@Canes4life said in All Blacks XV:
@Cpt-Kumera said in All Blacks XV:
Heard bop prop tevita mafilio called into nz xv
That's great news, I assume that's for Brewis? He had a great season for the Canes and ended up being one of our best looseheads by the time the season was out.
For Ta'avao TH for TH .He has been playing TH for BOP with Ross on the LH side.
@Cpt-Kumera said in All Blacks XV:
Heard bop prop tevita mafilio called into nz xv
It was mentioned in the Canterbury-BOP commentary that he was on standby.
@Chris said in All Blacks XV:
@Canes4life said in All Blacks XV:
@Cpt-Kumera said in All Blacks XV:
Heard bop prop tevita mafilio called into nz xv
That's great news, I assume that's for Brewis? He had a great season for the Canes and ended up being one of our best looseheads by the time the season was out.
For Ta'avao TH for TH .He has been playing TH for BOP with Ross on the LH side.
He can also play loosehead which is a big bonus if he can do it at the higher level.
@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks XV:
That would have been a poplar selection
We'd end up with everyone pining for Gatland.
@Canes4life said in All Blacks XV:
@Chris said in All Blacks XV:
@Canes4life said in All Blacks XV:
@Cpt-Kumera said in All Blacks XV:
Heard bop prop tevita mafilio called into nz xv
That's great news, I assume that's for Brewis? He had a great season for the Canes and ended up being one of our best looseheads by the time the season was out.
For Ta'avao TH for TH .He has been playing TH for BOP with Ross on the LH side.
He can also play loosehead which is a big bonus if he can do it at the higher level.
Yeah I saw he covered both sides for the Canes.
Very valuable if he can do it at test level.
@Bones said in All Blacks XV:
@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks XV:
That would have been a poplar selection
We'd end up with everyone pining for Gatland.
Warren? I don't think they'd rimuve Foster because of one bad selection.
@Frye said in All Blacks XV:
@Bones said in All Blacks XV:
@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks XV:
That would have been a poplar selection
We'd end up with everyone pining for Gatland.
Warren? I don't think they'd rimuve Foster because of one bad selection.
I guess the higher up the tree you go, the harder you are to reach.
NZ Rugby granted the licence for Moana Pasifika to participate in Super Rugby Pacific, and it is understood that the All Blacks can select up to three players from the franchise.
@Tim said in All Blacks XV:
NZ Rugby granted the licence for Moana Pasifika to participate in Super Rugby Pacific, and it is understood that the All Blacks can select up to three players from the franchise.
this is an interesting case, and one that rams home how fucked up rugby is with regards to eligibility
Born in NZ. Lived in Aus for a long time. Played basically all his pro rugby in NZ. The only reason he got a decent crack at Super rugby was because MP was created. He's 28 years old and hasn't been capped, which probably means he wasn't on a radar 3 years ago when he couldn't get a game at the Chiefs.
I tend to think that MP was created to give these guys a gig and get them to the level to help build the pro ranks available to the Pacific nations. However, this guy is 100% a product of NZ rugby. NZ money and expertise has done all the heavy lifting here. He's played in the Country for like 6 years (barring an unsuccessful jaunt to Japan).
He's unlikely to have an anywhere near decent career in Black. Let him go
@mariner4life said in All Blacks XV:
Let him go
If he wants to go. From the article it appears he's turned down Mapusua twice already and at least one time was before selection in the ABXV.
It's up to the players to make that personal decision, and you would hope that Aumua is getting the right advice from his agent etc. There are a number of midfielders ahead of him before he would get anywhere near the ABs.
@Nepia said in All Blacks XV:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks XV:
Let him go
If he wants to go. From the article it appears he's turned down Mapusua twice already and at least one time was before selection in the ABXV.
yeah, i wonder if the AB's ever are so frank as to say to these guys "you might get some games...but its a long shot and probably only if several others are injured...where as Samoa wants you starting"
so not so much "let him go" as "give him a wee nudge"
or do we dangle that carrot out right until we capture their eligibility
@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks XV:
@Nepia said in All Blacks XV:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks XV:
Let him go
If he wants to go. From the article it appears he's turned down Mapusua twice already and at least one time was before selection in the ABXV.
yeah, i wonder if the AB's ever are so frank as to say to these guys "you might get some games...but its a long shot and probably only if several others are injured...where as Samoa wants you starting"
so not so much "let him go" as "give him a wee nudge"
or do we dangle that carrot out right until we capture their eligibility
I really don't think the ABs have ever selected a player to capture their eligibility, that's just a conspiracy theory.
@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks XV:
@Nepia i dont think we have dont it to screw over another country...i definitely think we've done it "just in case" so we know they are available for us if 1st 2nd 3rd choice go down
I don't believe that is true at all. Coaches select players they think are good enough, and in most cases a player of PI heritage is just any other NZ player and their selection is based only on that. There's likely been many non PI heritage players selected like this as well.
@Nepia see Aumua has more right to be an AB than say Reece, and players who follow the path Reece, PGS et al have taken, is not ideal IMO, but these guys are adults and can make thier own decisions, although again you'd hope someone is giving them advice in that regard, although at that level, these guys must believe in thier ability and know that of others to the point they believe they can become a multi test AB than just a few?
Reece has played way more than I expected him to!
