@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2026:
@kiwimurph said in All Blacks 2026:
In the eyes of this coaching group Rieko is behind Tupaea, Proctor and ALB for 13. I can't see him getting a shot at 13 any time soon outside of maybe Bok tour games
That assumes proctor hasn't gone backwards with his performance against Italy. He might be the midweek option now.
I highly doubt it - I thought Proctor was good off of the bench week 1
@nostrildamus not with Ardie in the team.
@Tim said in All Blacks 2026:
Any word on Tuipulotu's availability?
Rennie said today he's good to go
Also said Jacobson is good
Tuipulotu would have been a lot of people’s choice for the lock spot on the bench going into the series, so it’ll be good to see if he can do that job if he’s back.
Jacobson being healthy is obviously a positive too and I think he deserves to keep his spot. Three test starts in a row is unheard of for him. It’ll mean less tinkering with the loose forwards in general - there’s already likely to be another change at blindside and/or on the bench.
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2026:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2026:
@SecFid said in All Blacks 2026:
@jimmyb Jordie Barrett hasn’t started at 15 for the AB’s in years and didn’t start there at all for the Canes this season. Sure he can drop back in general play to diffuse kicks and does so particularly in the second half. Rennie would be wise to leave him at 12 and just find a centre. I think BB might get a start at 15 as DMac doesn’t seem to be offering much on first phase attack at present. If Love and Mounga are preferred at 10 then BB must offer something from 15, or nothing at all.
I would be happy to leave JB where he is, as he is currently one of our more effective backs. DMac played okay IMHO, and he combines well with Love. Moorby put his hand up as a potential option at 15 and I would use him before either of the Barrett brothers
Moorby looks solid at wing or 15 to me.
After 45-50 minutes of test footy against Italy?
Let’s just see how things go after a bit more playing time.
@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2026:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@frugby said in All Blacks 2026:
There's a school of thought, that we are best off picking players to play our own gameplan, than picking inferior players to try to match the Boks physically (which we can't do)
There's obviously a balance to be struck, but I am not sure picking Parker, essentially because he is big, is necessarily any better than say picking Lakai and trying to beat them with pure workrate.
While I agree with your point, your example is a bit dicey as PSDT probably has a better workrate than Lakai e.g. he made 21 tackles and 12 carries against the Poms vs Lakai's 7 & 8 against France...
I think most people on here would agree that Lakai isn’t a 6 and should be playing 8. Again our loose trio suffers to accomodate Ardie.
I dont think that affects workrate and getting through the tackles etc. Sititi from 6 had a big workrate game on the week d for example, as did Ardie in the second 40.
I think they will want to play Parker. He showed some things at Eden Park last year. Against the Boks that offered a point of difference to Sititi and Ardie for example.
These early games have appeared to be more around fast paced attack.
Caleb Clarke and Josh Moorby are expected to contest the starting left wing role this week, with both likely to be involved in the squad to confront Ireland, as fellow wings Leroy Carter and Fehi Fineanganofo nurse shoulder injuries.
@george33 said in All Blacks 2026:
Scott Barrett v Ardie no return.
Please, for the love of god, elaborate so we can understand what you’re saying.
You’re saying it’s a clash between those 2 so Barrett isn’t returning? Or something else? This is quite literally how inaccurate rumours start.
Some interesting points of discussion....
Tupaea hasn't put his hand up at centre.... and yet was crucially involved in at least a couple of tries Vs France and this is only after one bloody game.
Also Ratima getting a hard time because his clearance apparently isn't as fast as Roigard's - which seems bizarre when you note the amount of times the breakdown is being cleared by someone other than Roigard.
Awful analysis, incorrect conclusions, zero insight
Wrong about pretty much everything
We did think about adding “unsubstantiated rumours” to our tagline, but it got legaled out…..
On Rieko vs Tupaea/Proctor, for me it comes down to what is more concerning in a test against SA - Rieko adding a bit less on attack but rock solid defense, or Tupaea and Proctor offering more threat but with significant defensive issues. You can't hide your 13 on defense at test level (as they have both found out already), so that's why I lean towards Rieko who we know won't let us down there. I would also be very surprised if Rennie decided to just use him as a crash ball merchant in close as well so he should offer more threat on attack if given a chance.
Let’s give Tupaea this weekend, a couple of those warmups and the first test against SA and then start forming an opinion.
We know what Rieko offers, we know Proctor’s limitations (which at this stage appear tough to fix) - we don’t know how Tupaea will look after an extended run.
In their current forms, Tupaea > Rieko all day, and he is undoubtedly in your best side on paper.
We need to find out if it works in practice, and no way is one test enough of a sample size.
@No-Quarter interesting that Tupaea/Proctor have significant defensive issues after one start each, yet the only issue Ioane has is offering a little bit less on attack.
Ioane's issues on attack weren't just down to being used as a battering ram - hence they were evident at super level also. He refused to scan, used next to no footwork, tucked and ducked.
I think there's a bit of revisionism going on about just how good his defence is too.
I would be hugely surprised if a guy seen as too limited in the midfield gets brought into the squad as injury cover for the outside backs and leapfrogs the actual midfield selected.
@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks 2026:
@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2026:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@frugby said in All Blacks 2026:
There's a school of thought, that we are best off picking players to play our own gameplan, than picking inferior players to try to match the Boks physically (which we can't do)
There's obviously a balance to be struck, but I am not sure picking Parker, essentially because he is big, is necessarily any better than say picking Lakai and trying to beat them with pure workrate.
While I agree with your point, your example is a bit dicey as PSDT probably has a better workrate than Lakai e.g. he made 21 tackles and 12 carries against the Poms vs Lakai's 7 & 8 against France...
I think most people on here would agree that Lakai isn’t a 6 and should be playing 8. Again our loose trio suffers to accomodate Ardie.
I dont think that affects workrate and getting through the tackles etc. Sititi from 6 had a big workrate game on the week d for example, as did Ardie in the second 40.
I think they will want to play Parker. He showed some things at Eden Park last year. Against the Boks that offered a point of difference to Sititi and Ardie for example.
These early games have appeared to be more around fast paced attack.
Sititi has a low workrate when it comes to hitting rucks. It was near the bottom of loose forwards in Super Rugby. 10 per 80 minutes which is near the worst in Super Rugby for loose forwards.
@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:
Some interesting points of discussion....
Tupaea hasn't put his hand up at centre.... and yet was crucially involved in at least a couple of tries Vs France and this is only after one bloody game.
Also Ratima getting a hard time because his clearance apparently isn't as fast as Roigard's - which seems bizarre when you note the amount of times the breakdown is being cleared by someone other than Roigard.
Good point. Why is Darry clearing the deck? I think there were a few times when Roigard was clearing rucks. Are our loosies doing enough there?
@frugby said in All Blacks 2026:
Let’s give Tupaea this weekend, a couple of those warmups and the first test against SA and then start forming an opinion.
We know what Rieko offers, we know Proctor’s limitations (which at this stage appear tough to fix) - we don’t know how Tupaea will look after an extended run.
In their current forms, Tupaea > Rieko all day, and he is undoubtedly in your best side on paper.
We need to find out if it works in practice, and no way is one test enough of a sample size.
yeah, we all agree super and training isnt the same as a test match...so gove him a couple more games to try and bridge the gap
