All Blacks 2026

@Rugbyman said in All Blacks 2026:

@Canes4life Rubbish team by Napier. How can he leave Darry out? That team looks pretty cumbersome and lacking some carrying power. Glad he is not picking the team.

Lord has played well methinks but so far for me Darry has been the best lock...

I don’t want to sound too controversial but let’s try and pick a 6 and 6 rather than a lock or an 8? Va’ai before his injury was the form lock. Let’s give him a chance to get back into it. He has a point of difference that the rest of our locks don’t so why fuck around with him at 6?

What’s the point of having Parker in the squad if you don’t at least give him a chance in the first three matches?

@jimmyb agreed and Vaai has said he doesn't want to play 6 so why force the guy to play where he doesn't feel comfortable. He has been a very good lock over the last 3 years standing up to the mighty Boks and I want him there come later on in the year.

@bigguy56 listen to ZB quite a lot.

@nostrildamus Darry probably our best player over both games

@jimmyb said in All Blacks 2026:

I don’t want to sound too controversial but let’s try and pick a 6 and 6 rather than a lock or an 8? Va’ai before his injury was the form lock. Let’s give him a chance to get back into it. He has a point of difference that the rest of our locks don’t so why fuck around with him at 6?

What’s the point of having Parker in the squad if you don’t at least give him a chance in the first three matches?

I think the calls for Vaa'i at blindside are purely down to searching for the right loose forward combination, with the other options not quite solving the problem so far despite generally solid performances (Lakai, though probably not Sititi). There might have been reluctance to try other players if they're new to the environment, seen as better suited to other roles, or perhaps aren't yet meeting the standards Rennie wants. Giving Vaa'i a go is simply working through the options in the hope that something clicks.

6 Parker
7 Savea
8 Vaa'i

20 Jacobson

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2026:

I don't mind Ioane in the midfield at all - just think he's behind Proctor and potentially Tupaea and Lienert-Brown

Look, I'm a huge fan of ALB. He's been fucked about by the last 2-3 coaches but still gave his all. Had he been handled properly he could have been a true AB great and if any player deserves 100 caps it's him.

But his time has passed. Take him for the mid-week games in SA possibly, but he shouldn't be blocking others in Tests

I have a lot of sympathy for your view.

That said, from a scientific perspective it would be informative to see the effect of ALB having 40 outside Cam, Love and Jordie. That way there would be a proper comparison at 13 against Tupaea and Proctor.

@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2026:

6 Parker
7 Savea
8 Vaa'i

20 Jacobson

Pair that up with our best props and keep leaving tuipulotu out, and that's our zero ball running XV.

@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:

@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2026:

6 Parker
7 Savea
8 Vaa'i

20 Jacobson

Pair that up with our best props and keep leaving tuipulotu out, and that's our zero ball running XV.

Are we talking about 2025 Tuipulotu or every other year Tuipulotu?

@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2026:

@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:

@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2026:

6 Parker
7 Savea
8 Vaa'i

20 Jacobson

Pair that up with our best props and keep leaving tuipulotu out, and that's our zero ball running XV.

Are we talking about 2025 Tuipulotu or every other year Tuipulotu?

Does it matter which one if we're leaving him out?

@MiketheSnow said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@Bones said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

Rattle JGP, get him off his game and they're a bit of a nothing side now.

Same could be said for Roigard

He's easily our most important player and with a strike rate like the below he's going to break plenty of records.

@Canes4life said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@MiketheSnow said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@Bones said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

Rattle JGP, get him off his game and they're a bit of a nothing side now.

Same could be said for Roigard

He's easily our most important player and with a strike rate like the below he's going to break plenty of records.

I think he is our most important player, but only due to the lack of similar (in style and quality) options behind him.

@reprobate said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@Canes4life said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@MiketheSnow said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@Bones said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

Rattle JGP, get him off his game and they're a bit of a nothing side now.

Same could be said for Roigard

He's easily our most important player and with a strike rate like the below he's going to break plenty of records.

I think he is our most important player, but only due to the lack of similar (in style and quality) options behind him.

Yeah but that’s also purely down to how dominant of a player he is. It’s pretty obvious that Roigard has become the dominant decision maker for the ABs.

Historically it’s been the 10 making most of the big decisions, but in recent years that has shifted to the 9, we’ve seen it with JGP at Ireland and Du Pont at France. 9s are having a lot more say on the game than they used to.

@Canes4life said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@reprobate said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@Canes4life said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@MiketheSnow said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@Bones said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

Rattle JGP, get him off his game and they're a bit of a nothing side now.

Same could be said for Roigard

He's easily our most important player and with a strike rate like the below he's going to break plenty of records.

I think he is our most important player, but only due to the lack of similar (in style and quality) options behind him.

Yeah but that’s also purely down to how dominant of a player he is. It’s pretty obvious that Roigard has become the dominant decision maker for the ABs.

Historically it’s been the 10 making most of the big decisions, but in recent years that has shifted to the 9, we’ve seen it with JGP at Ireland and Du Pont at France. 9s are having a lot more say on the game than they used to.

The point is France have the world class Lucu as the other halfback option to Dupont.

ABs other 9s i'm not even sure are test quality let alone world class

@KiwiMurph I guess the hope would be that Pledger is as good as we all think he is, and there's your one-two punch.

@KiwiMurph said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@Canes4life said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@reprobate said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@Canes4life said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@MiketheSnow said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@Bones said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

Rattle JGP, get him off his game and they're a bit of a nothing side now.

Same could be said for Roigard

He's easily our most important player and with a strike rate like the below he's going to break plenty of records.

I think he is our most important player, but only due to the lack of similar (in style and quality) options behind him.

Yeah but that’s also purely down to how dominant of a player he is. It’s pretty obvious that Roigard has become the dominant decision maker for the ABs.

Historically it’s been the 10 making most of the big decisions, but in recent years that has shifted to the 9, we’ve seen it with JGP at Ireland and Du Pont at France. 9s are having a lot more say on the game than they used to.

The point is France have the world class Lucu as the other halfback option to Dupont.

ABs other 9s i'm not even sure are test quality let alone world class

That’s a fair point.

@frugby said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:

@KiwiMurph I guess the hope would be that Pledger is as good as we all think he is, and there's your one-two punch.

Pledger looks like the perfect impact halfback as he’s a whippet.