Parker is not dynamic enough for the international scene. As Jacobson has been injured, there is a possibility to bring a loose forward from the All Blacks XV. Beehre has not played there enough to be considered. TK Howden and Flanders are both dynamic and bring an additional option at the lineout.
@sparky said in England Vs All Blacks:
Nearly time again to take on the "pricks to lose to" at their beloved Cabbage Patch.
Get ready for a week of anti-Haka and "they just win because they cheat" nonsense.
They are trying to make it ten wins in a row.
We are trying to complete Leg Three of Operation Grand Slam.
The Raeburn Shield is on the line.
To the victor the spoils. I can't fucking wait for Saturday.
To be fair, England are a much more likeable side since Borthwick took over. Way less dickdead-ness
@sparky said in England Vs All Blacks:
@cgrant I disagree. I think Simon Parker is a project worth persevering with and Twickenham is great stage for him to show what he's got. I think his ball carrying will cause England some real problems.
By not being able to tackle him because he's invisible ?
@sparky said in England Vs All Blacks:
@cgrant I disagree. I think Simon Parker is a project worth persevering with and Twickenham is great stage for him to show what he's got. I think his ball carrying will cause England some real problems.
Ball carrying ? He made 0 meter against Ireland ...
Biggest match of the tour. I think one Beauden John Barrett is due…..
The last 10 tests
2024 - W by 2 points (A)
2024 - W by 7 points (H)
2024 - W by 1 point (H)
2022 - Draw (A)
2019 - L by 12 points (RWC)
2018 - W by 1 point (A)
2014 - W by 3 points (A)
2014 - W by 23 points (H)
2014 - W by 1 point (H)
2014 - W by 5 points (H)
@Victor-Meldrew Steve Borthwick is doing a great job with his squad this year. Only one loss in 2025 and that was their first game away to Ireland. Nine wins in a row. Bringing on some excellent young players. Not rushing other young talent. Keeping his squad happy and avoiding any of them shooting their mouths off in public. Playing a robust very-English style of rugby but also with a "we can score from anywhere" threat.
Saturday is going to be a tough game for the ABs.
@Victor-Meldrew said in England Vs All Blacks:
@sparky said in England Vs All Blacks:
Nearly time again to take on the "pricks to lose to" at their beloved Cabbage Patch.
Get ready for a week of anti-Haka and "they just win because they cheat" nonsense.
They are trying to make it ten wins in a row.
We are trying to complete Leg Three of Operation Grand Slam.
The Raeburn Shield is on the line.
To the victor the spoils. I can't fucking wait for Saturday.
To be fair, England are a much more likeable side since Borthwick took over. Way less dickdead-ness
Itoje says hold my beer
@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:
Itoje says hold my beer
Only if it's made up of his salty tears postmatch...
I don't usually watch The Breakdown, but caught the guys discussing squad makeup for England. Lots of differing opinions ranging from Gus towing the party line, to Beaver thinking DMac is best locking down the subs bench. Mils wants DMac in and Love at 23. Like Mils
Andrea Piardi of Italy, who did the Bledisloe game at Eden Park this year, will be the man with the whistle.
Is there anyone in Nz rugby who can catch a high ? Who ever it is, they can’t start
60% of restarts won. That’s fucking awful
@jimmyb said in England Vs All Blacks:
Is there anyone in Nz rugby who can catch a high ?
Take a trip to the Coromandel...
The forecast is for it to being pissing down in West London for most of the week and on Saturday afternoon too.
Time for the wet weather strategy.
@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Victor-Meldrew said in England Vs All Blacks:
@sparky said in England Vs All Blacks:
Nearly time again to take on the "pricks to lose to" at their beloved Cabbage Patch.
Get ready for a week of anti-Haka and "they just win because they cheat" nonsense.
They are trying to make it ten wins in a row.
We are trying to complete Leg Three of Operation Grand Slam.
The Raeburn Shield is on the line.
To the victor the spoils. I can't fucking wait for Saturday.
To be fair, England are a much more likeable side since Borthwick took over. Way less dickdead-ness
Itoje says hold my beer
He's hugely improved. When he looks back on his career, wonder if he'll think he wasted his early years being a dick-head.
@Victor-Meldrew said in England Vs All Blacks:
@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Victor-Meldrew said in England Vs All Blacks:
@sparky said in England Vs All Blacks:
Nearly time again to take on the "pricks to lose to" at their beloved Cabbage Patch.
Get ready for a week of anti-Haka and "they just win because they cheat" nonsense.
They are trying to make it ten wins in a row.
We are trying to complete Leg Three of Operation Grand Slam.
The Raeburn Shield is on the line.
To the victor the spoils. I can't fucking wait for Saturday.
To be fair, England are a much more likeable side since Borthwick took over. Way less dickdead-ness
Itoje says hold my beer
He's hugely improved. When he looks back on his career, wonder if he'll think he wasted his early years being a dick-head.
He’ll look at his series winning Lions Captain’s shirt and not care one iota
It is about 99.999% unlikely there will be any experimenting or positional changes, so I reckon that team above is a long way off...
It doesn't make sense bringing on one of your best players into the backline for the last 20 or 30 minutes. BS.
@BerniesCorner said in England Vs All Blacks:
Twickenham is an awful stadium too.
82,000 people can make a lot of noise if they want to, but as a spectator it's a less enjoyable experience than Wembley, the Emirates or the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Only the London Stadium (West Ham's ground) is worse of the major London stadiums.
Eventually it will need to be demolished and totally rebuilt or sold off.
England have named their squad for Saturday. The additional of Elliot Daly and Max Ojomoh the only changes.
My Backline for England: 9. Roigard 10. DMac 11. LF 12. Tupaea 13. Proctor 14. Jordan 15. Love
Carter has been a bit average the last two tests so might be worthwhile giving him a spell. Beaudy to covere 10 and 15 from the bench where I think he's the most impactful these days.
@pakman said in England Vs All Blacks:
Clarke out. I think I’d prefer Rieko to get a start there, rather than start monkeying around with other things.
Yep, Proctor who has been underwhelming all year isn't going to scare England like QT and LF could well do. Ioane in as a straight swap as the only change ( I won't even bother suggesting McKenzie over BB, won't happen )
@Canes4life said in England Vs All Blacks:
My Backline for England: 9. Roigard 10. DMac 11. LF 12. Tupaea 13. Proctor 14. Jordan 15. Love
Carter has been a bit average the last two tests so might be worthwhile giving him a spell. Beaudy to covere 10 and 15 from the bench where I think he's the most impactful these days.
Gotta get Proctor in somehow eh.
I’m worried about this one. England have genuine depth in most positions and overwhelmingly so at the loose forward position so the breakdown maybe a long night.
Their strength – kicking and chasing contestable kicks is our weakness. In the Aussie game they created a semicircle of 3 player around the kick contest to cleanup the intentional tap-backs or get a jackal if it goes the other way. (A decent strategy I’d like us to do.)
We know what they’re going to do all night - I’d select our team with this in mind.
@Frank said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Canes4life said in England Vs All Blacks:
My Backline for England: 9. Roigard 10. DMac 11. LF 12. Tupaea 13. Proctor 14. Jordan 15. Love
Carter has been a bit average the last two tests so might be worthwhile giving him a spell. Beaudy to covere 10 and 15 from the bench where I think he's the most impactful these days.
Gotta get Proctor in somehow eh.
Yeah any excuse to shoehorn him in.
He'll get a run vs Wales if he's lucky. No chance in a huge game like this.
I doubt we'll see many changes. Other than a couple of players out with and back from injury, the only points of interest will be whether or not Carter is punished for his foot trip (I doubt he will be) and if they go back to a bigger blindside and confirm they were only prepared to play the weekend's loose forward combo against that particular opposition.
@ShaquilleOatmeal said in England Vs All Blacks:
I doubt we'll see many changes. Other than a couple of players out with and back from injury, the only points of interest will be whether or not Carter is punished for his foot trip (I doubt he will be) and if they go back to a bigger blindside and confirm they were only prepared to play the weekend's loose forward combo against that particular opposition.
I suspect there is less chance to punish Carter given Clarke is out.
UK bookies currently make England the slight favourites for this one. A rare test where the ABs go into the contest as underdogs.
@jimmyb said in England Vs All Blacks:
Is there anyone in Nz rugby who can catch a high ? Who ever it is, they can’t start
60% of restarts won. That’s fucking awful
3 out of 5. Lakai dropped one, can’t recall who dropped the other. Lord?
Last year at Twickers we scraped by with Sititi/ Cane/ Savea and Finau on the bench.
Ardie is a guaranteed starter. So who plays at 6 and 8.
I would actually select Finau and tell him to rip in. Does his form warrant it? Probably not. Do we need some size at 6? Yep. Why not Parker? I think for a player in his first season he’s done some good things but still has areas of improvement and very much a work in progress.
I’d keep Lakai at 8 and Sititi in the bench impact/cover role.
Same tight 5 starters and bench.
I think they should keep the same midfield for this one. Ioane to left wing.
The replacement for Clarke will tell us the pecking order for centre and left wing. If they stick with the same midfield then Ioane over Reece is the better option in the no.11 jersey. But if LF is moved to be the power winger then their choice at centre becomes much more interesting.
@Bovidae from a pragmatic perspective they’d have to go with the starting midfield again. It’s not like we have many combinations to call upon with our number 1 2nd 5 out.
A case of they’ll be better for the run!
Ioane was our left wing to start the season when Clark was out of the team, go back to the well I say. A bit like my call to bring Finau back.
Ok maybe unpopular thought, but with Clarke out, I wouldn't mind seeing LF move out to wing, and maybe play RI at 13 . I worry we will need pretty good defence in midfield, as perhaps the Pommy pack may cause us problems.