All Blacks v France III

@gt12 said in All Blacks v France III:

@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France III:

lol fuck.

If this goes sideways as it normally does when you change literally everyone then every single one of these poor fluffybunnies can kiss their year goodbye.

I hate this sort of selecting so much.
Rotate in one or two guys so you can see how they go. This is only downside unless all of them click, in which case it will still be written off as a dead rubber.

I agree and I'll add that this illustrates poor/reluctant use of the bench to give players more game time. If they thought players couldn't handle a certain number of minutes or wanted to give certain players more game time, that could've been done by making one or two changes per test, playing certain players alongside the core group, as you say, or by bringing players off the bench for more than ten or fifteen minutes at the end of the game. The A team for two weeks followed by the B team just doesn't work well.

At least no one has had two minutes and been discarded.

Yet.

So Ioane will be the only back that will have started all 3 tests in the same position.

With this lineup what will be interesting is if Love got injured early do they revert and put Beaudie at 10 and DMac back to fullback ala first test.

Can’t say I’m a huge fan of Beaudie playing 15 of recent times, whereas I think DMac is a better fullback than 10.

I don’t mind seeing different combinations. In my opinion though, if the backline has that many changes we better not have too many in the forward pack or else it could all be quite clunky.

We moan we don’t rotate and get other players/combinations out there, when that does happen we moan about who gets rotated and we don’t see certain players in certain positions. It’s a pretty hard balancing act.

I’m happy with this backline if all we see is a swap for Vaa’i and maybe a rotation at the prop positions. Bold if Razor is going for heavy rotation in the pack too.

FWIW, I’ll continue to post any AB oil I hear for this match in this match thread. I promise I’m not actually in the AB camp in any capacity

@Landers92 it's good though, there's a lot of "told you so" ammunition in there.

When he rolls out a lolly scramble forward pack and the team don't gel, we can all say DMac isn't the answer, etc.

@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France III:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks v France III:

@MN5 said in All Blacks v France III:

Woulda thought they’d give Proctor another go rather than the safe ALB option

Yeah, he started to look a bit more comfortable in that second half of the second test so would have been good to keep that momentum going. Not like he needs a rest.

this, shit first test, lost first half of the 2nd test, seemed to find his feet and he gets cut (sorry, rotated). Absolutely worthless bringing ALB in.

They get to see favoured wings with alternate midfield.

@Landers92 I like the look of that. Ratima will need a much better game than he had last weekend.

The AB coaches are obviously adding some extra locks for their training sessions. Laghlan McWhannell and Dylan Eti were shown on TV tonight, and I am sure Hugo Plummer was there in Wellington. There will be other bodies to make up the numbers.

@Landers92 said in All Blacks v France III:

I don’t mind seeing different combinations. In my opinion though, if the backline has that many changes we better not have too many in the forward pack or else it could all be quite clunky.

We moan we don’t rotate and get other players/combinations out there, when that does happen we moan about who gets rotated and we don’t see certain players in certain positions. It’s a pretty hard balancing act.

I’m happy with this backline if all we see is a swap for Vaa’i and maybe a rotation at the prop positions. Bold if Razor is going for heavy rotation in the pack too.

FWIW, I’ll continue to post any AB oil I hear for this match in this match thread. I promise I’m not actually in the AB camp in any capacity

I don’t know. They could have their first choice backline and, for example, swap out one inside and one outside back each week or just swap out the halfback and first five or the two midfielders. Two players not in their favoured starting lineup each week and if someone stands out while amongst the core group, they might stay on for the next week. No need for wholesale changes every third or fourth week.

@Bovidae said in All Blacks v France III:

The AB coaches are obviously adding some extra locks for their training sessions. Laghlan McWhannell and Dylan Eti were shown on TV tonight, and I am sure Hugo Plummer was there in Wellington. There will be other bodies to make up the numbers.

Never heard of Eti. Plummer is vaguely familiar.

@Landers92 cheers landers, would hope Narawa gets another shot in the championship would hate too see him get 1 cap for 3 years straight

@brodean said in All Blacks v France III:

Never heard of Eti. Plummer is vaguely familiar.

Eti is a Chiefs U20/Chiefs NDC/NZ U20 player. Plummer plays for Wellington.

@Bovidae said in All Blacks v France III:

@brodean said in All Blacks v France III:

Never heard of Eti. Plummer is vaguely familiar.

Eti is a Chiefs U20/Chiefs NDC/NZ U20 player. Plummer plays for Wellington.

Plummer also plays for the Canes.

On the pack I’m thinking Savea, Holland and Taylor will start - captain, only 100% fit lock, need to keep some experience in there.

Tosi could do with more game time. Bower is an option also.

Are there any fit locks around if Patty is ruled out?

If Luke J is fit, I would bring him in. Add in Finau as they obviously see him as the number two #6 for this series.

@ACT-Crusader Finau's been disappointing in the first two Tests. If they select him, he'll need a good game to be retained in the squad for the RC.

In general, I'd favour as few changes in the forwards and picking as strong a pack as possible given injuries. Beating France (even without the players to choose to keep in Europe) in all three Tests will be a sweet achievement.

@sparky said in All Blacks v France III:

@ACT-Crusader Finau's been disappointing in the first two Tests. If they select him, he'll need a good game to be retained in the squad for the RC.

I thought the first test he wasn’t too bad. Came on and did a number of things that had a positive impact.

Last weekend wasn’t great. He just needs one of those tests where he knuckles down and makes his tackles, create havoc at the tackle by playing quick off set piece and then provides at least 5-7 runs.

@sparky said in All Blacks v France III:

@Landers92 I like the look of that. Ratima will need a much better game than he had last weekend.

Went well Test I

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

Are there any fit locks around if Patty is ruled out?

That's why I was trying to figure out what the issue would be with Ah Kuoi playing.

@booboo He's a very good player in form and confidence.

Roigard's clearly our top Half Back at the moment. But then it's very competitive between Ratima, Hotham and Fakatava for the back up spot. Nice problem to have.

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

@sparky said in All Blacks v France III:

@ACT-Crusader Finau's been disappointing in the first two Tests. If they select him, he'll need a good game to be retained in the squad for the RC.

I thought the first test he wasn’t too bad. Came on and did a number of things that had a positive impact.

Last weekend wasn’t great. He just needs one of those tests where he knuckles down and makes his tackles, create havoc at the tackle by playing quick off set piece and then provides at least 5-7 runs.

Well he had to play lock. He was fine. He contributed well to the breakdown, lineout, scrum and was accurate.

Kirifi was more of worry. Came on and gave away 3 penalties and turned the ball over within 20 minutes.

@Bones said in All Blacks v France III:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

Are there any fit locks around if Patty is ruled out?

That's why I was trying to figure out what the issue would be with Ah Kuoi playing.

Haven’t heard anything concrete yet. At the very least we will need one new lock on the bench with Vaa’i out.

@brodean said in All Blacks v France III:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

@sparky said in All Blacks v France III:

@ACT-Crusader Finau's been disappointing in the first two Tests. If they select him, he'll need a good game to be retained in the squad for the RC.

I thought the first test he wasn’t too bad. Came on and did a number of things that had a positive impact.

Last weekend wasn’t great. He just needs one of those tests where he knuckles down and makes his tackles, create havoc at the tackle by playing quick off set piece and then provides at least 5-7 runs.

Well he had to play lock. He was fine. He contributed well to the breakdown, lineout, scrum and was accurate.

Kirifi was more of worry. Came on and gave away 3 penalties and turned the ball over within 20 minutes.

It wasn’t the position that was the problem as the set piece wasn’t the issue. It was more about what he was and wasn’t doing around the park.

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

@Bones said in All Blacks v France III:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

Are there any fit locks around if Patty is ruled out?

That's why I was trying to figure out what the issue would be with Ah Kuoi playing.

Haven’t heard anything concrete yet. At the very least we will need one new lock on the bench with Vaa’i out.

Might have been another thread where he was mentioned as an idiotic replacement (or some such) for PT.

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

@brodean said in All Blacks v France III:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

@sparky said in All Blacks v France III:

@ACT-Crusader Finau's been disappointing in the first two Tests. If they select him, he'll need a good game to be retained in the squad for the RC.

I thought the first test he wasn’t too bad. Came on and did a number of things that had a positive impact.

Last weekend wasn’t great. He just needs one of those tests where he knuckles down and makes his tackles, create havoc at the tackle by playing quick off set piece and then provides at least 5-7 runs.

Well he had to play lock. He was fine. He contributed well to the breakdown, lineout, scrum and was accurate.

Kirifi was more of worry. Came on and gave away 3 penalties and turned the ball over within 20 minutes.

It wasn’t the position that was the problem as the set piece wasn’t the issue. It was more about what he was and wasn’t doing around the park.

Possibly because he's busy trying to come to terms with being a blindside flanker at this level and then was shoved into playing another.

It's this level of midwittery that has me worried about the coaches.

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

@brodean said in All Blacks v France III:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

@sparky said in All Blacks v France III:

@ACT-Crusader Finau's been disappointing in the first two Tests. If they select him, he'll need a good game to be retained in the squad for the RC.

I thought the first test he wasn’t too bad. Came on and did a number of things that had a positive impact.

Last weekend wasn’t great. He just needs one of those tests where he knuckles down and makes his tackles, create havoc at the tackle by playing quick off set piece and then provides at least 5-7 runs.

Well he had to play lock. He was fine. He contributed well to the breakdown, lineout, scrum and was accurate.

Kirifi was more of worry. Came on and gave away 3 penalties and turned the ball over within 20 minutes.

It wasn’t the position that was the problem as the set piece wasn’t the issue. It was more about what he was and wasn’t doing around the park.

Ok so you're saying the set piece wasn't an issue?

If a flanker is called to play lock and then the scrum is strong and stable, and we win all our lineout ball, then that's a win. We defended the maul well when he was on. His cleans were accurate and effective. He performed his core roles well as a lock.

Anything else is a bonus. He made some good tackles and a few carries. We didn't have a lot of possession for him to make 5 or 7 carries and that is not the primary role of a lock that comes on for 20 minutes.

He was involved in two breakdowns that won us penalties. He got his hand under the ball when Taofifenua busted over the line.

Not sure what else were you guys expecting? He makes a run down the side line like Issac Ross?

@brodean #Isaac Ross vs Matfield and Botha still give me nightmares.

@brodean said in All Blacks v France III:

Issac

I still don't understand how that is the go-to spelling.

With Paddy T, SB and Vaa'i all out.. does that mean Holland and Ah kuoi to start?

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

Too many Chiefs

Too many Reece's.

@Nepia said in All Blacks v France III:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France III:

Too many Chiefs

Too many Reece's.

Totally. Why Reece over Narawa? Surely not just “work rate”.

Hate the quantity of changes, totally agree with @mariner4life post earlier. Sets these poor buggers up for failure. Especially if we see a few changes in the forward pack leading to our ball being slow/messy

@Landers92 said in All Blacks v France III:

Here you go. Very early this week which is nice. Backline for week 3.

9. Ratima
10. Dmac
11. Ioane
12. Tupaea
13. ALB
14. Reece
15. Love

Bench
21. Hotham
22. Tavatavanawai
23. B.Barrett

How about the following then?

1. De Groot
2. Taylor
3. Newell (Lomax)
4. Holland
5. Tuipolutu
6. Finau
7. A. Savea (c)
8. Jacobson
9. Ratima
10. DMac
11. R. Ioane
12. Tupaea
13. ALB
14. Reece
15. Love

16. Norris
17. McAlister
18. Tosi
19. Ah Kuoi
20. Kirifi
21. Hotham
22. Tavatavanawai
23. B. Barrett

@Quarky Is it confirmed that Patrick T is out?

@sparky Aotearoa Rugby Pod said he is...

@Quarky Normally a good sauce.....

@sparky said in All Blacks v France III:

@Landers92 said in All Blacks v France III:

Here you go. Very early this week which is nice. Backline for week 3.

9. Ratima
10. Dmac
11. Ioane
12. Tupaea
13. ALB
14. Reece
15. Love

Bench
21. Hotham
22. Tavatavanawai
23. B.Barrett

How about the following then?

1. De Groot
2. Taylor
3. Newell (Lomax)
4. Holland
5. Tuipolutu
6. Finau
7. A. Savea (c)
8. Jacobson
9. Ratima
10. DMac
11. R. Ioane
12. Tupaea
13. ALB
14. Reece
15. Love

---

16. Norris
17. McAlister
18. Tosi
19. Ah Kuoi
20. Kirifi
21. Hotham
22. Tavatavanawai
23. B. Barrett

Jesus, you'd struggle to find a greener bench even in the French team.

@Bones said in All Blacks v France III:

@sparky said in All Blacks v France III:

@Landers92 said in All Blacks v France III:

Here you go. Very early this week which is nice. Backline for week 3.

9. Ratima
10. Dmac
11. Ioane
12. Tupaea
13. ALB
14. Reece
15. Love

Bench
21. Hotham
22. Tavatavanawai
23. B.Barrett

How about the following then?

1. De Groot
2. Taylor
3. Newell (Lomax)
4. Holland
5. Tuipolutu
6. Finau
7. A. Savea (c)
8. Jacobson
9. Ratima
10. DMac
11. R. Ioane
12. Tupaea
13. ALB
14. Reece
15. Love

---

16. Norris
17. McAlister
18. Tosi
19. Ah Kuoi
20. Kirifi
21. Hotham
22. Tavatavanawai
23. B. Barrett

Jesus, you'd struggle to find a greener bench even in the French team.

It’s not called a “Bench” anymore bro, that’s our “Impact”

@Bones

Norris is worth persevering with IMHO and with experience he might offer more than De Groot.

Robertson has said all the squad originally named will play at some point so unless you're going to start McAlister, he will be on the bench. He's a better player than Bell IMHO.

I've read this morning that Lomax is in training so hopefully he starts or is on the bench.

With so many locks injured Ah Kuoi is next cab out of the bench. He might even be a starter if Patty T is injured with IWL the next cab off the rank, unless anyone has any better suggestions of uninjured NZ locks?

Papalii offers more than Kirifi IMHO but I think Kirifi will be given another chance.

Hotham and Big Jim have earned their opportunities.

Beauden Barrett has 136 international caps which is 76 more than the starting French XV last Saturday.

@sparky said in All Blacks v France III:

@Landers92 said in All Blacks v France III:

Here you go. Very early this week which is nice. Backline for week 3.

9. Ratima
10. Dmac
11. Ioane
12. Tupaea
13. ALB
14. Reece
15. Love

Bench
21. Hotham
22. Tavatavanawai
23. B.Barrett

How about the following then?

1. De Groot
2. Taylor
3. Newell (Lomax)
4. Holland
5. Tuipolutu
6. Finau
7. A. Savea (c)
8. Jacobson
9. Ratima
10. DMac
11. R. Ioane
12. Tupaea
13. ALB
14. Reece
15. Love

---

16. Norris
17. McAlister
18. Tosi
19. Ah Kuoi
20. Kirifi
21. Hotham
22. Tavatavanawai
23. B. Barrett

Give Taylor a rest and start Sami. If Lomax a 100, Fletch also gets a spell. Might reduce greenness to let Norris have a start and keep EDG or Bower to be old head amongst finishers. I'd like to see Paps get some minutes, although recognise that's unlikely.

@pakman

Taylor is our best player at the minute and with the disruption to the Locks I want Mr Reliable throwing into the lineout from our first one of the game.

Norris is still a bit behind De Groot but may have the higher ceiling.

Lomax if fit to go should either start or be on the bench.

Our experienced locks are broken so it's time to put faith in the depth chart there.

I'm a big fan of Dalton Papalii. He's a superb player but he seems to have done something to annoy the coaches.