@jimmyb said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
There better be an absolutely outstanding reason CLW is not starting
My uso CLW will be involved in next weeks game, the only players in this weeks 23 who arrived later to the UK are Hannah & Ennor.
Barbarians
Match thread
All Blacks XV
@Grooter said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@jimmyb said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
There better be an absolutely outstanding reason CLW is not starting
My uso CLW will be involved in next weeks game, the only players in this weeks 23 who arrived later to the UK are Hannah & Ennor.
Next week as in against Scotland for the All Blacks? He better be
This looks more like a B team in some positions. You would expect the strongest XV starts next game.
Boshier at 6 is a strange selection, a position he has played the least in.
@jimmyb said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
t’s a big match, a bigger match than some think imo
A bit bigger than JJ was probably thinking initially.
@Tim said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Is there any way to watch this game?
Sky Sports 2 in New Zealand, Premier Sports in the UK.
NZR+ is a thoroughly dogshit app. Doesn't even have an upcoming streams or fixtures feature. Never remembers logins. Randomly stopped being able to stream video on my tablet the other day. Still works in the browser for some reason. The idea that they think people would pay for it. I'd trust a paid subscription on youtube. Not that shit.
@family-man said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@Bones what time please?
That's rather subjective I'd say. 13:15 GMT if that helps.
@Bovidae said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@Tim NZR+ too.
I didn't realise it was on NZR+? Know the Ireland v New Zealand game is, in certain territories (and have you have to pay for it, naturally).
@Tim I've never used NZR+ so can't comment.
There is a link in this article to the NZR+ page so I assume it will be on that platform.
@Bovidae said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@Tim I've never used NZR+ so can't comment.
There is a link in this article to the NZR+ page so I assume it will be on that platform.
That's just the general info page of where you can watch the ABs outside of NZ, it's not specifically about this match.
If it's on NZR+ we have no way of knowing as like @Tim says there's no upcoming matches tab in the app.
NZR+ is truly dogshit.
I tried to use it when I was in SE Asia as they don't have partners there, no fixture list, no way of accessing games. Great example of NZR being sold shit by people who took them for a ride.
Ok, I'll bite on the AB XV lineup. Why DH starting at 12, isn't this a great opportunity to start someone else young and fresh and relatively untried?
@nostrildamus said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Ok, I'll bite on the AB XV lineup. Why DH starting at 12, isn't this a great opportunity to start someone else young and fresh and relatively untried?
Coz that's what we've become. A veterans team
@canefan said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@nostrildamus said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Ok, I'll bite on the AB XV lineup. Why DH starting at 12, isn't this a great opportunity to start someone else young and fresh and relatively untried?
Coz that's what we've become. A veterans team
Aargh!!
I think it’s worth having two or three experienced ABs (eg Havili, Papali’i) in a team like the AB XV to share their international insight and experience with some pretty young dudes who are tasting their first international footy as a senior player.
Plus it’s not as if Havili is over the moon, he’s only 30.
@nostrildamus there's no really any guys that fit the bill of being younger and also being in the right place to be ready for it. Taele has a ways to go, Higgins is injured, etc.
It's just a lot of guys in their late 20s or early 30s. McLeod is on the younger side of that range but played in the NPC Final, so is being rested. The only other thing you can do is shoe-horn a career outside centre in there but I fail to see the point of that.
@ACT-Crusader said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Plus it’s not as if Havili is over the moon, he’s only 30.
31 before Christmas!
@nostrildamus said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Ok, I'll bite on the AB XV lineup. Why DH starting at 12, isn't this a great opportunity to start someone else young and fresh and relatively untried?
David Havili has played okay this year, not well enough to be an All Blacks starter or even in the full ABs, but I'm relaxed at him being in the All Blacks XV. He's still a tidy player.
Damp overnight in West London but it should be good conditions for running rugby in Brentford during game.
@ACT-Crusader said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
I think it’s worth having two or three experienced ABs (eg Havili, Papali’i) in a team like the AB XV to share their international insight and experience with some pretty young dudes who are tasting their first international footy as a senior player.
Plus it’s not as if Havili is over the moon, he’s only 30.
Yes Havili can pass on his experience of being the worst player on the field in the AUNZ team that got thrashed by the Lions.
So valuable.....
@cgrant said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Pat Lam or Tanielu Telea would have fit in this AB XV at 2nd 5. Havili was pretty good during this year's NPC but as a fullback.
Pat maybe a bit past it now mate especially for a change of position as well.
@cgrant said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Pat Lam would have fit in this AB XV at 2nd 5.
He's 57 years old, played in the back row and is coaching the opposition side in this match, but I love the left-field thinking.
@KiwiMurph said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@ACT-Crusader said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
I think it’s worth having two or three experienced ABs (eg Havili, Papali’i) in a team like the AB XV to share their international insight and experience with some pretty young dudes who are tasting their first international footy as a senior player.
Plus it’s not as if Havili is over the moon, he’s only 30.
Yes Havili can pass on his experience of being the worst player on the field in the AUNZ team that got thrashed by the Lions.
So valuable.....
Yes because that was a real team that meant something….
@ACT-Crusader said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@KiwiMurph said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@ACT-Crusader said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
I think it’s worth having two or three experienced ABs (eg Havili, Papali’i) in a team like the AB XV to share their international insight and experience with some pretty young dudes who are tasting their first international footy as a senior player.
Plus it’s not as if Havili is over the moon, he’s only 30.
Yes Havili can pass on his experience of being the worst player on the field in the AUNZ team that got thrashed by the Lions.
So valuable.....
Yes because that was a real team that meant something….
Looked like a pretty good audition for the ABs if you watched us Vs SA in Welly.
@ACT-Crusader said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@KiwiMurph said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@ACT-Crusader said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
I think it’s worth having two or three experienced ABs (eg Havili, Papali’i) in a team like the AB XV to share their international insight and experience with some pretty young dudes who are tasting their first international footy as a senior player.
Plus it’s not as if Havili is over the moon, he’s only 30.
Yes Havili can pass on his experience of being the worst player on the field in the AUNZ team that got thrashed by the Lions.
So valuable.....
Yes because that was a real team that meant something….
You would hope it would have to him given he was co captain. The other co captain LSL certainly did his part.
@KiwiMurph said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@ACT-Crusader said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
I think it’s worth having two or three experienced ABs (eg Havili, Papali’i) in a team like the AB XV to share their international insight and experience with some pretty young dudes who are tasting their first international footy as a senior player.
Plus it’s not as if Havili is over the moon, he’s only 30.
Yes Havili can pass on his experience of being the worst player on the field in the AUNZ team that got thrashed by the Lions.
So valuable.....
I saw that game. It did not inspire confidence, to put it mildly.
@cgrant said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Sorry, I meant AJ.
I assumed AJ Lam was injured, I prefer him to DH, he's 3 and a half years younger. Bigger. Faster. But he doesn't play for the Crusaders, mind.
@nostrildamus we can't always get what we want 
let's try and focus on the postives as Ratumaitavuki kneepkens & Tangitau play alongside each other for the 1st time since they did in a Blues preseason match in 2023