@Frank said in All Blacks v France 2:
With the move away from Rieko at center, we've got three 12s and one 13.
It would be nice if Big Jim or Tupaea could cover 13.
Both are going to be dropped if ALB is still in favor.
If Proctor becomes the regular centre and Ioane a regular on the wing, I'm sure they'd still see Ioane as injury cover for centre, so Tavatavanawai could cover wing and second five from the bench. If Tupaea is a second five only, Jordan would have to cover wing.
@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v France 2:
No QT looks like a pre planned change decided prior to last weekend.
I think if it was pre-planned TT would surely have played in Dunedin. I suspect it is in response to the fact they weren't happy with being forced to move Jordan to the wing when Reece went down.
I'd wager if Clarke goes down in the first minute this week, TT would come on rather than DMac.
@frugby I think Reece provides a bit of what TT does around the breakdown, he works hard on and off the ball, usually reads the game pretty well, so him going down so early, while planned for in terms of subs, threw a spanner in the early game plan.
If we could have someone with Ioanes size and pace getting around the park like Reece, sheesh!
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks v France 2:
Hopefully, the 2024 Clarke version makes an appearance this weekend.
He was very good early in the season, then was out injured for 3 - 4 weeks, and didn't come back as strong after that. Hoping some time in the AB camp has gotten him back into some good form and good frame of mind given he's been dealing with some off field shit. We are so much more dangerous with him on the field in form.
@frugby said in All Blacks v France 2:
I think if it was pre-planned TT would surely have played in Dunedin.
I wouldn't be so sure. 4 debutants was already plenty for week 1 and not all rookies are the same - i.e. some could use an extra week or 2 in camp before debuting. Razor has made it clear that he intends to give everybody game.time across the series.
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France 2:
Proctor and Ioane suck fat donkey dicks in test 1, but get to play again while the form midfielder of Super Rugby gets rissolled despite not putting a foot wrong when he got a chance.
These selectors are as cooked as they sound
Superb, sir.
@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks v France 2:
How long did Tupaea get to play last weekend? Was it fifteen or so minutes? That doesn't seem significant enough to achieve much if players are going to be rotated.
Possibly more like they saw what they wanted to see and can now move onto seeing if their other options can also deliver.
@frugby said in All Blacks v France 2:
@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v France 2:
No QT looks like a pre planned change decided prior to last weekend.
I think if it was pre-planned TT would surely have played in Dunedin. I suspect it is in response to the fact they weren't happy with being forced to move Jordan to the wing when Reece went down.
I'd wager if Clarke goes down in the first minute this week, TT would come on rather than DMac.
Why? It doesn’t really matter what location the game is played at. This isn’t some sentimental selection exercise.
I agree they may go with TNT if Clarke goes down, however will they go with TNT if say Ioane went down in the first minute? I suspect not.
@ACT-Crusader course they will, we all know Jordie is right wing cover.
@Bones said in All Blacks v France 2:
@ACT-Crusader course they will, we all know Jordie is right wing cover.
On the weekend he ran more freely and elusively than we ever saw from him than when he was experimented on the wing!
@fghg said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Landers92 said in All Blacks v France 2:
There’s also a slim chance that Tuipulotu comes in for Barrett and starts, Vai’i stays at 6 and Ah Koi is used off the bench in jersey 19, he has been in camp as injury cover the whole time. Would be between Finau or Kirifi who drops out then. Slim chance, but still another option they could use is Jacobson isn’t fit.
I can't understand why Josh Behree isn't the injury cover with Darry and Lord unavailable, he was a clear standout in Super Rugby and is only 23 younger than Lord and Ah Kuoi.
Let’s be patient as you say he is still very young. His time will come, I’m pretty confident about that.
Am a little bit concerned Ioane has mostly played 11 not 14, then I saw his first season at Blues was at 14! But that was nearly a decade ago..
@ACT-Crusader if Ioane was to go down on Saturday Jim entering the game would make sense as he's played 80% of his 1st class rugby on the right wing
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v France 2:
Am a little bit concerned Ioane has mostly played 11 not 14, then I saw his first season at Blues was at 14! But that was nearly a decade ago..
Another way of looking at it is he hasn't played much 11 this decade either.
He has moved to 14 for ABs mid-game in recent seasons
@Bones said in All Blacks v France 2:
@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks v France 2:
How long did Tupaea get to play last weekend? Was it fifteen or so minutes? That doesn't seem significant enough to achieve much if players are going to be rotated.
Possibly more like they saw what they wanted to see and can now move onto seeing if their other options can also deliver.
Do you think they knew that fifteen minutes would be enough time to assess Tupaea when planning their use of the bench? Or would he need to play again this weekend if they weren't sure yet, leaving Tavatavanawai an unknown for another week? Will fifteen minutes be enough to assess Tavatavanawai too?
I’m happy with those backs. I wanted injury-only changes, and we mostly got that, QT falling out aside.
I’m happy for Proctor to get another run, and I’m pleased to see Clarke back. There is a bit of a concern that neither of our wingers are particularly elusive now, they both tend to pick out a defender and run straight at him - but at least they are speedy and CC can provide some aerial ability.
Hopefully BB kicks a bit more accurately (this seems a slightly better chance than hoping that he actually kicks less), and hopefully we don’t need to bring DMac on until 50mins or so, so there are some tied legs to run at.
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v France 2:
Am a little bit concerned Ioane has mostly played 11 not 14, then I saw his first season at Blues was at 14! But that was nearly a decade ago..
well we are picking our 10 on what he did a decade ago, so there is a pattern
@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks v France 2:
@Bones said in All Blacks v France 2:
@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks v France 2:
How long did Tupaea get to play last weekend? Was it fifteen or so minutes? That doesn't seem significant enough to achieve much if players are going to be rotated.
Possibly more like they saw what they wanted to see and can now move onto seeing if their other options can also deliver.
Do you think they knew that fifteen minutes would be enough time to assess Tupaea when planning their use of the bench? Or would he need to play again this weekend if they weren't sure yet, leaving Tavatavanawai an unknown for another week? Will fifteen minutes be enough to assess Tavatavanawai too?
Comparing an almost incumbent to a debutant is apples and oranges. And who knows what they had planned for Tupaea before Reece messed it up with his prize winning melon.
Like I said, maybe they already had an inkling what they were going to get from Tupaea and last weekend confirmed it, so they can now move on to seeing if another guy is going to cut the mustard (a guy who they might like to see more of as they haven't seen him at test level before).
Prolly not what I would have done, but makes complete sense.
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France 2:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v France 2:
Am a little bit concerned Ioane has mostly played 11 not 14, then I saw his first season at Blues was at 14! But that was nearly a decade ago..
well we are picking our 10 on what he did a decade ago, so there is a pattern
To be fair, he kicked points far more effectively in the last game than I expected. But I too would not have selected him at 10.
