@reprobate said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

That's a worry. Not happy about needing a guy who has played what 3/4 of a super season, and looked to be struggling with the pressure off the bench in the final.

You're talking about Preston?

Started the Super season with a hiss and a roar, but I thought he got worse as the season progressed. Seem to recall saying that I'd have picked Drummie ahead of him when the play-offs came.

I'd say there's zero chance he starts if Christie is fit and I'm pretty happy with that. Massive dice roll to pick our fifth choice halfback to debut vs the Boks.

TBH - I'm surprised Xavier Roe isn't there ahead of him.

Ok fellas. a week out, had my say what I thought was wrong last week.
So if an idiot like me can see things, I sure the coaches can , and will fix it. So we got this !!!!

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

@booboo said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Preston withdrawn from NPC.

Christie was bloody good last week.

But can he repeat that performance next week or did he just stand out because the rest of the team were pretty shit?

The type of game we played probably suited him , if we were playing well , his slow service probably handicaps us more . But he is tough and a scrapper , a messy game probably suits him

@kiwiinmelb said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Going to be interesting,

Before the Argie 2 game ,I honestly thought we might be on a upwards trajectory mainly due to the forwards , tight 5 in particular. Then we served up that pile of dog shit where it feels like any progress all came undone .

I suspect Rassie will target that tight 5 and holland in particular to see if he can find a chink and a barrage of high balls are coming our way , if we play the same back 3 I think we are in trouble.

If Clarke isn’t ready , I’d play love ( he’s 24 now if he’s not ready yet when is he ready ? ) at 15 Jordan at 14 , can narawa play 11 .? What is carter like under the high ball ?

Cant wait to see how Fabian gets on. For sure he is going to get his collar felt. Im looking forward to him getting roughed up a bit actually. See how he goes.

I expect the boks to lose this game, but I would like to see them try the tony ball at Eden park, with SFM running things. Run the ABs off their feet.

@W32 said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

I expect the boks to lose this game, but I would like to see them try the tony ball at Eden park, with SFM running things. Run the ABs off their feet.

We have worked very hard to claim underdog status thank you!

Not sure if I have missed something but has there been any comment anywhere at all from the team or NZR since the ABs got back home ?

If it is Christie and Barrett at 9 and 10, with Proctor at 13 + Ioane and Reece on the wings, we are in big trouble. We won't beat them up front, and that is a rubbish backline.

An expressive AB captain and minimal team errors would likely result in an AB win at Eden Park.
Frustratingly I think this Achilles heel will be our downfall.

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

@reprobate said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

That's a worry. Not happy about needing a guy who has played what 3/4 of a super season, and looked to be struggling with the pressure off the bench in the final.

You're talking about Preston?

Started the Super season with a hiss and a roar, but I thought he got worse as the season progressed. Seem to recall saying that I'd have picked Drummie ahead of him when the play-offs came.

I'd say there's zero chance he starts if Christie is fit and I'm pretty happy with that. Massive dice roll to pick our fifth choice halfback to debut vs the Boks.

TBH - I'm surprised Xavier Roe isn't there ahead of him.

Yeah, I don't think it is even fair on Preston to be honest. If he's on the bench, then we'll have an inexperienced at super level, franchise 2nd choice guy making his debut against the world champs in what is likely to be a tight game with a huge record on the line. Roe or Fakatava would be far better options for this week. Either that or they play Christie 80, in which case that isn't really fair on him either, and it tells Preston that they don't trust him.
That's the risk you run with bringing someone new into the squad to 'have a look at them' or whatever crap they trot out.
His super debut was bloody good, so maybe our brains trust are banking on that repeating...

Mind numbing we are not utilizing guys like Love, Narawa, QT and not using DMac more.
Captain and backs are the issue. This can be sorted but will it.

@BerniesCorner I'm not sure Love and Narawa really move the needle - but they should definitely be tried. If Clarke is back, I'd go with:

9. Christie
10. Love
11. Clarke
12. Barrett
13. Tupaea
14. Narawa
15. Jordan

Bench: Preston, McKenzie, Tavatavanawai

It's throwing Love in the deep end, but if he is good he will rise to the occassion. Sopoaga debuted at Ellis Park, so it has been done before.

I am 100% sure this won't be the backline, but man I'd like to see them take a punt on Love.

Razor will continue to select conservative

@frugby In the selectors eyes, I reckon you've got the fourth-ranked halfback, first five, centre and wing - along with the number-one second-five, wing and fullback.

Roigard, Ratima, Hotham, Christie
Richie, Beaudy, DMac, Love (at best)
Proctor, Ioane, ALB, Tupaea
Clarke, Ioane, Reece, Narawa

Had to include The Mo for a neat quartet - sorry!

Not entirely convinced they would see Love even as the fourth-best first five in the country, but that's purely a guess based on how little he's played there - but, he's a like-for-like with DMac as bench cover. I reckon when he gets a start it will be at fullback - or just possibly wing.

@frugby said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@BerniesCorner I'm not sure Love and Narawa really move the needle - but they should definitely be tried. If Clarke is back, I'd go with:

9. Christie
10. Love
11. Clarke
12. Barrett
13. Tupaea
14. Narawa
15. Jordan

Bench: Preston, McKenzie, Tavatavanawai

It's throwing Love in the deep end, but if he is good he will rise to the occassion. Sopoaga debuted at Ellis Park, so it has been done before.

I am 100% sure this won't be the backline, but man I'd like to see them take a punt on Love.

Well I'm done with backline conservatism because it's just fudge for ain't working.
The backs are letting the forwards down.

@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@frugby said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@BerniesCorner I'm not sure Love and Narawa really move the needle - but they should definitely be tried. If Clarke is back, I'd go with:

9. Christie
10. Love
11. Clarke
12. Barrett
13. Tupaea
14. Narawa
15. Jordan

Bench: Preston, McKenzie, Tavatavanawai

It's throwing Love in the deep end, but if he is good he will rise to the occassion. Sopoaga debuted at Ellis Park, so it has been done before.

I am 100% sure this won't be the backline, but man I'd like to see them take a punt on Love.

Well I'm done with backline conservatism because it's just fudge for ain't working.
The backs are letting the forwards down.

Scooter needs to channel some Grizz Wyllie...

"Don't give the backs the ball, they'll just stuff it up!"

Captaining Canterbury many years ago.

@Chris-B
Well if Roigard was fit I'd say no ball past 9 in the pre match pep talk.

@frugby said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@BerniesCorner I'm not sure Love and Narawa really move the needle - but they should definitely be tried.

Love's pretty exciting actually, might make mistakes, might fail, but I like his competitive spirit.
As for Narawa, he can still catch and kick and run, can't he? That would have been useful in the last game.

Seems like they'll likely have to use Fin Christie at halfback, so I reckon beyond that there will be a maximum of two changes in the backs.

Vaguely possible that they'll switch Beaudy for DMac, but given they've hitched the wagon to BB for all the preceding tests, I don't see this happening. If Eden Park is a disaster, that change will get made.

Jordie is locked in.

Proctor has been a bit of an experiment - not entirely successful, but worth continuing with in the long run. But, maybe not for this game. I could see Rieko possibly moving to the 13 jersey.

I think they'll be watching Caleb Clarke's form anxiously in NPC this weekend. Now that he's got his motorcycle madness out the way, hopefully he can be focussed and recapture last year's form. If he goes well, I reckon he'll be in. If Rieko doesn't move to centre, there's a possibility he'd move to right wing for Sevu - but, probably not. Narawa also a possibility to replace Sevu.

Jordan locked in at fullback - would be quite a surprise for me if they shifted him to wing to accommodate DMac or Love.

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

@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@frugby said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@BerniesCorner I'm not sure Love and Narawa really move the needle - but they should definitely be tried. If Clarke is back, I'd go with:

9. Christie
10. Love
11. Clarke
12. Barrett
13. Tupaea
14. Narawa
15. Jordan

Bench: Preston, McKenzie, Tavatavanawai

It's throwing Love in the deep end, but if he is good he will rise to the occassion. Sopoaga debuted at Ellis Park, so it has been done before.

I am 100% sure this won't be the backline, but man I'd like to see them take a punt on Love.

Well I'm done with backline conservatism because it's just fudge for ain't working.
The backs are letting the forwards down.

Scooter needs to channel some Grizz Wyllie...

"Don't give the backs the ball, they'll just stuff it up!"

Captaining Canterbury many years ago.

I assume the thug Fergie wasn't included in that directive?

Also, is that how one of the provinces who makes up your franchise of Ta$man managed to take the Shield of them? They used their backs because it was supposed to be an easy game?