@No-Quarter said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@Chris-B I'm down on Richie because every year he carves up in SR, and every year he can't translate to test rugby. The Adam Thomson of first fives.

RTS was fine in the final until he went off injured at half time.

And the Crusaders didn't bash the Blues into submission, they played a smart game controlling possession and territory in the rain to nulify the Blues strengths. As was mentioned a lot at the time, they are a very well coached team that sticks to their gameplan methodically.

The Adam Thomson of first fives

@No-Quarter The Blues got dominated in the collisions all night - not surprisingly BB and RTS didn't have many answers.

On Richie, I just disagree - pretty much with your entire premise.

@Chris-B yeah, I know, Mo'unga is a bit of a hero to all Crusader fans, and I can see why given how many titles he's delivered. Let's hope he can finally make that step up, as Beauden is a flawed first five and we could really use a 10 that can take control of a game when the going gets tough. Oh how we miss DC, he was fucking huge in the RWC15 finals.

@No-Quarter The Fern is way too harsh on both.

We saw a lot of the opposition at the weekend.....

@Bones said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@Crucial said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@Bones said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@Crucial said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@chimoaus said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@booboo said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@Tim be annoyed if they drop Tupaea for Havili, Tupaea earned another chance to start, Havili offers versatility so is actually a good option off the bench.

Would love to see RTS in there somewhere.

He may be better off in the All Black XV if they don't want to give him any minutes in this series or the Rugby Championship. The fact they brought in the hopeless Ennor tells me they don't have too much faith in him yet which is a bummer, he could not have done any worse than Ennor.

I’m hoping that Ennor’s performance has finally convinced them that his ceiling is Super.

I'd love to see him move back to the wing.

Why? So he can miss tackles and drop the ball a bit wider out?

He was a bloody good winger. Moving him to centre has "ruined his career".

Bound to have done.

Only about 15 (?) games in midfield at SR level wasn't it and then he was thrown in there at Test level. Wrecked his confidence. :fishing_pole:

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

Wrong, RTS is to the manor born, and come the RWC he'll be a lock at 12 partnering Rieko

They'll only go into the second row if they put on loads of weight and get too slow for the midfield

@taniwharugby

QT impressed with his composure and think that benefitted BB a fair bit last week. Makes you realise the importance of 10/12 partnership and recall DC saying how much easier Ma'a made his life at 10.

Just thinking aloud, but perhaps this is an area the selectors are looking at. Maybe they see BB & QT/JG as a pairing and Ritchie & Havili as another?

My guess is this WE it's be QT starting and DH on the bench with Ritchie.

@chimoaus said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@chimoaus said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

The question is do we see Havs as our 12 come WC, clearly the Fern does not think so. QT, ALB, RTS, Goodhue are better options and should be getting the time there. I am slightly more concerned about 13 at the moment as RI is turning into Aaron Smith in that there is daylight between him and the next player. They missed a trick not bringing Sullivan into the squad IMO.

They’ve got Goodhue in the squad as a midfield option.

Ioane is still only 25 so has years of rugby ahead of him. The more game time the better in my view. The odd rest here or there, but if we get 103 tests out of him like Nugget, then that is a very good thing for AB rugby.

I may not have expressed my concern properly, I am very happy with RI but what happens if he gets injured. My concern is his backup. Remember the 2003 WC when Tana got injured, didn't they use Panadol or someone else and it was a bit of a disaster?

I guess they do have ALB that I am forgetting is a good 13.

They definitely used the wrong fullback at centre in that 2003 semi-final. They should’ve played Mils there who had at least played there during the 2003 super season. Rangi had not.

Anyway, I think we will be okay there if the unthinkable happens. Halfback is still a massive work in progress.

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

My point about both Havili and Mo'unga is that they don't handle the physical teams well, and come RWC time most teams gameplan against us is to try and bash us into submission. Those two starting would be cannon fodder. Players like Beauden, Goodhue, Tupaea and RTS are much better equipped to deal with that.

Let’s not forget QT got badly exposed against the French last year in that first half. Several others didn’t play well and QT was amongst them. Still very much a work in progress as is Havili.

Havili has played one full season with the ABs after just a handful of opportunities in 2017, so I’d say there is opportunity for growth there.

@Victor-Meldrew Common sense says QT should start again. Should be BB QT RI until someone shits the bed or injury strikes. Only 17 tests to go before the World Cup! JG, and DH are the next cabs off the rank if needed and ALB to come in as well.

@Old-Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@Victor-Meldrew Common sense says QT should start again. Should be BB QT RI until someone shits the bed or injury strikes. Only 17 tests to go before the World Cup! JG, and DH are the next cabs off the rank if needed and ALB to come in as well.

ALB could become the forgotten man! I'd like to see RTS and TUJ thrown into the mix to see how something a little bit different goes in the lead up to RWC, but if the midfield keeps growing from Saturday's game, why not stick with that.

We really need to protect Rieko though, so would be good to see if JG can still cut it at centre.

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

Halfback is still a massive work in progress.

Given that it is home ground, that he regularly subs Aaron Smith there, and he is probably going to be a lot better than Christie, I hope Fakatava gets the bench spot.

When is the team announced?

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

When is the team announced?

11.30am today

@Bones said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@Crucial How is that meant to be read? Is 2018 saying he played 8 games as a sub, 8 as a centre then one on the wing?

I guess I only remember him from 2019. I had a quick look and saw he came on at fullback in the 2018 final then gave up.

It's from that NZRugby private stats site where someone has compiled figures from almanacs.
Where there isn't a team mentioned it is the province.

In this instance it shows that in 2017 Canterbury put him in the side and used him on the wing. However he was a centre for the U20s.
In 2018 he subbed on for the Saders but they don't have the details of what position. Where he started for Canterbury it was at centre (bar one game).

So yes he has been moved around between the two positions but was originally a centre (age grade/school stuff) and has eventually settled there in other teams.

His stats seem to indicate more scoring when at wing but that's what wings are for.

@Bones said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

I'd like to see RTS and TUJ thrown into the mix to see how something a little bit different goes in the lead up to RWC,

Not just to see something different, but give these guys some experience.

If we win on Saturday, I hope RTS is in the 23 for the 3rd Test. Give him a run and see how he goes with minimal pressure and a chance to express himself..

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

Wrong, RTS is to the manor born, and come the RWC he'll be a lock at 12 partnering Rieko

They'll only go into the second row if they put on loads of weight and get too slow for the midfield

Someone needs to tell Bundee Ali that. Crikey, he looked about 120 clicks !

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

When is the team announced?

Thursday

I’m hearing Bower, Taylor, Scott Barrett, Mo’unga, Fainga’anuku, Havili, Goodhue, Reece, Jordan are all in

Whitelock out with head knock issues

Moody and Blackadder not considered because of injury

Bridge and Ennor not considered

The rest I sort of tuned out….

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v Ireland - 2nd Test:

I’m hearing Bower, Taylor, Scott Barrett, Mo’unga, Fainga’anuku, Havili, Goodhue, Reece, Jordan are all in

Whitelock out with head knock issues

Moody and Blackadder not considered because of injury

Bridge and Ennor not considered

The rest I sort of tuned out….

did i miss Bridge being brought into the squad?