@Tim said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

Start the Hurricanes front row with Tosi starting or on bench. Vaai replaces Lord. Taukei'aho on the bench. Segner on the bench. Might need to manage Savea's minutes, so 6-2 split?

Wouldn't be surprised if Clarke picked up an injury before being subbed against France.

Clarke continues to be very underwhelming; he just looks like a player very low on confidence. Hopefully he can find it again because he can be very devastating. Maybe a hangover from the Blues environment.

@Canes4life said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

@Tim said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

Start the Hurricanes front row with Tosi starting or on bench. Vaai replaces Lord. Taukei'aho on the bench. Segner on the bench. Might need to manage Savea's minutes, so 6-2 split?

Wouldn't be surprised if Clarke picked up an injury before being subbed against France.

Clarke continues to be very underwhelming; he just looks like a player very low on confidence. Hopefully he can find it again because he can be very devastating. Maybe a hangover from the Blues environment.

He wasn't close to being that bad. He had a solid game.

@brodean Yes, he played well. Impressive efforts from restarts and carried well. Maybe lacks his top acceleration at the moment.

Tupaea's defense and McKenzie's errors are the big concerns in the backline. Along with exit kicking as always.

Clarke looked lost on defence.

I'll stand up for our lad. EDG has played one game in six weeks. He needs to keep playing.

@SouthernMann He played well. I'd like to see the Hurricanes front row (with Tosi) in action though. He'd still be in the 23 for Italy.

@Bovidae He did miss one tackle early on. We were in trouble on defence on either wing though. Tupaea has never been a strong defender and is more exposed at center. Hopefully he develops quickly.

@Tim The left edge was exposed more and Clarke often defended narrow but didn't tackle anyone in those French tries.

@Bovidae said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

@Tim The left edge was exposed more and Clarke often defended narrow but didn't tackle anyone in those French tries.

That's a function of being tied to the people inside him. The line doesn't come up quickly enough and they can' cut off the quick hands.

Fuck rotation

Pick your best

Sub when the job is done

@Bovidae said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

Clarke looked lost on defence.

Agreed, he was found out far too often. It goes back to confidence for me. He just doesn't look confident out there. When he runs, he doesn't smash through players like he used to. Naturally, he's a soft sort of character so whatever we need to do to fire him up every game, let's make sure we do that.

the French obviously identified something given they seemed to attack through thier right side alot more than the left.

@Tim said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

Start the Hurricanes front row with Tosi starting or on bench. Vaai replaces Lord. Taukei'aho on the bench. Segner on the bench. Might need to manage Savea's minutes, so 6-2 split?

Wouldn't be surprised if Clarke picked up an injury before being subbed against France.

Think we'll see minimal changes in the starting XV. But maybe quite a few on the bench. Preston in for Ratima.

Who captains if RD is subbed? Jordie?

I know De Groot hasn't played much recently but that may have been a serious gash. Give him a rest or at least some bench time.
Is Tosi fit? I'd also play him.
Didn't really notice Lomax much but he did a fine cold shoulder to Jailbait (I refuse to spell that correctly, he looks like a talented branleur to me).

Given coaches have made noises about everyone getting a run i would expect a fair few changes noting too that Italy lost to Japan on the week

@Bovidae said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

Clarke looked lost on defence.

His defence has been very reliable over the years.

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

@Tim said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

Start the Hurricanes front row with Tosi starting or on bench. Vaai replaces Lord. Taukei'aho on the bench. Segner on the bench. Might need to manage Savea's minutes, so 6-2 split?

Wouldn't be surprised if Clarke picked up an injury before being subbed against France.

Think we'll see minimal changes in the starting XV. But maybe quite a few on the bench. Preston in for Ratima.

Who captains if RD is subbed? Jordie?

I don't disagree with having Preston ahead of Ratima in the pecking order but what's the point in dropping Ratima after playing just five minutes?

Missed tackles on Saturday

5 @37.5% Damian Mckenzie
3 @66% Quinn Tuapaea
3 @72% Xavier Numia
2 @81% Jordie Barrett
2 @71% Peter Lakai
2 @89% Sam Darry
1 @75% Caleb Clarke

Of all the guys you could talk about who had poor defence on Saturday.

@brodean "Lost on defence" = provincialism.

The defense certainly needs major improvement in this match so we are ready to face Ireland.

Just for context this French team made 12 line breaks which is 1 more line break than the Boks made last year when they hammered us with a record score.

MIssed tackles stats dont always tell the whole story.

I mean you are positioned wrong, and dont even get near someone, you havent missed a tackle, but if the guy inside/outside you then comes across to cover for you but misses, then he gets the missed tackle.

Similarly, FB's will often feature higher as they are often the guy called on to cover after someone else has missed, all about context, but I am sure the coaches look at that in thier analysis too.

I'll be a bit disappointed if they give Tupaea one game at 13 then drop him from there.

Any Chiefs fan will tell you that he hardly plays there for us, so to expect him to walk in and be world class at defence (in probably the hardest position to be world class in at defence), is pretty unfair on the Super rugby player of the year.

He's a 12 who can stretch to 13, and if they want him to be WC there, he needs as many games as possible to start there so he can build his understanding.

Not every good performance is defined by the winning margin. This week, I'd make defence the key performance indicator. If they keep Italy's score down through disciplined, accurate defence, that's a better sign of progress than simply racking up points themselves.

@taniwharugby

Yes, centers are often used to shoot up and close down space, which leads to missed tackles recorded but not defensive lapses. Tupaea didn't do that though. It would be better to look at the root cause of the defensive problems than blame your least favourite team's wing.

Tupaea might successfully convert from 12 (where is very good) to 13, but his defensive lapses won't go away immediately.

We also need to get better at tackling and slowing down the opposition rucks.

@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

MIssed tackles stats dont always tell the whole story.

I mean you are positioned wrong, and dont even get near someone, you havent missed a tackle, but if the guy inside/outside you then comes across to cover for you but misses, then he gets the missed tackle.

Yes. You have to attempt a tackle to miss one. But getting stepped or beaten has the same effect.

@Tim I was talking generally, not about any one player.

Agree, plenty to work on, but probably more to feel positive about in that 80 mins than we saw in the past 2 seasons.

re the suggestions of QT at 12....i think if hes a serious option at 13 then he was less than perfect on sat and so a few games in a row would be good, moving him immediately doen't let him settle

@Kiwiwomble Agreed. If the coaches have a clear idea of how they want to play and which players best suit that style, they can't start chopping and changing every week or at the first sign someone isn't perfect. That applies to Tupaea at centre, the loose forward trio I still don't like and everything else. This is the fifth or sixth time I've said it, but they need to find their best lineup (which may well require some tinkering) and give it time to develop.

Ardie should start and it should be at no8. Sure sub him off if they don’t want him to go the distance. But moving Lakai to 8 would make no sense at this early juncture after playing him at blindside in the opener. Lakai played 50 odd minutes, maybe this week sub off the 7 or 8 and try a different combo to close things out.

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

Ardie should start and it should be at no8. Sure sub him off if they don’t want him to go the distance. But moving Lakai to 8 would make no sense at this early juncture after playing him at blindside in the opener. Lakai played 50 odd minutes, maybe this week sub off the 7 or 8 and try a different combo to close things out.

With a similar lineup, they're perfectly suited to a 6:2 bench split. It'd be very easy this weekend to sub Savea at half-time without also having to shift Jacobson or Lakai - assuming they're starting again - and still give one of them a rest too.

Looking like the forecast for this game has improved dramatically (for now). No wind and only a small chance of a shower.

@gt12 said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

I'll be a bit disappointed if they give Tupaea one game at 13 then drop him from there.

Any Chiefs fan will tell you that he hardly plays there for us, so to expect him to walk in and be world class at defence (in probably the hardest position to be world class in at defence), is pretty unfair on the Super rugby player of the year.

He's a 12 who can stretch to 13, and if they want him to be WC there, he needs as many games as possible to start there so he can build his understanding.

He should be playing there at Super level if he wants to be 13. Test rugbys not the place you learn the ropes at 13.

13 is a specialist role.

@brodean 3 tests as a starter at 13 and 3 wins. He’s also come off the bench and played 13 off the bench.

Aren’t all the positions specialist?

@brodean said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

@gt12 said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

I'll be a bit disappointed if they give Tupaea one game at 13 then drop him from there.

Any Chiefs fan will tell you that he hardly plays there for us, so to expect him to walk in and be world class at defence (in probably the hardest position to be world class in at defence), is pretty unfair on the Super rugby player of the year.

He's a 12 who can stretch to 13, and if they want him to be WC there, he needs as many games as possible to start there so he can build his understanding.

He should be playing there at Super level if he wants to be 13. Test rugbys not the place you learn the ropes at 13.

13 is a specialist role.

I actually agree with this, but the current coaches want him at 13, and the truth is that the ABs are not just a rep side, they also develop players to be what they want at the international level.

We can hate that all we want, but I think it's a reality.

My point is that if the coaches want him to be a solid international level 13, he's going to make mistakes. If that is where they are going, then I'd prefer him to have as many games as possible, especially against Italy where the threat shouldn't be as high as against France. Those are the games where he needs to be in the 13 shirt if that is their plan.

Thinking a bit more about the team and last weekend’s lineup, I’d make at most one change in the backs: Clarke out for Fineanganofo and even that is a maybe.

Beyond that, I’m not convinced by the loose forwards mix but if the coaches have a clear plan and believe those are the right players to execute it, they should stick with the same trio to start.

Elsewhere in the forwards, I’d bring Vaa’i in if he’s available and start Aumua and/or Numia. On the bench, I’d include Taukei’aho and Tosi, along with an extra loose forward rather than a specialist wing.

And I'd like to see plenty of early substitutions.

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

@brodean 3 tests as a starter at 13 and 3 wins. He’s also come off the bench and played 13 off the bench.

Aren’t all the positions specialist?

He was exposed badly when he came off the bench against SA last year

@gt12 said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

@brodean said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

@gt12 said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

I'll be a bit disappointed if they give Tupaea one game at 13 then drop him from there.

Any Chiefs fan will tell you that he hardly plays there for us, so to expect him to walk in and be world class at defence (in probably the hardest position to be world class in at defence), is pretty unfair on the Super rugby player of the year.

He's a 12 who can stretch to 13, and if they want him to be WC there, he needs as many games as possible to start there so he can build his understanding.

He should be playing there at Super level if he wants to be 13. Test rugbys not the place you learn the ropes at 13.

13 is a specialist role.

I actually agree with this, but the current coaches want him at 13, and the truth is that the ABs are not just a rep side, they also develop players to be what they want at the international level.

We can hate that all we want, but I think it's a reality.

My point is that if the coaches want him to be a solid international level 13, he's going to make mistakes. If that is where they are going, then I'd prefer him to have as many games as possible, especially against Italy where the threat shouldn't be as high as against France. Those are the games where he needs to be in the 13 shirt if that is their plan.

One thing I don't like about this approach is it can create an unfair assessment of a player. They may not perform to the required standards in an unfamiliar position and then it impacts the perception of them in their preferred position too.

@brodean said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

He should be playing there at Super level if he wants to be 13.

Except it's not "he" wanting to. He doesn't select the squad/team.

@brodean said in All Blacks v Italy, 2026:

Missed tackles on Saturday

5 @37.5% Damian Mckenzie
3 @66% Quinn Tuapaea
3 @72% Xavier Numia
2 @81% Jordie Barrett
2 @71% Peter Lakai
2 @89% Sam Darry
1 @75% Caleb Clarke

Of all the guys you could talk about who had poor defence on Saturday.

Quite surprised only 3 for QT - felt like he missed about that many in one movement down the sideline.

For all the focus on tackling, he played a crucial role in at least a couple of tries with sweet hands, timing and positioning. That tip on to open up space off the ball from Darry was superb.

There were a few niggles picked up on Saturday night for the ABs. Nothing serious but anyone carrying a niggle that could be made worse by playing will not be playing this week.

I don’t have names of those with niggles.