks the athleticism to dominate games. I think his style wold be more suited to European rugby personally. He's basically a better version of Simon Hickey which isn't saying a lot, but a solid bet, nothing more.

@KiwiMurph yeah, Christie was dominant with Barrett outside him last season. Another game where they dominated and changed the game together last year was against the Chiefs in the 2nd half in Hamilton. We ran away with the game when those 2 partnered up in the 2nd half of that game.

The Silver Fern

All Blacks vs Fiji