@kiwimurph said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
NZ are in short supply of power loosies. STT is a power 8. Excellent selection
I remember STT making plenty of metres against SA opposition for the NZ U19s on that tour.
@reprobate said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@kirwan said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Blackadder and Bell real head scratchers. Is Blackadder going to be a midweek captain maybe?
Zero surprise with either for me.
Blackadder is the closest player to Jacobson, and regardless of what you think of his selection it would be hard to argue that he doesn't fit the Rennie work ethic criteria.
Bell's throwing is much improved, and he's very good around the park - I reckon he's clearly 4th.
Paps would have been ideal. Poor bastard has snapped his achilles.
@frank said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
The selection of Blackadder is clearly so we can have an injury to get Mounga in
Meltdown alert: Frizell.
@bovidae said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
McAlister being named as the Canterbury captain also pointed to him not being the fourth hooker.
And surely BB is the likely non-test captain if he plays.
That said, he's only one call away.
@no-quarter said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Also great to see Rieko there, Rennie made the comment that we was still up in Ireland when the initial squad was selected (even though he could have picked him). Felt like Rieko was always in Rennie's plans, they just wanted a close look at Proctor and Tupaea at 13. If we are going to have either of those guys starting at 13 (like Tupaea), then we really need Rieko in the 23 as insurance.
@wurzel said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Evidently Dupes didn't endear himself to the Chiefs' All Blacks with some of his 'banter' during the second half of the Super Rugby Final
if that was a criteria then Fitzpatrick would never have got a start for the ABs.
@kiwimurph said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@frugby said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Just playing devil’s advocate here. Razor and the Canterbury mafia copped plenty of heat for a perceived bias towards Canterbury players.
STT a bit of a Captain’s/Assistant Coach pick? I don’t think anyone was picking him ahead of CLW or even Casey after Super Rugby.
It's a product of playing for Moana. If STT had put up the last 2 seasons for the Highlanders there would have been huge clamouring for him to be in black.
NZ are in short supply of power loosies. STT is a power 8. Excellent selection
To a degree. Wasn't he only playing for Moana due to alcohol issues elsewhere?
Rennie says that BB will be starting at 1st 5 against the Stormers, and not seen as a fullback. Jacomb is an option there.
@bovidae said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Rennie says that BB will be starting at 1st 5 against the Stormers, and not seen as a fullback. Jacomb is an option there.
Hopefully he has Roigard at 9 and we can see if he fits the new system. If he does great, if not then sayonara after the tour.
@jnr said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@bovidae said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Rennie says that BB will be starting at 1st 5 against the Stormers, and not seen as a fullback. Jacomb is an option there.
Hopefully he has Roigard at 9 and we can see if he fits the new system. If he does great, if not then sayonara after the tour.
Won't happen. Per the PC, they intend on giving Roigard an extended break. Ratima and Preston will play big minutes during the first three games.
@akan004 said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@jnr said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@bovidae said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Rennie says that BB will be starting at 1st 5 against the Stormers, and not seen as a fullback. Jacomb is an option there.
Hopefully he has Roigard at 9 and we can see if he fits the new system. If he does great, if not then sayonara after the tour.
Won't happen. Per the PC, they intend on giving Roigard and extended break. Ratima and Preston will play big minutes during the first three games.
Haven't seen the press conference yet but imagine Roigard (and more or less the full Test team) will be rolled out in the match against the Bulls.
@macdazzler said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Tamati Ellison to rejoin ABS coaching staff for the tour.
Downvote.
@jnr said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@bovidae said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Rennie says that BB will be starting at 1st 5 against the Stormers, and not seen as a fullback. Jacomb is an option there.
Hopefully he has Roigard at 9 and we can see if he fits the new system. If he does great, if not then sayonara after the tour.
If Barrett can’t perform against a franchise team while playing for an international side, he’s even worse than anyone thought. It shouldn’t matter who the halfback is.
@steven-harris said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@canes4life at 29 years if i were DPK i woūld be using any sort of out clause right now
Time to head off an earn big money
Just on Harkin i believe he will be 28 around April next year
Just wondering why he was never picked up at a younger age through the Wellington system or just case of a late bloomer ?
He was recognised by the Canes early on and then suffered plenty of Injuries mainly, and then him and Preston formed a really good combo for Old Boys University and dominated Wellington club rugby which got them both back on the radar. Quality player and it’s a shame he might be heading off.
Love the last snippet from Rennie in the press conference regarding midweek comms with the refs.
"we are trying to inform the officials on how we want to play, whats important for us, what that looks like....we saw in the Italian test we were allowed to play while they had guys down on the field, which was pleasing"
Hook it in to my veins.
We have been sorely lacking in this department for a decade.
You dont need to rant and rave, just plant a few seeds and let the media do the rest.
A wry smile, a pregnant pause, and a week later Will Jordan is diving over in the corner while Malcolm Marx is writhing around on the floor holding his coconut like Meryl Streep.
The first test team is already picked and they worked backwards from that.
He goes on to say that the first test team was picked prior to the Irish test.
Obviously flexibility within that for changes due to injuries etc but their is a clear roadmap of workload sharing over the 3 midweek games and first test.
They all are not even going over to SA on the same flight as a squad, partly to avoid the Middle East fandango (travel was initially booked through Dubai but now amended to Singapore and Hong Kong), and also for workload management. 23 will stay behind in NZ with 7 staff and come over at a later date.