All Blacks 2025

sparky

There is a clear 1-2-3 for me at half back.

Ratima
Roigard
Funaki

Hotham and Fakatava are okay, but don't offer as much as the other three.

sparky

@Tim Clarke and Narawa, if fit, for me are the starting wings.

I'm be happy to see Carter in the squad, maybe Tangitau if he can show some form and fitness. Not sure I see much point in picking Reece, Telea or Naholo.

taniwharugby

@Victor-Meldrew to be fair, Christie was playing well for a period, his best rugby was super rugby the season after he made the ABs, but regressed since.then.

Victor Meldrew

@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2025:

@Victor-Meldrew to be fair, Christie was playing well for a period, his best rugby was super rugby the season after he made the ABs, but regressed since.then.

Yeah, I agree. He def. deserved his slot in that period as he was the next best to Nugget. Loyal servant and all that, but we're in a better position now at 9.

Dan54

@pakman said in All Blacks 2025:

@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:

Catching up with The Breakdown, Justin Marshall (Razor's mate) talking up Kyle Preston as an AB possibility. Not sure I see it.

The show seriously suffers when such personal opinion is allowed so much airtime.

That's the point of the show and having people on. They give their opinions, I disagree with plenty of them, but know why they do it. Exactly same as any rugby show I have seen, whether from NZ,Aus,SA,UK etc.

Dan54

@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:

There is a clear 1-2-3 for me at half back.

Ratima

Roigard

Funaki

Hotham and Fakatava are okay, but don't offer as much as the other three.

I would go
1 Roigard
2 Ratima
3 Hotham

I haven't (in my opinion only) ever got on the Funaki train, he's good, but would still have Fakatava ahead of him too. We actually reasonably well of for 9s that play differently to each other I think.

nzzp

@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2025:

@pakman said in All Blacks 2025:

@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:

Catching up with The Breakdown, Justin Marshall (Razor's mate) talking up Kyle Preston as an AB possibility. Not sure I see it.

The show seriously suffers when such personal opinion is allowed so much airtime.

That's the point of the show and having people on. They give their opinions, I disagree with plenty of them, but know why they do it. Exactly same as any rugby show I have seen, whether from NZ,Aus,SA,UK etc.

I just don't bother with it any more. The level of analysis here is better than on there (looking at you @Mauss)

You seriously get people like JK who's analysis is 'the boys will really be up for it this week, I'm picking them'. Great that people like it, but it's an entertainment show, not a rugby show.

KiwiMurph

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:

You seriously get people like JK who's analysis is 'the boys will really be up for it this week, I'm picking them'. Great that people like it, but it's an entertainment show, not a rugby show.

JK who famously said he had never heard of Rivez Reihana before his Super Rugby debut despite Reihana playing 3 seasons of NPC prior to that.

nzzp

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2025:

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:

You seriously get people like JK who's analysis is 'the boys will really be up for it this week, I'm picking them'. Great that people like it, but it's an entertainment show, not a rugby show.

JK who famously said he had never heard of Rivez Reihana before his Super Rugby debut despite Reihana playing 3 seasons of NPC prior to that.

Phenomenal human being, terrible analyst, mixed bag as a coach

Dan54

I am a bit of a nerd, and tend to watch rugby shows when I get chance, and genuinely don't see much difference with any of them. They all have ex players on, who I take it know a reasonable amount of what is required to play at high level etc, doesn't make then right or wrong, just another opinion. Funny they use ex players, because quite often, they quite often don't follow game real closely, just their own teams etc. I got same impression watching them in UK last year , or watching Aussie ones etc. I just take notice of what parts of show I find interesting. Had mate in Aus who followed both NRL and AFL, said they couldn't put up with their shows either.

No Quarter

@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2025:

@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2025:

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:

@george33 said in All Blacks 2025:

@kidcalder and I would put Taufa Funaki, in the mix, his return has seen a different dimension in the Blues.

plays for the wrong club. No chance.

Unfortunately correct, the HBs will be locked in as:
Roigard - incumbent and will start
Ratima - bench and pushing Roigard hard for a start
Hotham - Crusaders Project Player

Halfback is a comparatively strong position right now. Whilst none of them are Nuggy, and some aren't in career best form, they're all (except Christie) playing well.

Funaki as mentioned previously has transformed the Blues into looking like a finals contender again.

I like Hotham's play - he's got a good pass on him and everything else he does is above average in execution.

Even Fakatava is playing with more maturity and taking better options, in a team without a plethora of talent in the backline. Probably the best sniper in NZ.

Roigard is playing like a shadow of his former self pre-injury. Hopefully he'll get better with more minutes under his belt. The better players play themselves into form as the season progresses anyway.

Roigard isn’t playing like last year but he’s still playing well. He was pivotal in that win against the Brumbies and was good in the win against the Chiefs. Here’s hoping he gets a spring in his step after the bye / this week against the Landers.

(put Hurricanes jersey on)

Yup, people are massively over-egging the Roigard stuff, probably because expectations on him are much higher than any other 9 in the country given what he showed last year.

He's been excellent this season, particularly in the early rounds and more recently against the Brumbies and Chiefs as you say. He's been one of our best for the majority of our games in a side absolutely plagued by injury. Ratima, who people are plugging, has been a real mixed bag. His best game was probably at home against the Force which isn't saying very much.

It's a very crude measure, but Roigard is also a country mile ahead of every other 9 in Super Fantasy as well, which shows how much more involved he is in directing play and setting others up than the others contenders. He'll never have Aaron Smith distribution (because nobody will), but his kicking game is world class, he has vision in spades, and the threat he poses close in provides space and opportunities out wide. He's an absolute lock for the #9 AB jumper, it'd be crazy to have anyone else there IMO.

Canes4life

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2025:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2025:

@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2025:

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:

@george33 said in All Blacks 2025:

@kidcalder and I would put Taufa Funaki, in the mix, his return has seen a different dimension in the Blues.

plays for the wrong club. No chance.

Unfortunately correct, the HBs will be locked in as:
Roigard - incumbent and will start
Ratima - bench and pushing Roigard hard for a start
Hotham - Crusaders Project Player

Halfback is a comparatively strong position right now. Whilst none of them are Nuggy, and some aren't in career best form, they're all (except Christie) playing well.

Funaki as mentioned previously has transformed the Blues into looking like a finals contender again.

I like Hotham's play - he's got a good pass on him and everything else he does is above average in execution.

Even Fakatava is playing with more maturity and taking better options, in a team without a plethora of talent in the backline. Probably the best sniper in NZ.

Roigard is playing like a shadow of his former self pre-injury. Hopefully he'll get better with more minutes under his belt. The better players play themselves into form as the season progresses anyway.

Roigard isn’t playing like last year but he’s still playing well. He was pivotal in that win against the Brumbies and was good in the win against the Chiefs. Here’s hoping he gets a spring in his step after the bye / this week against the Landers.

(put Hurricanes jersey on)

Yup, people are massively over-egging the Roigard stuff, probably because expectations on him are much higher than any other 9 in the country given what he showed last year.

He's been excellent this season, particularly in the early rounds and more recently against the Brumbies and Chiefs as you say. He's been one of our best for the majority of our games in a side absolutely plagued by injury. Ratima, who people are plugging, has been a real mixed bag. His best game was probably at home against the Force which isn't saying very much.

It's a very crude measure, but Roigard is also a country mile ahead of every other 9 in Super Fantasy as well, which shows how much more involved he is in directing play and setting others up than the others contenders. He'll never have Aaron Smith distribution (because nobody will), but his kicking game is world class, he has vision in spades, and the threat he poses close in provides space and opportunities out wide. He's an absolute lock for the #9 AB jumper, it'd be crazy to have anyone else there IMO.

That's it aye, I think because Smith was the GOAT and had that bullet pass, many of us fans tend to compare every AB halfback to him when in reality it's highly unlikely we'll get that distribution by a halfback in the Black jersey again, or for a very long time.

I still have Roigard at number 1, he outplayed Ratima a couple weeks ago and he's not even back to his best yet. Roigard's strength as you say is his ability to direct, his box kicking and running game are also world class, but I quess we just have to be a bit more patient before he gets back to his best. We can't forget the injury he suffered, unfortunately it will just take time for him to get there, but he will.

reprobate

@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2025:

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2025:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2025:

@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2025:

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:

@george33 said in All Blacks 2025:

@kidcalder and I would put Taufa Funaki, in the mix, his return has seen a different dimension in the Blues.

plays for the wrong club. No chance.

Unfortunately correct, the HBs will be locked in as:
Roigard - incumbent and will start
Ratima - bench and pushing Roigard hard for a start
Hotham - Crusaders Project Player

Halfback is a comparatively strong position right now. Whilst none of them are Nuggy, and some aren't in career best form, they're all (except Christie) playing well.

Funaki as mentioned previously has transformed the Blues into looking like a finals contender again.

I like Hotham's play - he's got a good pass on him and everything else he does is above average in execution.

Even Fakatava is playing with more maturity and taking better options, in a team without a plethora of talent in the backline. Probably the best sniper in NZ.

Roigard is playing like a shadow of his former self pre-injury. Hopefully he'll get better with more minutes under his belt. The better players play themselves into form as the season progresses anyway.

Roigard isn’t playing like last year but he’s still playing well. He was pivotal in that win against the Brumbies and was good in the win against the Chiefs. Here’s hoping he gets a spring in his step after the bye / this week against the Landers.

(put Hurricanes jersey on)

Yup, people are massively over-egging the Roigard stuff, probably because expectations on him are much higher than any other 9 in the country given what he showed last year.

He's been excellent this season, particularly in the early rounds and more recently against the Brumbies and Chiefs as you say. He's been one of our best for the majority of our games in a side absolutely plagued by injury. Ratima, who people are plugging, has been a real mixed bag. His best game was probably at home against the Force which isn't saying very much.

It's a very crude measure, but Roigard is also a country mile ahead of every other 9 in Super Fantasy as well, which shows how much more involved he is in directing play and setting others up than the others contenders. He'll never have Aaron Smith distribution (because nobody will), but his kicking game is world class, he has vision in spades, and the threat he poses close in provides space and opportunities out wide. He's an absolute lock for the #9 AB jumper, it'd be crazy to have anyone else there IMO.

We can't forget the injury he suffered, unfortunately it will just take time for him to get there, but he will.

Unfortunately, this isn't always how return from injury pans out.
Early days, we all obviously hope he will return to his best previous form - and he doesn't really look hampered as such - but his running has not yet been as effective as previous. His kicking is still the best in the country I think, but his passing is not better than Ratima, and his running is not better than Fakatava.
I have no doubt he'll be selected, as he's one of the incumbents and nobody is clearly better than him even though he hasn't reached previous highs yet.

Nepia

@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2025:

I am a bit of a nerd, and tend to watch rugby shows when I get chance, and genuinely don't see much difference with any of them. They all have ex players on, who I take it know a reasonable amount of what is required to play at high level etc, doesn't make then right or wrong, just another opinion. Funny they use ex players, because quite often, they quite often don't follow game real closely, just their own teams etc. I got same impression watching them in UK last year , or watching Aussie ones etc. I just take notice of what parts of show I find interesting. Had mate in Aus who followed both NRL and AFL, said they couldn't put up with their shows either.

I used to watch all the rugby and the league shows as late as a few years ago, now I don't watch any. I think I've just moved on from them. I get my fix for that from here and would rather use my other watching time for scripted shows etc.

MN5

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2025:

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:

You seriously get people like JK who's analysis is 'the boys will really be up for it this week, I'm picking them'. Great that people like it, but it's an entertainment show, not a rugby show.

JK who famously said he had never heard of Rivez Reihana before his Super Rugby debut despite Reihana playing 3 seasons of NPC prior to that.

Phenomenal human being, terrible analyst, mixed bag as a coach

Handy winger in his playing days too

Nepia

@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2025:

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:

You seriously get people like JK who's analysis is 'the boys will really be up for it this week, I'm picking them'. Great that people like it, but it's an entertainment show, not a rugby show.

JK who famously said he had never heard of Rivez Reihana before his Super Rugby debut despite Reihana playing 3 seasons of NPC prior to that.

Phenomenal human being, terrible analyst, mixed bag as a coach

Handy winger in his playing days too

Sheesh, that's a bit of an insult.

He was fucking outstanding.

MN5

@Nepia said in All Blacks 2025:

@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2025:

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:

You seriously get people like JK who's analysis is 'the boys will really be up for it this week, I'm picking them'. Great that people like it, but it's an entertainment show, not a rugby show.

JK who famously said he had never heard of Rivez Reihana before his Super Rugby debut despite Reihana playing 3 seasons of NPC prior to that.

Phenomenal human being, terrible analyst, mixed bag as a coach

Handy winger in his playing days too

Sheesh, that's a bit of an insult.

He was fucking outstanding.

just being understated. JK is the man. My absolute favourite AB of his era ( zinny a close second and daylight to the rest )

Dan54

@Nepia said in All Blacks 2025:

@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2025:

I am a bit of a nerd, and tend to watch rugby shows when I get chance, and genuinely don't see much difference with any of them. They all have ex players on, who I take it know a reasonable amount of what is required to play at high level etc, doesn't make then right or wrong, just another opinion. Funny they use ex players, because quite often, they quite often don't follow game real closely, just their own teams etc. I got same impression watching them in UK last year , or watching Aussie ones etc. I just take notice of what parts of show I find interesting. Had mate in Aus who followed both NRL and AFL, said they couldn't put up with their shows either.

I used to watch all the rugby and the league shows as late as a few years ago, now I don't watch any. I think I've just moved on from them. I get my fix for that from here and would rather use my other watching time for scripted shows etc.

Yep fair enough too mate, just taste etc. I hardly watch scripted shows these days (don't know why, none really get interest) but enjoy rugby shows as I find I get an interesting gem every now and then, much like on here. Even a most rugbt forums tend to be waste of time, I haunt a few (lot of time being retired), but definitely find this one best. Plenty I don't agree with but find in general most have really good or interesting views,

frugby

Intrigued for the thoughts of some non Highlanders fans last night. I thought with the lights shining, de Groot was excellent, Holland was the best lock on the field, and Tavatavanawai was superb. Fakatava was also excellent even if not as impactful as Roigard. Feel all four should be in the ABs squad?

Bones

@frugby with my highlanders patch on, definitely. But unless it's a fucking monsoon, I don't want the ABs playing in slow motion.

The Silver Fern

All Blacks 2025