All Blacks 2026

@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.

Hopefully Patty gets a run , will play big part in Africa

@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.

@Landers92

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.

So the leadership group below Savea: Taylor, J Barrett, Roigard, Jordan & Jacobson.

@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

@brodean said in All Blacks 2026:

@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.

I can’t comment too much on the super stats, but he has a high usage rate at test level - so he’s not necessarily going to be high on the attacking rucks hit.

Plus he has put in some big tackle efforts, so again not a big ruck hitter if you are the tackler.

@Bones and whilst Rens fave ALB is still breathing, Ioane is no hope of usurping that centre spot!

@brodean said in All Blacks 2026:

@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?

It was really noticeable in this game eh, especially in the first 20-30...half the time when someone else is clearing I can't even figure out where Roigard is (possibly still getting up from being tackled as he likes to take it to the line)? I think there was one where it went like 3-4 breakdowns being cleared quickly by someone other than Roigard, a couple of those Roigard was ready behind the clearing player.

@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:

@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.

I am talking about what I would like to see, not what I think Rennie will do who will surely continue with his current centres in the squad.

I think an issue for Rieko is that people always compare him to Conrad Smith when he has never been and will never be anything like the same player. Primarily what Rieko brings to the table is very strong defense and a strong running game. Our current backline has playmakers at 9, 10, 12, 15 and to a lesser degree 14. So to my mind a player with Rieko's attributes fits into that well where they can work to give him space to run on the outside, or use him as a decoy to attract defense in.

And yes I do think Tupaea and Proctor have significant issues on defense at test level as 13 is a very tricky position to defend from. Tupaea struggled there against France, and Proctor again was unable to match up against Italy.

For what it's worth I hope Tupaea can go well there, as he offers the most on attack with a strong running game, vision for his outsides and quick hands to set them away. His problem right now is he's a 12 playing 13 that is about to play the best centres in the world, who will be ruthless with any defensive deficiencies we have in that channel.

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2026:

@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:

@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.

I am talking about what I would like to see, not what I think Rennie will do who will surely continue with his current centres in the squad.

I think an issue for Rieko is that people always compare him to Conrad Smith when he has never been and will never be anything like the same player. Primarily what Rieko brings to the table is very strong defense and a strong running game. Our current backline has playmakers at 9, 10, 12, 15 and to a lesser degree 14. So to my mind a player with Rieko's attributes fits into that well where they can work to give him space to run on the outside, or use him as a decoy to attract defense in.

And yes I do think Tupaea and Proctor have significant issues on defense at test level as 13 is a very tricky position to defend from. Tupaea struggled there against France, and Proctor again was unable to match up against Italy.

For what it's worth I hope Tupaea can go well there, as he offers the most on attack with a strong running game, vision for his outsides and quick hands to set them away. His problem right now is he's a 12 playing 13 that is about to play the best centres in the world, who will be ruthless with any defensive deficiencies we have in that channel.

If Proctor had made a better fist of 13 Tupaea could concentrate on playing 12 ( there's obviously a Jordie sized obstacle there though ) as it is he's being tried in a spot he's not totally comfortable in.

It would be nice if the ABs could have JB and QT as a one two punch at 12 given the former is pretty much in career best form.

Regarding Reikos defence I think a lot of that is down to tremendous pace rather than amazing tactical nous.

Rieko was more than solid in the business end of URC. He was pretty dominant against all the SA URC teams at 13. He was preferred over Ringrose at 13 in the games that mattered. His size was useful against the smaller SA backs and he made breaks, scored tries, passed well and had some really good covering tackles when he tracked back to tackle someone whop was destined to score. I am happy he is in the squad, not saying he should be picked over Tupaea or Proctor yet but having him in the squad is very useful and he has some recent experience playing in SA and against SA URC teams too.