All Blacks 2025
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:
@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:
But Savea, Kirifi and Lakai (and to a lesser extent Lio-Willie) appear to be much the same.
can't agree with this point because Savea continues to be an enigma.
The ruck attendance stats posted in the other thread don't seem to match the eye test so i would be interest as to how many of those he arrived at 3rd and leaned on. He absolutely cleaned a couple later in the test, memorable for their exception.
But he's getting picked, he's playing 80, and he is going to do his own thing. The bigger question is what shirt should he wear?The other 3 are small busy loose forwards without a real point of difference.
With Vaai and Finau playing the dirty stuff, Savea doing his thing, what do we need from the #8? Is it purely a worker? If so, then that guy can't be another smaller body, he needs to make a difference when contact is required.
I tell you what, a Finau, Savea, Vaai starting trio with Sititi off the bench would be tough to handle.
sevea should wear a jersey with S on the back,cos he fits no description of a position
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I agree Robertson learned a lot and expanded the talent pool. Just hope he learned enough to get us closer to an established midfield and loose trio.
And the 10 spot is still problematic - at some stage we need to bite the bullet and give someone other than DMac and BB a decent opportunity
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@pakman said in All Blacks 2025:
Lakai I see as a 7 with utility value. CLW as an undersized 8.
Yeah I can't see how Lakai doesn't make the squad. He's got plenty of experience at both 7 and 8 versus Lio-Willie and Kirifi who only really cover one position.
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@Canes4life But of the three Peter Lakai is the one who is yet to be trusted in a Test starting XV for the All Blacks.
He's a talent, he's versatile and time is on his side, but I don't quite see him as good enough yet at either 7 or 8 for the ABs. I think Peter Lakai will develop into a world-class player for the All Blacks, but he's not there yet.
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@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
@Canes4life But of the three Peter Lakai is the one who is yet to be trusted in a Test starting XV for the All Blacks.
He's a talent, he's versatile and time is on his side, but I don't quite see him as good enough yet at either 7 or 8 for the ABs. I think Peter Lakai will develop into a world-class player for the All Blacks, but he's not there yet.
The fact he hasn't started a test isn't his fault. If he were to start in a test, I'd imagine he wouldn't let the jersey down. He pretty much played a full game against a stronger French side last year away and didn't look out of place.
If you think Lio-Willie and Kirifi are good enough to play test rugby, then Lakai is even more suited in my opinion. If Lakai was fit, Kirfi or Lio-Willie probably wouldn't have got that opportunity so 'trust' isn't an issue for Lakai. He played pretty much a full season at 7 for the Canes in 2024 and almost a full season at 8 for the Canes this year and definitely looked the goods. The fact he can play both positions to a high standard puts him in a good place in terms of selection.
Razor and co will want to get him back in the environment considering he'll likely be a big piece of the puzzle come RWC 2027. Out all the other loosies, Lakai probably would be the most suited to provide 'impact' off the bench' due to his explosiveness.
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@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2025:
@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
@Canes4life But of the three Peter Lakai is the one who is yet to be trusted in a Test starting XV for the All Blacks.
He's a talent, he's versatile and time is on his side, but I don't quite see him as good enough yet at either 7 or 8 for the ABs. I think Peter Lakai will develop into a world-class player for the All Blacks, but he's not there yet.
The fact he hasn't started a test isn't his fault. If he were to start in a test, I'd imagine he wouldn't let the jersey down. He pretty much played a full game against a stronger French side last year away and didn't look out of place.
If you think Lio-Willie and Kirifi are good enough to play test rugby, then Lakai is even more suited in my opinion. If Lakai was fit, Kirfi or Lio-Willie probably wouldn't have got that opportunity so 'trust' isn't an issue for Lakai. He played pretty much a full season at 7 for the Canes in 2024 and almost a full season at 8 for the Canes this year and definitely looked the goods. The fact he can play both positions to a high standard puts him in a good place in terms of selection.
Razor and co will want to get him back in the environment considering he'll likely be a big piece of the puzzle come RWC 2027. Out all the other loosies, Lakai probably would be the most suited to provide 'impact' off the bench' due to his explosiveness.
Get him in the squad, give him game time, let him (hopefully) realise his potential. Stick with Lio-Willie and Kirifi and they'll get to the World Cup wishing they had better players. The All Blacks have a few place holders at the moment. I'd much rather they pick guys with promise and see if they can get them to the required level. Robertson talked about being more bold in his selections. Time to really go for it.
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@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks 2025:
@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2025:
@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
@Canes4life But of the three Peter Lakai is the one who is yet to be trusted in a Test starting XV for the All Blacks.
He's a talent, he's versatile and time is on his side, but I don't quite see him as good enough yet at either 7 or 8 for the ABs. I think Peter Lakai will develop into a world-class player for the All Blacks, but he's not there yet.
The fact he hasn't started a test isn't his fault. If he were to start in a test, I'd imagine he wouldn't let the jersey down. He pretty much played a full game against a stronger French side last year away and didn't look out of place.
If you think Lio-Willie and Kirifi are good enough to play test rugby, then Lakai is even more suited in my opinion. If Lakai was fit, Kirfi or Lio-Willie probably wouldn't have got that opportunity so 'trust' isn't an issue for Lakai. He played pretty much a full season at 7 for the Canes in 2024 and almost a full season at 8 for the Canes this year and definitely looked the goods. The fact he can play both positions to a high standard puts him in a good place in terms of selection.
Razor and co will want to get him back in the environment considering he'll likely be a big piece of the puzzle come RWC 2027. Out all the other loosies, Lakai probably would be the most suited to provide 'impact' off the bench' due to his explosiveness.
Get him in the squad, give him game time, let him (hopefully) realise his potential. Stick with Lio-Willie and Kirifi and they'll get to the World Cup wishing they had better players. The All Blacks have a few place holders at the moment. I'd much rather they pick guys with promise and see if they can get them to the required level. Robertson talked about being more bold in his selections. Time to really go for it.
Yeah and when you factor in Lakai's age (only 22) he's got a lot of growth still in him. He's already played a lot of rugby, he's been influential in two NPC titles, he's been one of the better performing Canes players over the past two seasons and I only see him getting better.
You compare his build to when Ardie was the same age and he is certainly more suited to test rugby. I guess when you combine Ghanaian and Tongan genes you are likely to get a solid athlete. I'd say he will be around the 110kg+ mark come the RWC in 2027.
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Joey Manu and Kalyn Ponga
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Well yeah Williams is literally a big gun.
There is a lot of hype around Sititi but having won zero tests against SA or France or Argentina he doesn't qualify as a big gun yet. He's still finding his feet at this level really.
He looked very tentative this year for the Chiefs. Not sure how much of his games he was playing through injuries but young players with a handful of caps can't be expected to rock back up into test rugby with zero game time and perform like a legendary test veteran.
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:
Joey Manu and Kalyn Ponga
Leave that content for @SBW1 please and thank you.
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