@KiwiMurph Says more about them not trusting LF or RI as 12 cover. They should have been bold and gone with a 6:2 split too.
Think this team is fairly telling. Sititi to the bench says they are wanting to match England for impact. ALB offers no punch, tend to agree on a 6-2 split, but given the injuries, not sure I'd have Kirifi.
@KiwiMurph said in England Vs All Blacks:
ALB sucks as a bench option
Gets a bench spot
Make it make sense....
I guess we will play the final quarter with 14 men again.... 
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
Rieko is definitely on the outer.
Rieko would be soooo much better than ALB. Fucken old timers day at Twickenham
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
@KiwiMurph Says more about them not trusting LF or RI as 12 cover. They should have been bold and gone with a 6:2 split too.
I dont understand that they trust Leicester at 13 but not at 12. I would like to see him more at 12 if anything.
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
@canefan The Barrett's have a history of YCs at Twickenham.
13 men then
@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
Rieko is definitely on the outer.
Rieko would be soooo much better than ALB. Fucken old timers day at Twickenham
Dynamic wing or centre vs pedestrian centre…..make it make sense razor…..
A big opportunity for Parker. I’m glad they picked him to start. I much prefer Sititi in the role he has played off the bench.
Proctor I’m a little less sold on but he did a couple of good things when he came on last weekend.
ALB will be as fresh as fresh can be. If only TNT were fit.
@MN5 said in England Vs All Blacks:
@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
Rieko is definitely on the outer.
Rieko would be soooo much better than ALB. Fucken old timers day at Twickenham
Dynamic wing or centre vs pedestrian centre…..make it make sense razor…..
@MN5 said in England Vs All Blacks:
@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
Rieko is definitely on the outer.
Rieko would be soooo much better than ALB. Fucken old timers day at Twickenham
Dynamic wing or centre vs pedestrian centre…..make it make sense razor…..
Been a long while since I heard someone describe Rieko Ioane as dynamic
@frugby said in England Vs All Blacks:
@MN5 said in England Vs All Blacks:
@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
Rieko is definitely on the outer.
Rieko would be soooo much better than ALB. Fucken old timers day at Twickenham
Dynamic wing or centre vs pedestrian centre…..make it make sense razor…..
Been a long while since I heard someone describe Rieko Ioane as dynamic
He's a better MF than ALB, but dynamic winger is definitely a stretch
@MN5 said in England Vs All Blacks:
6, 13 and 22 are a big let down
Yeah agree very disappointing the team looks weaker with those 3 inclusions.
I hope Parker proves me wrong and plays a blinder to win we need him too or we could get dominated in the LFs.
I would’ve started Ioane on the left wing not because of any renewed dynamism, but because he’s solid and we have our first choice out. But the main reason is because I would’ve like to have seen QT and LF get another start together in the midfield. Whilst there were a few issues last week with both showing a desire to tuck it up the jumper rather than pass, both are actually capable of distributing and may have been better for the run.
Anton being selected in our national team ruffles my feathers, two of his most recent games of rugby he got bullied by the Stags 12 Peni & under the roof in Dunedin against otago he looked like he was running in mud, it sounds like I have an agenda sure but I just don't think he's as good as he was 5 even 2 years ago
@ACT-Crusader said in England Vs All Blacks:
I would’ve started Ioane on the left wing not because of any renewed dynamism, but because he’s solid and we have our first choice out. But the main reason is because I would’ve like to have seen QT and LF get another start together in the midfield. Whilst there were a few issues last week with both showing a desire to tuck it up the jumper rather than pass, both are actually capable of distributing and may have been better for the run.
Think you can probably get the same out of Leicester on the wing on attack (or at least 75 per cent the same) without the defensive issues we saw in the midfield last week.
Also think that while there are still a few issues with the 23 from an external POV, the current team is quite refreshingly different from the side that ran out against England last year:
Williams, Taylor, Lomax, Barrett, Vaa'i, Sititi, Cane, Savea, Ratima, Barrett, Clarke, Barrett, Ioane, Tele'a, Jordan.
Injury's again proven a great selector this year but Razor is definitely building depth, one way or another.
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
Rieko is definitely on the outer.
Seriously?
Really disappointed.
Fan of ALB but that's really meh.
@booboo said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
Rieko is definitely on the outer.
Seriously?
Really disappointed.
Fan of ALB but that's really meh.
Surely not a fan of ALB v2025?
@frugby said in England Vs All Blacks:
@MN5 said in England Vs All Blacks:
@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
Rieko is definitely on the outer.
Rieko would be soooo much better than ALB. Fucken old timers day at Twickenham
Dynamic wing or centre vs pedestrian centre…..make it make sense razor…..
Been a long while since I heard someone describe Rieko Ioane as dynamic
I do reckon he looked sharp in the Perth Bled off the bench. I really don't buy Proctor and ALB in front of him.
For transparency, am big fan of ALB, not of Proctor.
@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:
@booboo said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
Rieko is definitely on the outer.
Seriously?
Really disappointed.
Fan of ALB but that's really meh.
Surely not a fan of ALB v2025?
Not averse. Think the vibe about him is OTT.
But I really do I reall do feel there are better options.
Clever selection by Razor. The England coaches will be studying Proctor’s 8 Tests to see what threat he poses, therefore wasting their entire week
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
@canefan The Barrett's have a history of YCs at Twickenham.
I think ALB has the most recent history of YCs there…
@ACT-Crusader said in England Vs All Blacks:
I would’ve started Ioane on the left wing not because of any renewed dynamism, but because he’s solid and we have our first choice out. But the main reason is because I would’ve like to have seen QT and LF get another start together in the midfield. Whilst there were a few issues last week with both showing a desire to tuck it up the jumper rather than pass, both are actually capable of distributing and may have been better for the run.
Leicester’s defence makes me prefer him on wing.
@Dan54 said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Chris-B said in England Vs All Blacks:
@No-Quarter said in England Vs All Blacks:
@jimmyb said in England Vs All Blacks:
@stodders said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Victor-Meldrew said in England Vs All Blacks:
@frugby said in England Vs All Blacks:
This All Blacks team is screaming for some X-Factor on the wing.
For me that's Will Jordan. He really doesn't have the skills to be a Test 15.
Who does? I’m not convinced by Love (I think he is a 10). Who are the alternatives? NZ are crying out for the new Israel Dagg to make his appearance.
And here's the other thing, Jordie is still in the team, and is an even better player than he was back then, and has the skillset to completely diffuse opposition bombs which are a key weakness for us right now. Jordie is so much better at 15 than Jordan it's not even funny.
They've had Jordie in the backfield fielding bombs this year and he's dropped his fair share.
I watch most teams play, and yet to see a player take all high balls, whether chasing or receiving.
Also with noone beinge able to screen now, it makes it even harder.
And so the main issue now is not our catching but rather our kicking and chasing. Particularly with the latter, our guys just don’t seem to be willing to launch themselves into the zone in the same way as say the wee Saffa wingers do.
@pakman said in England Vs All Blacks:
@ACT-Crusader said in England Vs All Blacks:
I would’ve started Ioane on the left wing not because of any renewed dynamism, but because he’s solid and we have our first choice out. But the main reason is because I would’ve like to have seen QT and LF get another start together in the midfield. Whilst there were a few issues last week with both showing a desire to tuck it up the jumper rather than pass, both are actually capable of distributing and may have been better for the run.
Leicester’s defence makes me prefer him on wing.
I assume he'll see a few high balls.
Depending on that we may want him quickly back to the midfield.
I am not entirely against the selection of Parker, but I find it interesting that on the face of things, they totally dropped him from the 23 last week, and then have brought him straight back into the starting XV this week.
@ACT-Crusader said in England Vs All Blacks:
A big opportunity for Parker. I’m glad they picked him to start. I much prefer Sititi in the role he has played off the bench.
Proctor I’m a little less sold on but he did a couple of good things when he came on last weekend.
ALB will be as fresh as fresh can be. If only TNT were fit.
I thought they'd stick with the starting loose forwards from last week - with Kirifi or maybe Parker on the bench.
But, I probably like this more - largely because Sititi offers more impact from the bench than the other two and Parker should help with the lineout for the first hour. Needs to play better than his last couple of outings.
Would've liked to see the same three from last week roll out and see what they can do vs England, but I'm not enamoured with DK or SP on the bench.
I guess they think ALB covers the whole midfield better than the other options, but it's pretty bland.
ALB hasn’t played since the second RC test against Argentina nearly three months ago. He’ll be a bit underdone, won’t he? Perhaps they’re trying to ensure the now steady flow of yellow cards continues?
@gt12 said in England Vs All Blacks:
@pakman said in England Vs All Blacks:
@ACT-Crusader said in England Vs All Blacks:
I would’ve started Ioane on the left wing not because of any renewed dynamism, but because he’s solid and we have our first choice out. But the main reason is because I would’ve like to have seen QT and LF get another start together in the midfield. Whilst there were a few issues last week with both showing a desire to tuck it up the jumper rather than pass, both are actually capable of distributing and may have been better for the run.
Leicester’s defence makes me prefer him on wing.
I assume he'll see a few high balls.
Depending on that we may want him quickly back to the midfield.
Other than playing Australia, we are going to see plenty of kicked ball to wing regardless of who is out there. Just the nature of the game today.
@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:
@canefan The Barrett's have a history of YCs at Twickenham.
Following in the steps of the other famous trio of AB 'B' brothers, the Brownlies.
@Chris-B said in England Vs All Blacks:
I guess they think ALB covers the whole midfield better than the other options, but it's pretty bland.
I think if Clarke and Jordie were fit Fainga’anuku would be our best bench back option at this point. Next year post Super rugby things might change.
@frugby said in England Vs All Blacks:
I am not entirely against the selection of Parker, but I find it interesting that on the face of things, they totally dropped him from the 23 last week, and then have brought him straight back into the starting XV this week.
I think that was both a horses for courses and rotation approach - always expected Parker to be back this week, was just a question of who would drop to the pine.