All Blacks v Springboks I

@sparky Things getting serious.

Who does the Fern think Razor will actually select as the back three.

I am guessing either Love, Jordan Clarke
or
Jordan, Narawa, Clarke

I also think there's a chance Reiko reclaims the 13 jersey.

@Frank said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Who does the Fern think Razor will actually select as the back three.

I am guessing either Love, Jordan Clarke
or
Jordan, Narawa, Clarke

I also think there's a chance Reiko reclaims the 13 jersey.

He probably won't make any changes. Why deviate from his current strategy?

@Frank Sevu I think will remain on the right wing (not what I want) Clarke looked in good enough shape earlier today guess his selection is dependant on if Ioane moves to 13 in place of Proctor

@Grooter said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Frank Sevu I think will remain on the right wing (not what I want) Clarke looked in good enough shape earlier today guess his selection is dependant on if Ioane moves to 13 in place of Proctor

I'd guess they'd choose Clarke over Ioane for wing esp given the suspected aerial bombardment but overall they'll remain conservative and yes, sigh, I think they may keep Reece. I prefer Narawa but I suspect they don't.

I would be all for Narawa if he could just show a bit more aggression/enthusiasm.

@Bones said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

I would be all for Narawa if he could just show a bit more aggression/enthusiasm.

Does give the impression of being a bit dainty and casual.

If it is about balancing skillsets within the current squad and what is required to play against the Boks both defensively and in attack, my back three would be

15: J. Barrett
14: W. Jordan
11: C. Clarke

This has the best chance of attacking the midfield bombs whilst still covering the back when they do. It has the running game to challenge the Boks defence which has been shown up to be porous against the Aussies.

But back to reality…..

I would like to see a change in the midfield but not necessarily Jordie. I think Razor needs to get Jordie and Quinn together.

Narawa is decent in the air but needs to up his workrate.

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

If it is about balancing skillsets within the current squad and what is required to play against the Boks both defensively and in attack, my back three would be

15: J. Barrett
14: W. Jordan
11: C. Clarke

This has the best chance of attacking the midfield bombs whilst still covering the back when they do. It has the running game to challenge the Boks defence which has been shown up to be porous against the Aussies.

But back to reality…..

I would like to see a change in the midfield but not necessarily Jordie. I think Razor needs to get Jordie and Quinn together.

Narawa is decent in the air but needs to up his workrate.

Who would you play in the midfield with that back three?

@Frank said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

If it is about balancing skillsets within the current squad and what is required to play against the Boks both defensively and in attack, my back three would be

15: J. Barrett
14: W. Jordan
11: C. Clarke

This has the best chance of attacking the midfield bombs whilst still covering the back when they do. It has the running game to challenge the Boks defence which has been shown up to be porous against the Aussies.

But back to reality…..

I would like to see a change in the midfield but not necessarily Jordie. I think Razor needs to get Jordie and Quinn together.

Narawa is decent in the air but needs to up his workrate.

Who would you play in the midfield with that back three?

The trade off would be retaining Proctor and having Quinn at 2nd 5.

No time like the present Razor.

Or Jordie QT midfield.
Wings Jordan, Clarke and Love fullback.
I would go with this combination

I think Jordan is equally effective at wing or fullback.
Love deserves a chance

I dunno whether QT can defend that well at 13, I've never really felt comfortable with him there for the Chiefs.

He has played there on occasion, and he does likely have the speed to defend the outside there, but he's a traditional 12 in my eyes and I'm not sure that extra space would really suit his game.

. It could be a bit of a Bernie selection though if he was moved there and really flourished. It would also make him very useful as we really don't have any midfielders comfortable at 12 and 13 - that's essentially why ALB is still pretty much undroppable as a squaddie.

@gt12 said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

.
. It could be a bit of a Bernie selection though if he was moved there and really flourished. It would also make him very useful as we really don't have any midfielders comfortable at 12 and 13 - that's essentially why ALB is still pretty much undroppable as a squaddie.

I'm not sure if that is your opinion or your view hof the coaches, but I personally think ALB is no longer enough of a useful glue player at 12 or 13, no longer safe enough, speedy enough or sharp enough...

I'd go:

11 Caleb Clarke
14 Will Jordan
15 Ruben Love

But I think we'll see the same back 3 as against Argentina.

@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@gt12 said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

.
. It could be a bit of a Bernie selection though if he was moved there and really flourished. It would also make him very useful as we really don't have any midfielders comfortable at 12 and 13 - that's essentially why ALB is still pretty much undroppable as a squaddie.

I'm not sure if that is your opinion or your view hof the coaches, but I personally think ALB is no longer enough of a useful glue player at 12 or 13, no longer safe enough, speedy enough or sharp enough...

ALB has turned into a penalty / YC magnet so I'm not sure I'd select him, but I'm not sure there is another player in NZ who can easily shift midfield positions (probably only Lam would be the only real option), so I can see why the coaches may like keeping him around.

@gt12 said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

ALB has turned into a penalty / YC magnet so I'm not sure I'd select him, but I'm not sure there is another player in NZ who can easily shift midfield positions (probably only Lam would be the only real option), so I can see why the coaches may like keeping him around.

I totally agree. Cards and alternatives. Lam doesn't have the experience, especially at 13, but I thought he deserved more of a chance. My guess is they see him as a 12 and 12 is a bit of a logjam at the moment. I'd have thought he'd go ok at 13 but I haven't seen him play there.

Not having Clarke is a big risk as he looked pretty sharp yesterday. With rain forecasted there's going to be plenty of contestable kicking from Williams and Pollard, and the game will be a little bit slower which would have suited Clarke after a long layoff.

Yip why not play Clarke? Giving him another chance to pick up an injury at NPC....

@pakman said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

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Could have done with seeing Tavatavanawai start in one of the 5 games we played already this year.

For god sake.

Released to NPC to get injured.

@Jet said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Released to NPC to get injured.

Aren't we all complaining players should all be playing NPC not put in cotton wool?

Lomax hasn't played at all but he gets selected, while Clarke at least had a game and looked fairly decent yet he's been left out. It doesn't add up. Wouldn't bet against an unchanged backline again. Looks like there will be a party at Tony Brown's place this Saturday.

It all points to the only changes for Saturday will be Lomax back in the 23 and a change at HB if Ratima is ruled out.

Edit
and if that is the case and the ABs lose massive meltdown all over the place.

@Chris said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

It all points to the only changes for Saturday will be Lomax back in the 23 and a change at HB if Ratima is ruled out.

Edit
and if that is the case and the ABs lose massive meltdown all over the place.

Pretty deservedly so if they roll out the same team and get humped at Eden Park. TBH, there should be have big conversations about the whole coaching team in that case.

However, if they roll out (roughly) the same team and the team beats the Boks, it should take a lot of pressure off the coaching team.

Ballsy.

@Chris I would think Narawa at least would come into reckoning at wing

The recent All Blacks social media injury update post states Clarke is only available for the second South Africa test. Does that guarantee Ioane on the left wing and Proctor at centre this week?

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Chris I would think Narawa at least would come into reckoning at wing

I can’t see them doing that either.

@gt12 said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Chris said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

It all points to the only changes for Saturday will be Lomax back in the 23 and a change at HB if Ratima is ruled out.

Edit
and if that is the case and the ABs lose massive meltdown all over the place.

Pretty deservedly so if they roll out the same team and get humped at Eden Park. TBH, there should be have big conversations about the whole coaching team in that case.

However, if they roll out (roughly) the same team and the team beats the Boks, it should take a lot of pressure off the coaching team.

Ballsy.

If that happens then any flak will be well deserved.

@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

The recent All Blacks social media injury update post states Clarke is only available for the second South Africa test. Does that guarantee Ioane on the left wing and Proctor at centre this week?

That gets my goat that injury update - a guy is only available to play in 2 weeks time when he's already back playing? If he's not right, he shouldn't be playing. If he is right, he's available.

LF coming into the squad as injury cover.

@reprobate said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

The recent All Blacks social media injury update post states Clarke is only available for the second South Africa test. Does that guarantee Ioane on the left wing and Proctor at centre this week?

That gets my goat that injury update - a guy is only available to play in 2 weeks time when he's already back playing? If he's not right, he shouldn't be playing. If he is right, he's available.

He looked in pretty good nick yesterday, get him out there ffs. This is not a stab at Clarke because if he had the choice, I'm sure he would jump at the chance to play on Saturday, but how soft have the All Blacks become?

Razor's response to last week's loss against the Argies summed up the limp nature of this side atm. Instead of getting all available players on the park in the latest round of the NPC, he felt they needed a week off, time with their families to reset etc etc... fuck that. Most of the players just had a month off prior to the RC, unless injured, all players should have been on the paddock playing for their provinces. Clearly some players are short of gallop and would benefit with more time on the field. Some of these ABs have had far too much time not playing rugby lately.

@Canes4life said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@reprobate said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

The recent All Blacks social media injury update post states Clarke is only available for the second South Africa test. Does that guarantee Ioane on the left wing and Proctor at centre this week?

That gets my goat that injury update - a guy is only available to play in 2 weeks time when he's already back playing? If he's not right, he shouldn't be playing. If he is right, he's available.

He looked in pretty good nick yesterday, get him out there ffs. This is not a stab at Clarke because if he had the choice, I'm sure he would jump at the chance to play on Saturday, but how soft have the All Blacks become?

Razor's response to last week's loss against the Argies summed up the limp nature of this side atm. Instead of getting all available players on the park in the latest round of the NPC, he felt they needed a week off, time with their families to reset etc etc... fuck that. Most of the players just had a month off prior to the RC, unless injured, all players should have been on the paddock playing for their provinces. Clearly some players are short of gallop and would benefit with more time on the field. Some of these ABs have had far too much time not playing rugby lately.

Preston was lined up to play and was pulled because they expect he'll be needed this week. When was the last time he saw any significant game time?

@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@reprobate said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

The recent All Blacks social media injury update post states Clarke is only available for the second South Africa test. Does that guarantee Ioane on the left wing and Proctor at centre this week?

That gets my goat that injury update - a guy is only available to play in 2 weeks time when he's already back playing? If he's not right, he shouldn't be playing. If he is right, he's available.

He looked in pretty good nick yesterday, get him out there ffs. This is not a stab at Clarke because if he had the choice, I'm sure he would jump at the chance to play on Saturday, but how soft have the All Blacks become?

Razor's response to last week's loss against the Argies summed up the limp nature of this side atm. Instead of getting all available players on the park in the latest round of the NPC, he felt they needed a week off, time with their families to reset etc etc... fuck that. Most of the players just had a month off prior to the RC, unless injured, all players should have been on the paddock playing for their provinces. Clearly some players are short of gallop and would benefit with more time on the field. Some of these ABs have had far too much time not playing rugby lately.

Preston was lined up to play and was pulled because they expect he'll be needed this week. When was the last time he saw any significant game time?

100%, there’s always a risk that a player gets injured, that’s just the nature of the game. The downside of them not playing is they’ll be undercooked if called upon. Case in point with Preston. Let’s hope Clarke gets another game for Auckland this week, better to have him getting minutes under his belt than just sitting on the sideline scratching his nuts.

The side I'd pick is

1. De Groot
2. Taylor
3. Newell
4. S. Barrett
5. Holland
6. Vaii
7. A. Savea
8. Sititi
9. K. Preston
10. DMac
11. C.Clarke
12. J. Barrett
13. R. Ioane
14. W. Jordan
15. R. Love

16. Taukei'aho
17. T. Williams
18. Lomax
19. S. Darry
20. S. Parker
21. Lakai
22. Christie
23. Tupaea

@sparky I actually do think Beauden still has top value as a bench player, saved our bacon last year at Eden Park against England. Not overly excited when he is named to start tho

Robertson claims "some parts of our game have been awesome."

What parts would those be?