@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
@Grooter said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@nostrildamus we can't always get what we want
But sometimes, we get what we need.. And that ain't DH!
@Bones said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Jacomb has been yuck.
Tried to kick the leather off that penalty and didn’t find touch
@pakman said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Can’t see match on NZR+
If you have a VPN, connect it to the states and go on Florugby on YouTube. Streaming live
@ACT-Crusader said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@Bones said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Jacomb has been yuck.
Tried to kick the leather off that penalty and didn’t find touch
And then stepped out fielding the return kick.
@Tim said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Stream went out, what happened for the try?
Forwards got run over a little bit too easily 5m out
@Bones said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Fucking hell Boshier you moron.
Shocking Howden or Withy aren’t starting at 6. Boshier has been a bum most of the season
@ACT-Crusader said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Strong carry by Havili and then Boshier knocked on.
Tried to reach out for the try when he was fucking miles away, the non deadshit play was just to place it back as boks baabaas were done after that phase.
What is really evident and worrying, is that most of the players can’t handle the physicality. As with most of the games against Otago and Canterbury, most NPC teams and players folded when the physical pressure got turned on.
@OomPB said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Game isn't live. Sadly.
If you have a VPN, connect to the US and go on the Florugby YouTube channel. That’s how I’m watching it here in Aussie
@jimmyb said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
@Bones said in Barbarians v All Blacks XV:
Fucking hell Boshier you moron.
Shocking Howden or Withy aren’t starting at 6. Boshier has been a bum most of the season
Baffling from JJ with the Razor style selection.
