2025 All Blacks v France series
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I'm really trying hard to move on from thinking about Akira but it seems pretty clear to me now that boy did the Blues miss him. And when people go oh we need a 6 with impact, physical presence, height in the lineout, it is very tempting to scream aarrghh!
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@reprobate regardless, he's still behind players that are not even AB material in the aspects of the game he's meant to excel at. When you add that to the fact he has all of the impact of a wet blanket ball in hand, "busy but ineffective" definitely fits. When you also add how injury plagued he is, meaning he was being selected with no form at the level down, and it actually does beggar belief that he was selected at all for test footy. That's why he's been the focus of so many discussions, no other player stands out as not deserving a spot like he does, well apart from Fihaki and Bell which were also extremely biased selections.
But anyway, thankfully Razor reads the Fern and realised some of his Crusaders stars may not actually cut it at test level.
@No-Quarter said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@reprobate regardless, he's still behind players that are not even AB material in the aspects of the game he's meant to excel at. When you add that to the fact he has all of the impact of a wet blanket ball in hand, "busy but ineffective" definitely fits. When you also add how injury plagued he is, meaning he was being selected with no form at the level down, and it actually does beggar belief that he was selected at all for test footy. That's why he's been the focus of so many discussions, no other player stands out as not deserving a spot like he does, well apart from Fihaki and Bell which were also extremely biased selections.
But anyway, thankfully Razor reads the Fern and realised some of his Crusaders stars may not actually cut it at test level.
Or perhaps he doesn’t given he rates Ioane as a centre…..
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@No-Quarter said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@reprobate regardless, he's still behind players that are not even AB material in the aspects of the game he's meant to excel at. When you add that to the fact he has all of the impact of a wet blanket ball in hand, "busy but ineffective" definitely fits. When you also add how injury plagued he is, meaning he was being selected with no form at the level down, and it actually does beggar belief that he was selected at all for test footy. That's why he's been the focus of so many discussions, no other player stands out as not deserving a spot like he does, well apart from Fihaki and Bell which were also extremely biased selections.
But anyway, thankfully Razor reads the Fern and realised some of his Crusaders stars may not actually cut it at test level.
Or perhaps he doesn’t given he rates Ioane as a centre…..
@ACT-Crusader said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Or perhaps he doesn’t given he rates Ioane as a centre…..
He's just toying with the affections of Blues fans.
I doubt he reads the fern as he hasn't taken onboard the hairdressing tips from some of the posters on here...
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@reprobate said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Attacking Ruck Effectiveness %
90.3 Samipeni Finau
89.3 Cam Christie
85.9 Anton Segner
85.2 Brayden Iose
85.0 TK Howden
84.5 Oliver Haig
83.7 Simon Parker
82.7 Ethan Blackadder
81.8 Cullen GraceDefensive Ruck Effectiveness %
25.0 Simon Parker
17.8 Cullen Grace
15.9 Samipeni Finau
14.8 Ethan Blackadder
12.8 TK Howden
12.1 Anton Segner
9.1 Brayden Iose
0.0 Cam Christie
0.0 Oliver HaigDominant Tackle %
14.6 Simon Parker
11.8 Samipeni Finau
10.8 TK Howden
8.5 Cam Christie
7.1 Brayden Iose
5.4 Ethan Blackadder
3.2 Cullen Grace
2.0 Oliver Haig
1.7 Anton SegnerSo you're missing all the players he has missed out to at 6/utility except Finau i.e. Jacobson and apparently Barrett and Vaai, CLW, Sititi, DP.
And missing the quantities per minute? If you're going to leave stuff out because it doesn't suit your dislike of a certain player then it just seems like more of the circle jerk mate.
Edit to add: he's by no means a perfect player, but the ability of people on here to ignore everything good he does, and his play in the last few weeks is mental.I've included him with the sixes because that is where he has been playing. I included the 7 details with Blackadder earlier which included a comparison with Jacobson, and Papali'i.
Blackadder is not competing for a space in the squad with Barrett, Vaa'i who are first choice locks - and CLW, Sititi who are 8's.
No ones disputing Blackadders workrate.
Effectiveness is the issue.
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@reprobate said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Attacking Ruck Effectiveness %
90.3 Samipeni Finau
89.3 Cam Christie
85.9 Anton Segner
85.2 Brayden Iose
85.0 TK Howden
84.5 Oliver Haig
83.7 Simon Parker
82.7 Ethan Blackadder
81.8 Cullen GraceDefensive Ruck Effectiveness %
25.0 Simon Parker
17.8 Cullen Grace
15.9 Samipeni Finau
14.8 Ethan Blackadder
12.8 TK Howden
12.1 Anton Segner
9.1 Brayden Iose
0.0 Cam Christie
0.0 Oliver HaigDominant Tackle %
14.6 Simon Parker
11.8 Samipeni Finau
10.8 TK Howden
8.5 Cam Christie
7.1 Brayden Iose
5.4 Ethan Blackadder
3.2 Cullen Grace
2.0 Oliver Haig
1.7 Anton SegnerSo you're missing all the players he has missed out to at 6/utility except Finau i.e. Jacobson and apparently Barrett and Vaai, CLW, Sititi, DP.
And missing the quantities per minute? If you're going to leave stuff out because it doesn't suit your dislike of a certain player then it just seems like more of the circle jerk mate.
Edit to add: he's by no means a perfect player, but the ability of people on here to ignore everything good he does, and his play in the last few weeks is mental.I've included him with the sixes because that is where he has been playing. I included the 7 details with Blackadder earlier which included a comparison with Jacobson, and Papali'i.
Blackadder is not competing for a space in the squad with Barrett, Vaa'i who are first choice locks - and CLW, Sititi who are 8's.
No ones disputing Blackadders workrate.
Effectiveness is the issue.
Nah you didn't, did you? Might be wrong of course, but I thought that was just the ball carrying stats - which is apparently enough to rule him out.
Sititi is our incumbent 6 as far as we currently know. CLW was injury cover for Jacobson - who clearly covers 6 - then he became a squad replacement for Sititi - who covers 6 - with Papalii becoming injury cover for Jacobson... They're all relevant.
And if you don't include the quantity, the percentage is kind of meaningless. Someone could be making more dominant tackles per game than another player despite a lower percentage - the two things are inextricable.I just don't get the negativity. I don't see him as an AB certainty or anything, but surely anyone who has played a bit of footy knows the value of a big engine worker - they allow others to do the high impact stuff, because they aren't knackered from having made an extra 10 tackles and hit an extra 10 rucks. An example for me would be that I don't think Read and Kaino would necessarily be regarded as greats, were it not for the fact that McCaw did a massive amount of work allowing e.g. the smaller engined Read to have fewer, but higher impact, contributions.
And as for the Cantab bias bullshit. Fuck me, there's an argument for that with Fihaki and Bell last year, but Blackadder and Havili were ABs under Foster. There's a comment about Blackadder shepherding people to the tryline FFS. Yeah that piss-weak Crusaders defence was walked all over by our Blues and Chiefs guys in the playoffs eh?It's like some people would like us to be able to pick 8 x Sione Lauakis and think that would mean we'd win everything. Even when none of our current high impact players are a fucking patch on Sione...
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@No-Quarter said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@reprobate regardless, he's still behind players that are not even AB material in the aspects of the game he's meant to excel at. When you add that to the fact he has all of the impact of a wet blanket ball in hand, "busy but ineffective" definitely fits. When you also add how injury plagued he is, meaning he was being selected with no form at the level down, and it actually does beggar belief that he was selected at all for test footy. That's why he's been the focus of so many discussions, no other player stands out as not deserving a spot like he does, well apart from Fihaki and Bell which were also extremely biased selections.
But anyway, thankfully Razor reads the Fern and realised some of his Crusaders stars may not actually cut it at test level.
Or perhaps he doesn’t given he rates Ioane as a centre…..
@ACT-Crusader said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@No-Quarter said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@reprobate regardless, he's still behind players that are not even AB material in the aspects of the game he's meant to excel at. When you add that to the fact he has all of the impact of a wet blanket ball in hand, "busy but ineffective" definitely fits. When you also add how injury plagued he is, meaning he was being selected with no form at the level down, and it actually does beggar belief that he was selected at all for test footy. That's why he's been the focus of so many discussions, no other player stands out as not deserving a spot like he does, well apart from Fihaki and Bell which were also extremely biased selections.
But anyway, thankfully Razor reads the Fern and realised some of his Crusaders stars may not actually cut it at test level.
Or perhaps he doesn’t given he rates Ioane as a centre…..
No they named him as a centre/wing so he's taken that in board as well.
Actually this is a bit concerning given our strong reputation for awful analysis and incorrect conclusions
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@No-Quarter said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
But anyway, thankfully Razor reads the Fern and realised some of his Crusaders stars may not actually cut it at test level.
That is what I thought but now I wonder if it was because or also due to this apparent injury?
Regardless of what one thinks of how suitable EB is at AB level, I hope a coach or physio can help him to avoid whatever habits he may have that seem to lead to all these injuries. He has a difficult physical role but it really is beginning to sound to me that there is something about his playing style which is really hard on his body, hopefully it can be finetuned.
@nostrildamus said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@No-Quarter said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
But anyway, thankfully Razor reads the Fern and realised some of his Crusaders stars may not actually cut it at test level.
That is what I thought but now I wonder if it was because or also due to this apparent injury?
Regardless of what one thinks of how suitable EB is at AB level, I hope a coach or physio can help him to avoid whatever habits he may have that seem to lead to all these injuries. He has a difficult physical role but it really is beginning to sound to me that there is something about his playing style which is really hard on his body, hopefully it can be finetuned.
This I agree with, and someone also made a comment recently about him being a bit unco - I think they're related. He is pretty much flat out all the time - at times too much so - always trying to get up quick on defence, always quick off the ground and trying to make the next play - and it does lead to him getting his body in weak positions. That's why he can make 31 tackles and have a huge impact on the result of a game, and someone will write him off because he gets bumped off by Caleb Clarke. Which is an absurd overall conclusion, but those occasions do happen and it would be better if they didn't. I'd wager it's a significant factor in the continuous injuries too.
The converse of this is a big part of what I think made McCaw an all time great. He was everywhere with a huge motor, but despite that he almost never got his body into a weak position. If someone can get Blackadder to settle down just a little and choose a few moments to slow down and firm up his positioning, he'd be a better player for it and probably more robust too.
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@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@reprobate said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Attacking Ruck Effectiveness %
90.3 Samipeni Finau
89.3 Cam Christie
85.9 Anton Segner
85.2 Brayden Iose
85.0 TK Howden
84.5 Oliver Haig
83.7 Simon Parker
82.7 Ethan Blackadder
81.8 Cullen GraceDefensive Ruck Effectiveness %
25.0 Simon Parker
17.8 Cullen Grace
15.9 Samipeni Finau
14.8 Ethan Blackadder
12.8 TK Howden
12.1 Anton Segner
9.1 Brayden Iose
0.0 Cam Christie
0.0 Oliver HaigDominant Tackle %
14.6 Simon Parker
11.8 Samipeni Finau
10.8 TK Howden
8.5 Cam Christie
7.1 Brayden Iose
5.4 Ethan Blackadder
3.2 Cullen Grace
2.0 Oliver Haig
1.7 Anton SegnerSo you're missing all the players he has missed out to at 6/utility except Finau i.e. Jacobson and apparently Barrett and Vaai, CLW, Sititi, DP.
And missing the quantities per minute? If you're going to leave stuff out because it doesn't suit your dislike of a certain player then it just seems like more of the circle jerk mate.
Edit to add: he's by no means a perfect player, but the ability of people on here to ignore everything good he does, and his play in the last few weeks is mental.I've included him with the sixes because that is where he has been playing. I included the 7 details with Blackadder earlier which included a comparison with Jacobson, and Papali'i.
Blackadder is not competing for a space in the squad with Barrett, Vaa'i who are first choice locks - and CLW, Sititi who are 8's.
No ones disputing Blackadders workrate.
Effectiveness is the issue.
Nah you didn't, did you? Might be wrong of course, but I thought that was just the ball carrying stats - which is apparently enough to rule him out.
Sititi is our incumbent 6 as far as we currently know. CLW was injury cover for Jacobson - who clearly covers 6 - then he became a squad replacement for Sititi - who covers 6 - with Papalii becoming injury cover for Jacobson... They're all relevant.
And if you don't include the quantity, the percentage is kind of meaningless. Someone could be making more dominant tackles per game than another player despite a lower percentage - the two things are inextricable.I just don't get the negativity. I don't see him as an AB certainty or anything, but surely anyone who has played a bit of footy knows the value of a big engine worker - they allow others to do the high impact stuff, because they aren't knackered from having made an extra 10 tackles and hit an extra 10 rucks. An example for me would be that I don't think Read and Kaino would necessarily be regarded as greats, were it not for the fact that McCaw did a massive amount of work allowing e.g. the smaller engined Read to have fewer, but higher impact, contributions.
And as for the Cantab bias bullshit. Fuck me, there's an argument for that with Fihaki and Bell last year, but Blackadder and Havili were ABs under Foster. There's a comment about Blackadder shepherding people to the tryline FFS. Yeah that piss-weak Crusaders defence was walked all over by our Blues and Chiefs guys in the playoffs eh?It's like some people would like us to be able to pick 8 x Sione Lauakis and think that would mean we'd win everything. Even when none of our current high impact players are a fucking patch on Sione...
I've actually offered minimal interpretation and commentary over the those metrics. I've mostly just posted some metrics and said nothing.
The coaches have said carrying and explosiveness is important for all the loosies in the squad.
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I've actually offered minimal interpretation and commentary over the those metrics. I've mostly just posted some metrics and said nothing.
The coaches have said carrying and explosiveness is important for all the loosies in the squad.
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
I've actually offered minimal interpretation and commentary over the those metrics. I've mostly just posted some metrics and said nothing.
The coaches have said carrying and explosiveness is important for all the loosies in the squad.
The key word being some bro.
The coaches say a lot of shit, not much of which seems very consistent to me. Versatility is key, then pick Kirifi etc. If we want explosive carrying loosies, then why is Barrett covering 6? Are Jacobson and Dalton really fitting that bill if you look at your own stats? -
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
I've actually offered minimal interpretation and commentary over the those metrics. I've mostly just posted some metrics and said nothing.
The coaches have said carrying and explosiveness is important for all the loosies in the squad.
The key word being some bro.
The coaches say a lot of shit, not much of which seems very consistent to me. Versatility is key, then pick Kirifi etc. If we want explosive carrying loosies, then why is Barrett covering 6? Are Jacobson and Dalton really fitting that bill if you look at your own stats?They seem to be more explosive than Blackadder:
Dominant Carry %
43.8 Luke Jacobson
34.3 Dalton Papali'i
29.4 Tupou Vaa'i
27.8 Scott Barrett
13.8 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 201 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to have the same amount of dominant carries )Gainline %
65.9 Tupou Vaa'i
65.8 Luke Jacobson
63.0 Dalton Papali'i
54.5 Scott Barrett
34.1 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 158 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to get over the gainline the same amount of times )Tackle Evasion %
22.8 Dalton Papali'i
19.5 Luke Jacobson
11.6 Tupou Vaa'i
8.1 Scott Barrett
2.5 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 324 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to evade the same amount of tackles )In that interview today Razor mentioned footwork as being important and it seems like Blackadder doesn't really have any footwork.
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Somebody mentioned Ah Kuoi training with the All Blacks…
Rieko Ioane posted a photo today from training with Ah Kuoi in the background.
@hikastags said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Rieko Ioane posted a photo today from training with Ah Kuoi in the background.
I wonder what number Ioane was wearing..
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@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
I've actually offered minimal interpretation and commentary over the those metrics. I've mostly just posted some metrics and said nothing.
The coaches have said carrying and explosiveness is important for all the loosies in the squad.
The key word being some bro.
The coaches say a lot of shit, not much of which seems very consistent to me. Versatility is key, then pick Kirifi etc. If we want explosive carrying loosies, then why is Barrett covering 6? Are Jacobson and Dalton really fitting that bill if you look at your own stats?@reprobate said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
The coaches say a lot of shit, not much of which seems very consistent to me. Versatility is key, then pick Kirifi etc. If we want explosive carrying loosies, then why is Barrett covering 6? Are Jacobson and Dalton really fitting that bill if you look at your own stats?
Dalton is covering for Sititi; he's an emergency pick.
I suspect the locks are emergency cover only for the loosies. Cover, as you say (and it might be the younger and more athletic(?) Tupou Vaa'i who really covers 6).
Jacobson, ah, arguably, more explosive than Blackadder but still behind Sititi and (possibly) Lakai. -
@No-Quarter said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@reprobate regardless, he's still behind players that are not even AB material in the aspects of the game he's meant to excel at. When you add that to the fact he has all of the impact of a wet blanket ball in hand, "busy but ineffective" definitely fits. When you also add how injury plagued he is, meaning he was being selected with no form at the level down, and it actually does beggar belief that he was selected at all for test footy. That's why he's been the focus of so many discussions, no other player stands out as not deserving a spot like he does, well apart from Fihaki and Bell which were also extremely biased selections.
But anyway, thankfully Razor reads the Fern and realised some of his Crusaders stars may not actually cut it at test level.
Or perhaps he doesn’t given he rates Ioane as a centre…..
@ACT-Crusader said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@No-Quarter said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@reprobate regardless, he's still behind players that are not even AB material in the aspects of the game he's meant to excel at. When you add that to the fact he has all of the impact of a wet blanket ball in hand, "busy but ineffective" definitely fits. When you also add how injury plagued he is, meaning he was being selected with no form at the level down, and it actually does beggar belief that he was selected at all for test footy. That's why he's been the focus of so many discussions, no other player stands out as not deserving a spot like he does, well apart from Fihaki and Bell which were also extremely biased selections.
But anyway, thankfully Razor reads the Fern and realised some of his Crusaders stars may not actually cut it at test level.
Or perhaps he doesn’t given he rates Ioane as a centre…..
He's kept Rieko, dumped Havili, Blackadder and Christie. I'm fairly fucking certain he subscribes to my posts.
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According to the Breakdown last night Proctor looks to be the favoured to start at 13. Great news.
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They seem to be more explosive than Blackadder:
Dominant Carry %
43.8 Luke Jacobson
34.3 Dalton Papali'i
29.4 Tupou Vaa'i
27.8 Scott Barrett
13.8 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 201 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to have the same amount of dominant carries )Gainline %
65.9 Tupou Vaa'i
65.8 Luke Jacobson
63.0 Dalton Papali'i
54.5 Scott Barrett
34.1 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 158 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to get over the gainline the same amount of times )Tackle Evasion %
22.8 Dalton Papali'i
19.5 Luke Jacobson
11.6 Tupou Vaa'i
8.1 Scott Barrett
2.5 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 324 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to evade the same amount of tackles )In that interview today Razor mentioned footwork as being important and it seems like Blackadder doesn't really have any footwork.
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
They seem to be more explosive than Blackadder:
Dominant Carry %
43.8 Luke Jacobson
34.3 Dalton Papali'i
29.4 Tupou Vaa'i
27.8 Scott Barrett
13.8 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 201 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to have the same amount of dominant carries )Gainline %
65.9 Tupou Vaa'i
65.8 Luke Jacobson
63.0 Dalton Papali'i
54.5 Scott Barrett
34.1 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 158 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to get over the gainline the same amount of times )Tackle Evasion %
22.8 Dalton Papali'i
19.5 Luke Jacobson
11.6 Tupou Vaa'i
8.1 Scott Barrett
2.5 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 324 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to evade the same amount of tackles )In that interview today Razor mentioned footwork as being important and it seems like Blackadder doesn't really have any footwork.
You're either missing or evading the point bro: these guys just aren't explosive players. If that's actually what we want, none of them should be selected - so it's a bullshit argument.
It's like saying Scott Barrett is being selected over Delaney because we want our locks to be lineout targets. -
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
They seem to be more explosive than Blackadder:
Dominant Carry %
43.8 Luke Jacobson
34.3 Dalton Papali'i
29.4 Tupou Vaa'i
27.8 Scott Barrett
13.8 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 201 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to have the same amount of dominant carries )Gainline %
65.9 Tupou Vaa'i
65.8 Luke Jacobson
63.0 Dalton Papali'i
54.5 Scott Barrett
34.1 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 158 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to get over the gainline the same amount of times )Tackle Evasion %
22.8 Dalton Papali'i
19.5 Luke Jacobson
11.6 Tupou Vaa'i
8.1 Scott Barrett
2.5 Ethan Blackadder
( has to carry 324 times to Scott Barrett's 100 to evade the same amount of tackles )In that interview today Razor mentioned footwork as being important and it seems like Blackadder doesn't really have any footwork.
You're either missing or evading the point bro: these guys just aren't explosive players. If that's actually what we want, none of them should be selected - so it's a bullshit argument.
It's like saying Scott Barrett is being selected over Delaney because we want our locks to be lineout targets.You're the one ignoring the obvious.
They're all explosive compared to Blackadder.
Btw you can't compare Blackadder to McCaw. McCaw had played 100 tests by Blackadders age to Blackadders 14.
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You're the one ignoring the obvious.
They're all explosive compared to Blackadder.
Btw you can't compare Blackadder to McCaw. McCaw had played 100 tests by Blackadders age to Blackadders 14.
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
You're the one ignoring the obvious.
They're all explosive compared to Blackadder.
Btw you can't compare Blackadder to McCaw. McCaw had played 100 tests by Blackadders age to Blackadders 14.
Finau is explosive. Jacobson, Papalii (as cover for Jacobson), Barrett and Vaai simply are not - so it's pretty hard to take the statement seriously.
You can keep your McCaw straw man too thanks. -
@Callcentre-Spunk said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Tackle Evasion %
34.6 Veveni LasaqaGainline %
73.6 Veveni LasaqaDominant Carry %
44.2 Veveni Lasaqa!
My impression is he doesn't do enough in the defensive side of the game.
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@antipodean how do you get those stats???
@mikeyyy said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@antipodean how do you get those stats???
They're @brodean's - he's says where he gets them from here: https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/post/1056306
