@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I'm really liking that loose forward trio. Probably better balanced than the first two tests IMO. Sititi coming off the bench for impact will be awesome.

Ethan at 7 feels slow. Hope he goes well, but I'd swap him and Luke.

Richie McCaw was slow, he was still effective. Considering Ethan's the GOAT, I think he'll do just fine.

he slowed down late career, but early on he was quick to teh breakdown. My memory was he wasn't top tier speed, but he certainly was up there when he was younger.

Look, I hope you're right ... but we've got 3x7.5 in the trio. Should b einteresting with all the new players coming through

@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

I'm really liking that loose forward trio. Probably better balanced than the first two tests IMO. Sititi coming off the bench for impact will be awesome.

Ethan at 7 feels slow. Hope he goes well, but I'd swap him and Luke.

Richie McCaw was slow, he was still effective. Considering Ethan's the GOAT, I think he'll do just fine.

he slowed down late career, but early on he was quick to teh breakdown. My memory was he wasn't top tier speed, but he certainly was up there when he was younger.

Look, I hope you're right ... but we've got 3x7.5 in the trio. Should b einteresting with all the new players coming through

I think this trio will go fine against Fiji, would be different if we were playing a bigger pack.

@Daffy-Jaffy said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

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What a rise for Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula. He was in the Hurricanes Under 20s behind Harry Godfrey not long ago and now he's the starting 10 for both the Drua and the Fijian national side. Awesome to see.

@Canes4life watched him live a couple of times and for a smallish 1st 5 he plays a robust style. Has quick feet like his uncle too!

Has TAB released odds on the different types of injuries that Blackadder might pick up?

Predictable team. No surprises.

How good is afternoon Rugby ? Perfect excuse to tuck into the home brew instead of doing chores. Can’t wait !

@antipodean said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

My concern rests largely with the bench which is short of the experience required to steady the ship if this is in the balance with 20 to go.

Eleven changes to the starting XV from last week, but it doesn't look like a massive step down in quality. There's half a dozen who could easily play better than the guy they've replaced.

Will be pretty uncomfortable if it's close with 20 minutes to go - we've got de Groot and Jordie to steady the ship, but not much else.

Hopefully, I won't need to be shouting advice at my TV. Even though Fiji has knocked off some big teams in recent times, I think we know how to play them better than most. Wouldn't want an early red card - though maybe it's now 20 minute red cards in tests?

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life watched him live a couple of times and for a smallish 1st 5 he plays a robust style. Has quick feet like his uncle too!

Yeah it sucked seem him leave the Canes but awesome to see him play for his Fijian sides. They’ll be a lot stronger for it when he develops further.

@Chris-B said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@antipodean said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Jordie to steady the ship,

Even that’s a stretch at times.

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Chris-B said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@antipodean said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Jordie to steady the ship,

Even that’s a stretch at times.

Made me grin a bit.

A bit harsh.

If things are close, I'll be pretty pleased to see Jordie running out

That seems an under strength Fijian team too. No Botia Tuisova Matavesi Masi Ravutaumada etc. Are both teams treating this like a bit of an exhibition match? Could be plenty of action if they do. But not so good for the diehard fans who want to see all the best players from both teams.

This AB team excites me. Big congrats to all the new caps.

Heading to the match on Friday so hopefully there's plenty of running action! Definitely the teams for it...

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Richie McCaw was slow, he was still effective

Mary Holah was slow.

McCaw wasn't

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Will likely be messy but still happy to see the debutants

It's definitely a more exciting 23 than the first 2 tests.

7 Crusaders
7 Chiefs
5 Canes
3 Blues
1 Highlander

Coaches can't help themselves still. But hopefully they stop doing this before the next World Cup

Surprised to hear Williams and Blackadder have never heard of 'Anchorman'. Holy heck. "Stay classy San Diego".

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Surprised to hear Williams and Blackadder have never heard of 'Anchorman'. Holy heck. "Stay classy San Diego".

Bad parenting from Todd and Mr Williams. No two ways about it. Every kid should know the classics

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Surprised to hear Williams and Blackadder have never heard of 'Anchorman'. Holy heck. "Stay classy San Diego".

Great Odins Raven I was too.

@Daffy-Jaffy said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

1. Tamaiti Williams (7)

2. Asafo Aumua (8)

3. Fletcher Newell (15)

4. Scott Barrett (71) (Captain)

5. Tupou Vaa’i (27)

6. Luke Jacobson (20)

7. Ethan Blackadder (10)

8. Ardie Savea (83) (Vice Captain)

9. Cortez Ratima (1)

10. Damian McKenzie (49)

11. Caleb Clarke (20)

12. Anton Lienert-Brown (72)

13. Billy Proctor (0)*

14. Sevu Reece (25)

15. Beauden Barrett (125)

16. George Bell (0)*

17. Ethan De Groot (24)

18. Pasilio Tosi (0)*

19. Sam Darry (0)*

20. Wallace Sititi (0)*

21. Noah Hotham (0)*

22. Jordie Barrett (59) (Vice Captain)

23. Emoni Narawa (1)

Good to see Proctor starting. He has VG distribution skills which is currently lacking in midfield

Why Reece in preference to Narawa
I would have liked to see what Darry could do starting
Hopefully Tosi gets decent game time. Likewise Sititi
Hopefully Bell get almost no game time. Likewise Hotham
Surprised Blackadder is 29 now. Injury prone and 29. He should really be on his last chance or time to move on

BTW the listed height of the backrow options are

Sititi 1.87cm
Blackadder 1.90 - 1.91
Jacobson 1.91
Savea 1.88

Savea to lead the haka? SB could as captain I suppose, as others have.

Thrilled for Billy Proctor. He richly deserves his first cap. I hope he puts down a massive marker to keep the 13 jersey for longer.

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Surprised to hear Williams and Blackadder have never heard of 'Anchorman'. Holy heck. "Stay classy San Diego".

Yes I was very surprised by that, given how much time he has spent recovering, one should have watched the classics.

Has Williams lost weight? Does not seem quite as big as I remember.

Main things I'll be looking for performance-wise is the AB lineout and kicking game to go better.

A huge number of players on debut, hope the starting line-up does a good enough job so they all get a run on and some gametime.

Don't think there will be a great deal to take out of this game aside from giving players experience in the black jersey, just hope that the guys go well so they can put pressure on the starting XV.

So in particular I'd love to see Williams and Aumua do well in the carry.
Ratima to build on his good performance against England and firm himself up as the #1 HB.
Proctor to playand distribute well to put pressure on Reiko.
Clarke to come back and play well so he can replace Telea

@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Savea to lead the haka? SB could as captain I suppose, as others have.

Billy leads all the hakas for the Canes, even before TJ. That would be pretty cool for him on debut.

Congratulations to the five players who will make their ABs debut from the bench. A proud moment for them and their families.

The caption is gold though

Excited to see the debut of ‘Future All Black Captain’ Sam Darry.

@Bovidae 10 hour flight!

@sparky said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Congratulations to the five players who will make their ABs debut from the bench. A proud moment for them and their families.

At least Razor isn't silly enough to start all 6.....

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Savea to lead the haka? SB could as captain I suppose, as others have.

Billy leads all the hakas for the Canes, even before TJ. That would be pretty cool for him on debut.

Generally the senior Maori player does it?

@Winger said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Richie McCaw was slow, he was still effective

Mary Holah was slow.

McCaw wasn't

@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Savea to lead the haka? SB could as captain I suppose, as others have.

ALB?

@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

Savea to lead the haka? SB could as captain I suppose, as others have.

When has a captain led the haka in recent times? I don't recall GOAT or Read ever leading it, Cane didn't, Ardie hasn't I don't recall. It was almost always Aaron Smith in recent times. I always thought it was a player with Maori blood that led it

@canefan you've got Google right? Kieran Read leads haka...