@Tim said in All Blacks vs Ireland:
Rieko Ioane had to clean up so much shit ball, and managed to quickly recycle. Got a few hospital passes!
@Tim said in All Blacks vs Ireland:
Rieko Ioane had to clean up so much shit ball, and managed to quickly recycle. Got a few hospital passes!
People don’t appreciate just how solid Rieko is in defense and how much crap he has to deal with. Not enough appreciation
Watched it in an Irish pub. Got to be some of the most fair weather, thin skinned supporters I’ve ever come across. Most had their back to the screen with 10 to go.
Just makes it so much for satisfying.
Is it possible to have a separate Hoskins thread for the endless mastabatory nonsense?
You just have to laugh at this point. I'd be genuinely surprised if half of the NZ rugby players can read
The ABs need to go fresh and young and commit to it now
@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
@Bones If Patty T hits form or Sam Darry gets fit, I'd bump them above Holland, but I'm intrigued to see how he'd go at Test level.
Probably I'd like eventually to see
12 Quinn Tupaea
14 Will Jordan
15 Jordie BarrettBut Jordie's playing well at provincial level at 12 and Will Jordan at 15 so I'd leave them there for now.
We sure Holland isn’t just the lock version of Tom Christie with a better PR team?
Holland vs Behree
Minutes
Holland: 647
Behree: 578
Carries
Holland: 51
Behree: 74
Metres
Holland:84
Behree: 187
Post contact metres
Holland: 95
Behree: 153
Defenders beaten
Holland: 2
Behree:11
Tackles:
Holland: 143 (88%)
Behree: 110 (90%)
One more issue, aside from everything discussed, is that most of the ABs, when it comes to rugby smarts and game management, are thick as pig shit. McKenzie, Savea, the two Barretts, Taylor, TJP… all our old heads are dumb, hot headed morons. I yearn for some level headed, smart, understate players who just know how to get the job done. They all need a bollocking. I mean our stand in captain crying on Instagram? Are we fkn joking
The ABs backline is genuinely fucked. No 9 has stepped up, the choice between BB and DMac at 10, no obvious pairing in the centres. Love hasn’t put any pressure on Jordan at 15. The wings are depressing when Sevu Reece is out performing a lot of them.
@cgrant said in All Blacks 2025:
Probable Razor's pick :
Williams
Taylor
Lomax
Barrett
Vai'i
Blackadder
Savea
Sititi
Roigard
B. Barrett
Clarke
J. Barrett
Ioane
Reece
JordanTaukei'aho
De Groot
Newell
Tuipolutu
Finau
Hotham
ALB
MacKenzie
Finau has been the best six by a country mile. Would be outrageous to pick a seven ahead of him.
The mental strength of this team is pathetic
Rewatching some old ABs highlights. God I miss watching the likes of Isreal Dagg continually smacking it 60-70m down field. The pop gun boots we have now are a bit of an issue
@Jet said in All Blacks v France:
@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks v France:
DMac starts in my book. DMac was great against Ireland.
I've been waiting years for Savea to play at 7Injury will once again be the Allblacks best selector. Savea is gonna get stuck in.
In other news all aboard the #Camwagon
Choo ChooCan’t wait to see DuPonts face when he realises that Daddy is home.
Cane is still our best 7 because he does what a 7 is supposed to do.
Ardie, in an ideal situation over the next year or so, is relegated to the bench. Don’t be silly
Much like the Highlanders, the Blues have no on-field leadership
@Bones said in Crusaders v Blues:
@frugby said in Crusaders v Blues:
@Mauss said in Crusaders v Blues:
@frugby said in Crusaders v Blues:
@akan004 If Holland played for the Blues, and Beehre played for the Highlanders, this wouldn't even be a conversation.
Beehre looks a good player for the future, but he has got some bulking out to do. Certainly does more around the field than Josh Lord ever has though.
Holland and Beehre are completely different players, though: Holland has a dominant defensive profile while Beehre's stand-out quality is his ability to make metres in attack. They wouldn't be competing for the same spot.
Neither are particularly dominant lineout players.
That is pretty much what the stats suggest, though Holland is a defensive lineout threat (4 Steals)... I suspect in a better side, Holland would look way more dominant. Beehre to me still looks a little lightweight for the style of player that he is.
I don't see that with Beehre at all - he seems to me to be right up at the top ball in hand, always impressed at his drive.
Beehre isn’t from an exotic European country so slightly harder to hype up
@HLD2023Champions said in Highlanders 2025:
I said ‘hope’ because I like to see the bullshit you guys make up that he’s ‘confirmed’ in the US
This was posted a week ago. Confirmed he took various super rugby balls but chose to go to the states. I think you may want to calm down a little bit
@His-Bobness agreed. The leadership group is an issue but I also think having Savea and B. Barrett in the team means that it will never be good
@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2025:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2025:
I'd say this year will give us a much better picture of whether he is upto the task or not, if we cant start to climb back up after the slide that started around 2016/2017, might be time to start supporting the Warriors....
We started the climb back in 2023 IMHO and are still progressing, though patchily. Expected in his first year
The forwards look good, esp. the tight 5, there's options available at 6/7/8 and we're in a much better position at 9. 11 & 14 are also OK. I think 10 is solid, but concerned about options if DMac is injured, midfield is still a bit of a mess and we're still in a muddle at 15.
This year Robertson needs to get the loosies working as a unit, try some options at 12/13 and give "new" players like Lakai, Perofeta, Proctor, Love etc. way, way more game time than last year.
Sense there's still an issue around on-field leadership. The headless chicken stuff has abated, but we're still not in a good space when under pressure. Again, expected with a new coach and captain but he needs to work on the on-field smarts this year.
Be a bit bolder and confident. Oh, and sort out the bloody exits and re-starts - almost seems like that's an afterthought with this bunch.
Re watched a few games this Easter weekend to refresh the memory. The amount of dumb decisions that were made that cost the All Blacks in South Africa and France were staggering. Unbelievable stupid in some many cases.
I also forgot how much of a liability TJP was. Thank fuck he’s gone.
Would say the same with Cane but it is so evident that the attacking breakdown is a mess without him and Whitelock around. There needs to be a priority of picking some players who do the dirty work. Not just make up junk metres down the edge.
The leadership core needs to change. B Barrett and Savea are part of a generation that have been constant losers (Lions, 2x RWC fuck ups, loses to Argentina, the rot against Ireland). There can’t be any inspiration or confidence from that group. Flush it out, start anew with a group of young, confident players.
Tbh it’s been a very very long time (probably since the Wallabies of 2010-2011) where I’ve had such an overwhelming desire to see the ABs take the opposition players heads off
Spoke to a few of them after the game. Apparently the Georgians are more fat than anything so not nearly as physically as it actually looks
Just. Moment to appreciate how perfect Reikos defence was there post turnover