Blues 2025
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Beehre looks like he's put on some bulk too.
The battle for the third lock position after the AB pair will be tough. McWhannell was mostly good last year but his defence let him down at times.
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So non-All Blacks full squad players not there are -
Renata, Sheck, Ake, McWhannell, Christie, Beehre, Sotutu, Clark, Spencer.
Points of interest to me are -
Lam at 12, yay!
Choat at 6 both halves.
Evans at 13 rather than 12.
Forbes on the Wing, he played about 50% of his games for Glasgow there.
Sullivan at 15, Cotter said he may be tried in the midfield this season.
Tupaea at Tighthead, he has only ever played Loosehead for Waikato ( and has never started, always been in 17).
Looks like young Nathanial Pole is the important 4th Hooker backup. I do like how Cotter backs youth.
All the new players picked in this years squad are 19 - 23 years old.Edit: also Hamdahn Tuipulotu on the bench, adding to the parade of extra props involved at training. Makes me a bit concerned about the health of the squad props.
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Comment from the Blues on their Instagram says " Full vlog including match highlights out tonight!! "
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https://www.instagram.com/bluesrugbyteam/p/DFeYL0ySRgV/?img_index=3
Comment is cut off the embed:
Up 7-0 at the halfSome great footy being played! AJ Lam proving very hard to contain in the midfield
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@Daffy-Jaffy Not clear from the embedded content, but there's some video highlights at the link.
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I am interested in how Tristyn Cook went at lock. NH website has him listed at 1.99m. Accurate?
@Tim As is common with young tall Locks he is likely still growing. With the Blues only picking 6 Loosies in the squad, Cook could well see some game time covering 6/Lock off the bench when injuries hit.
The best news from the Stuff article posted above is O'Halloran (standing in as head coach due to Cotter having knee surgery) saying there were no injuries from the game. -
@Tim As is common with young tall Locks he is likely still growing. With the Blues only picking 6 Loosies in the squad, Cook could well see some game time covering 6/Lock off the bench when injuries hit.
The best news from the Stuff article posted above is O'Halloran (standing in as head coach due to Cotter having knee surgery) saying there were no injuries from the game.@Daffy-Jaffy Yeah, he played 6 for Harbour last year, IIRC.
