Bugger me, wasn't expecting that. Thought we'd see a conservative XV for the 1st Test but really hoped for something like this by Frog 3. Pleased.

More than happy with the backline, except for Barrett at 10. Surprised no Clarke so maybe, as someone has said, it's a fight between him and Reece. Hope QT gets plenty of game-time. Really rolled the dice on the loosies but has plenty of bench options if things don't work out or Fabien Holland/Scooter get injured.

Obviously want a good win, but think how this combo goes is more important. Just my 2 cents

@Windows97 said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

Surised to see Barrett at 10, the golden sun continues to shine out of his *ss. Looking forward to 20m touch finders and pointless chip kicks.

I have heard some commentators say that BB has had a better season than Damien. What it I remember from the season is a completely disfunctional Blues backline and repeated throwaway comments about the variation in his kicking game. All I see is a guy that kicks - a lot, leading an underperforming backline.

Damien had a shocker against Waratahs ( I think ) but was generally great during the year. Chiefs backline was awesome. Came finals time he didn’t play badly but didn’t dominate. Missed 2 kicks in final.

So in the end they prefer someone that is less mercurial - less up and down. Still think this is Damien’s position to win if he gets the chance. If he can play like he did against Ireland and not have too many brain explosions.

In the meantime we are left with BB and his kicking game.

@reprobate said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@Dan54 said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

Well, don't know whether to shake my head or be pleased they trying things. Surprises me Vai'i at 6, but also think it a pointer to how good they thing Holland will be, and Vai'i being best lock in NZ, maybe they felt they had to play him?

thats kind of why i dont like choosing your captain so early....if Vaai is the best lock and Holland deserves a run as the future....play them both there, i think you make the 23 before you get to be captain, with savea, taylor and BB on the pitch its not like we're short of experienced leaders on the pitch

From EOYT 2022 and all of 2023 Scooter was our best lock. That was on the back of being a very effective bench option previously. Add to that he was captain of the Saders, don’t wasn’t a huge surprise that he was made captain even though they could’ve easily gone with Ardie. His form last year wasn’t as good as 2023 but it wasn’t like he fell completely off the cliff. He was one of our best against Ireland and he didn’t play too bad against the French either.

What was pleasing was to see the step up of Vaa’i last year when there were concerns post 2023 with Whitelock and Retallick gone.

You can get away with calling Barrett our best lock when he has Sam Whitelock dominating the lineout for him, cause he's very very good around the park.
To be clear though, that means Sam was doing his main job for him.

Although Whitelock was coming off the bench in 2023 at times and Barrett still doing the lineouts plus all the grunt work.

I’d really like to see Vaa’i given the whole series at 6. If they want to try it, then give it a decent sample size, so we can actually get a read on if it is a good idea.

@Nepia said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@booboo said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

On the 1st 5/8 question, isn't Harry Godfrey the anointed saviour to be sent forth from the Hurricanes?

I think his promoter @Canes4life cooled on him as the season went on (probably remembered he's from the Pies), and switched his marketing efforts to Love.

Hey hey hey, I was very happy with Godfrey at 10 until his injury. I doubt we would have seen Love at 10 if Godfrey remained injury free, I wouldn’t have had a problem with that at all. The issue I had was when Laidlaw decided to move Love back to 15 to accomodate the limited Cameron when we were on a roll. Just piss poor coaching in my view.

Yeah BB starting doesn't exactly thrill me, especially when you consider the best blues back isn't alongside him to actually do something.

@Bones said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

Yeah BB starting doesn't exactly thrill me, especially when you consider the best blues back isn't alongside him to actually do something.

Christie?

/troll if it wasn't obvious

@nzzp said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@Bones said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

Yeah BB starting doesn't exactly thrill me, especially when you consider the best blues back isn't alongside him to actually do something.

Christie?

/troll if it wasn't obvious

Don’t be silly. Nock.

Christian Lio Willie speaks well. Doesn't sound like an overawed debutant. Excited to see him go at 8.

@Windows97 said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

For the non Instagram people.

All Blacks team to face France

1. Ethan de Groot
2. Codie Taylor
3. Fletcher Newell
4. Scott Barrett (c)
5. Fabian Holland
6. Tupou Vaa’i
7. Ardie Savea
8. Christian Lio-Willie
9. Cam Roigard
10. Beauden Barrett
11. Rieko Ioane
12. Jordie Barrett
13. Billy Proctor
14. Sevu Reece
15. Will Jordan

Reserves: 16. Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17. Ollie Norris, 18. Pasilio Tosi, 19. Samipeni Finau, 20. Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21. Cortez Ratima, 22. Quinn Tupaea, 23. Damian McKenzie

Had to scroll through close to a hundred posts before getting to this one, thank you so much

Really pleased to see such a side. At last, we can see some action to counter the problems of the last few years. That is a big pack and will get bigger (and more mobile) with Williams and Lomax coming back in.
Vaai has the game to be an awesome 6. Finau does well off the bench and can develop from there.
Proctor at 13 should see better distribution, and Rieko is still one of the best finishers in the game.
Would definitely prefer to see DMac starting, although, he has the kicking game to finish a test match much more pragmatically than BB I think.

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@nzzp said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@Bones said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

Yeah BB starting doesn't exactly thrill me, especially when you consider the best blues back isn't alongside him to actually do something.

Christie?

/troll if it wasn't obvious

Don’t be silly. Nock.

Not like a real Cantab to miss a Lam(b).

@Kirwan said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@Chris-B said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@1kiwi said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

My concern lies with Beauden at 10. We should be blooding a new 10 with the world cup only 2 years away. I don't believe we can win a world cup with either Beauden or Damien as our 10.

To paraphrase Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones, "Anyone who thinks Richie won't be wearing the 10 jersey at RWC2027 hasn't been paying attention".

Barring injury of course.

Don't shoot the messenger!

Not if I have anything to do with it;

View image

Doubtful this will be as effective as my Akira and Sotutu dolls….

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@Kirwan said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@Chris-B said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@1kiwi said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

My concern lies with Beauden at 10. We should be blooding a new 10 with the world cup only 2 years away. I don't believe we can win a world cup with either Beauden or Damien as our 10.

To paraphrase Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones, "Anyone who thinks Richie won't be wearing the 10 jersey at RWC2027 hasn't been paying attention".

Barring injury of course.

Don't shoot the messenger!

Not if I have anything to do with it;

View image

Doubtful this will be as effective as my Akira and Sotutu dolls….

View image

Why aren’t they wearing any pants ?

@MN5 zero exposure to the AB environment so might as well get maximum exposure elsewhere

@MN5 said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@Kirwan said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@Chris-B said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

@1kiwi said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

My concern lies with Beauden at 10. We should be blooding a new 10 with the world cup only 2 years away. I don't believe we can win a world cup with either Beauden or Damien as our 10.

To paraphrase Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones, "Anyone who thinks Richie won't be wearing the 10 jersey at RWC2027 hasn't been paying attention".

Barring injury of course.

Don't shoot the messenger!

Not if I have anything to do with it;

View image

Doubtful this will be as effective as my Akira and Sotutu dolls….

View image

Why aren’t they wearing any pants ?

Because they normally get pulled down before they receive a damn good spanking.

@Chris-B said in All Blacks v France I:

@1kiwi said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

My concern lies with Beauden at 10. We should be blooding a new 10 with the world cup only 2 years away. I don't believe we can win a world cup with either Beauden or Damien as our 10.

To paraphrase Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones, "Anyone who thinks Richie won't be wearing the 10 jersey at RWC2027 hasn't been paying attention".

Barring injury of course.

Don't shoot the messenger!

I wanted to take a break from rugby, I guess 2027 is as good a year as any, I wont get any joy seeing the over rated little Super Superstar fail three times a row.

A huge 6-2 bench -

France team to face the All Blacks
France: 15 Theo Attissogbe, 14 Tom Spring, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Gael Fickou (c), 11 Gabin Villière, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Mickael Guillard, 7 Killian Tixeront, 6 Alexandre Fischer, 5 Tyler Duguid, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Giorgi Beria
Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Regis Montagne, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Jacobus van Tonder, 22 Baptiste Jauneau, 23 Antoine Hastoy

Looks like the first five is pretty quick.

I actually like the size of the scrum, I agree with Mex on this one. I really hope That Tupou Vaii has a blinder, and can be a permanent option there. Funny how we went from looking like a small back row two weeks ago to one that can compete with anyone physically. Happy to see Proctor, hopefully he gets a long run. Weakest point is our wings, I don’t think they will be strong in the air, and not sure if Rieko has retained his pace and from what we have seen at test level Reece is wanting for pace. I expect Tupea and Jordan will finish up on the wings bar injury.

@frugby said in All Blacks v France I:

I’d really like to see Vaa’i given the whole series at 6. If they want to try it, then give it a decent sample size, so we can actually get a read on if it is a good idea.

Yeah, when he has played 6 before he was underwhelming.

But then he had a breakout year last year where he was one of the top performing locks in the world so keen to see if he can bring that improvement and confidence to 6 jersey.

3 tests there will be a good sample size to see if it is worth continuing for the TRC

@DMX

How do you know its a backrow that can compete with anyone physically when it's never played together before, 1 player is a debutant, and 1 is starting a test at 6 for the 2nd time?

@Bones said in All Blacks v France I:

Looks like the first five is pretty quick.

What you did there. I see it.

@brodean said in All Blacks v France I:

@DMX

How do you know its a backrow that can compete with anyone physically when it's never played together before, 1 player is a debutant, and 1 is starting a test at 6 for the 2nd time?

You are not contradicting anything I said. Physically they match up to Test back rows of our rivals , whether they combine as a unit we will see.

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v France I:

Christian Lio Willie speaks well. Doesn't sound like an overawed debutant. Excited to see him go at 8.

Isn't he a doctor or something?

@DaGrubster said in All Blacks v France I:

But then he had a breakout year last year where he was one of the top performing locks in the world so keen to see if he can bring that improvement and confidence to 6 jersey.

Worth a shot, but won't have a problem if it doesn't work/pan out. Robertson can always put him back to being one of the top performing locks in the world

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks v France I:

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v France I:

Christian Lio Willie speaks well. Doesn't sound like an overawed debutant. Excited to see him go at 8.

Isn't he a doctor or something?

Qualified dentist

@Frank said in All Blacks v France I:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks v France I:

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v France I:

Christian Lio Willie speaks well. Doesn't sound like an overawed debutant. Excited to see him go at 8.

Isn't he a doctor or something?

Qualified dentist

You'd think he'd be throwing out a few more high tackles then eh.

@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:

@nostrildamus said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

Hasn't stopped premature celebration before so I don't expect it to disappear now.

hello wife i didn't know you posted here

you were too busy celebrating to notice.

@Frank said in All Blacks v France I:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks v France I:

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v France I:

Christian Lio Willie speaks well. Doesn't sound like an overawed debutant. Excited to see him go at 8.

Isn't he a doctor or something?

Qualified dentist

Makes sense.

@Daffy-Jaffy said in All Blacks v France I:

View image

A huge 6-2 bench -

France team to face the All Blacks
France: 15 Theo Attissogbe, 14 Tom Spring, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Gael Fickou (c), 11 Gabin Villière, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Mickael Guillard, 7 Killian Tixeront, 6 Alexandre Fischer, 5 Tyler Duguid, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Giorgi Beria
Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Regis Montagne, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Jacobus van Tonder, 22 Baptiste Jauneau, 23 Antoine Hastoy

Squat props. Scrum will pack low.

@Daffy-Jaffy Is Giorgi Beria any relation to Lavrentiy Beria?

France with their own bomb squad with Taofifenua and Woki on the bench.

@Bones said in All Blacks v France I:

Looks like the first five is pretty quick.

Might have been better if he was playing openside flanker ( think about it )

@sparky said in All Blacks v France I:

@Daffy-Jaffy Is Giorgi Beria any relation to Lavrentiy Beria?

I just wasted 15 minutes checking, thanks. Apparently Beria is a relatively common name in Georgia.

@sparky or Yogi Beria?

I suspect a lot of posters haven't watched much of the Blues this year, but Beauden was one of their best and they wouldn't have made the play offs without him. I made the comment about a month or so back that people would be triggered when he gets named at 10 for this match and was told I was just trolling, but he has actually been very good this year.

I have no issues with him starting this match, but as people have pointed out age isn't on his side so they will need to have an eye to towards developing a younger player for the next RWC. That said, I am not a big fan of a coaches plans having to revolve around a 4 year RWC cycle, it leads us down the path of anything outside of it is just a "friendly" which would be a bad thing for rugby overall.

@Bones said in All Blacks v France I:

Looks like the first five is pretty quick.

And their right wing has got some real bounce

@No-Quarter

I watched him and the backline was barely functional for most of the time except near the business end. A lot of what he creates is for himself.

It's no coincidence that the Blues won their two titles in the twenties when he was on sabbatical.

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks v France I:

I suspect a lot of posters haven't watched much of the Blues this year, but Beauden was one of their best and they wouldn't have made the play offs without him. I made the comment about a month or so back that people would be triggered when he gets named at 10 for this match and was told I was just trolling, but he has actually been very good this year.

I have no issues with him starting this match, but as people have pointed out age isn't on his side so they will need to have an eye to towards developing a younger player for the next RWC. That said, I am not a big fan of a coaches plans having to revolve around a 4 year RWC cycle, it leads us down the path of anything outside of it is just a "friendly" which would be a bad thing for rugby overall.

Yeah I watched all the Blues games Barrett did play well for the Blues apart from the odd silly mistake.
But can he convert it to the internationals,Someone has to him or D Mac or we will not win the tough games.
We badly need another couple of younger first fives to stand up we need more depth.
Maybe Reihana can with another year driving the ship at the Crusaders as a back up player.
Jacomb seems have gone backwards to me.