@shaquilleoatmeal said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@george33 said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@nostrildamus perhaps Carter covers halfback as well. Maybe they won't take a fourth halfback.
Could there be any more proof Rennie thinks the halfback options are useless?
It would be a giant trout slap in the face alright.
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@george33 in thier opinion? We dont know what targets Rennie had for the centres, both had thier moments (good and bad) fitting into a new.offence.and defence line, not sure 2 tests is enough to cut them.
And Rennie chose not to select Ioane in his initial squad for whatever reason. He easily could have found a space for him if he wanted. He would have known Tupaea and Proctor were iffy on defence but may have either thought he could sort that out (but hasn’t had time yet only three tests in) or the upside was worth it.
@george33 said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
I've heard Payton Spencer also potentially a bolter.
Dude are you trolling with all these Auckland long shots?
@george33 said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Basically said the guy was just messed around under Razor.
I can not believe Razor was messing him around for several years before he even took over as coach smh
@shaquilleoatmeal I think Rennie wanted to give Rieko a rest after Leinster while also giving Proctor his shot..knowing he had Rieko to fall back on
I agree v SA Reiko is our current best 13 at least defensively.
Proctor would be out of his depth... IMO
@george33 said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Just heard interview with Kevin Putt and another scribe from Rugby Pass .
Both said Reiko needs be starting centre.
Otherwise we will get ripped apart in Africa. Basically said the guy was just messed around under Razor.
Current centres tried don't cut it
Firstly, I agree RI was fucked around under Razor.
Secondly, as fanboi I have him 2nd behind Tupaea.
Thirdly, are you sure you're George? That post was coherent.
@upthelanders said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Does Tavatavanawi go to SA?
As much as I love him, I just can't see how he'd fit in with how Rennie's AB's wish to play.
@upthelanders said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Does Tavatavanawi go to SA?
Jim's problem is that he is a terrific rugby player. Whose skillset does not suit any one position. He csn jackel like a seven. Run in contact like an eight. Has nice touches like a 12. He used to have the acceleration to play on the wing.
It is just his unique skills can impact the flow of a team. He is also not as good at any one position as the specialists that play them.
Great footy player. No room for the nearly everything modern utility.
@bellsgeorg said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@george33 said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Basically said the guy was just messed around under Razor.
I can not believe Razor was messing him around for several years before he even took over as coach smh
You clearly weren't around when he was appointed.
He was possessed of God-like properties according to his fanbois. Time travel would have been a doddle.
@pakman But @landers92 hasn’t posted the team yet…
@southernmann said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@upthelanders said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Does Tavatavanawi go to SA?
Jim's problem is that he is a terrific rugby player. Whose skillset does not suit any one position. He csn jackel like a seven. Run in contact like an eight. Has nice touches like a 12. He used to have the acceleration to play on the wing.
It is just his unique skills can impact the flow of a team. He is also not as good at any one position as the specialists that play them.
Great footy player. No room for the nearly everything modern utility.
Sounds a bit like Leicester....
@kiwimurph Believe Jacomb is in the 44. Suggests RM might not be fit to play as Rennie was hoping for and so he needs 10 cover rather than 15 cover. Love and Jacomb as 10’s and DMac and BB as experienced 15’s
@secfid said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@kiwimurph Believe Jacomb is in the 44. Suggests RM might not be fit to play as Rennie was hoping for and so he needs 10 cover rather than 15 cover. Love and Jacomb as 10’s and DMac and BB as experienced 15’s
Source?
@zinnyzinzin said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@canefan nah - LF has been good for the All Blacks - he is a level above Jim
He's done okay. Just commenting on the description
@secfid said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@frankA NPC player recounting what his coach had told him. The player claims his coach knew on Thursday
Ah fuck.
Hope it isn't true
@southernmann said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@upthelanders said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
Does Tavatavanawi go to SA?
Jim's problem is that he is a terrific rugby player. Whose skillset does not suit any one position. He csn jackel like a seven. Run in contact like an eight. Has nice touches like a 12. He used to have the acceleration to play on the wing.
It is just his unique skills can impact the flow of a team. He is also not as good at any one position as the specialists that play them.
Great footy player. No room for the nearly everything modern utility.
Reminds me of Levani Botia.
I’ve been rewatching the 2021 TRC matches between the Wallabies and the Springboks, and it does make me wonder about certain narratives that are currently floating around.
Many people seem to portray the upcoming Test matches as a clash of styles, with the AB possession game going up against the Springbok tactics of aerial bombardment and breakdown pressure. But while the Wallabies under Rennie played a possession-heavy game against the ABs in the first two rounds of the 2021 Rugby Championship, they strongly mixed it up against the Boks, letting SA have more of the ball while kicking more for territory.
Rennie’s Wallaby tactics in the 2021 TRC: a possession game against Foster’s ABs, a territory game against Nienaber’s Boks (stats: carries, passes, kicks, rucks won, percentage of possession, and possession of total tackles in the game)
Rennie’s Wallabies played against the ABs like the ABs played this July: ball in hand, lots of passes and lots of carries, while looking to attack from anywhere. But this doesn’t mean that these three July Tests signal a definitive playing style: Rennie approached the Boks very differently in the next two rounds, making sure not to overplay against the Bok blitz. We shouldn’t be surprised, in other words, if a very different AB game plan appears in South Africa.
And this brings me to a second point, selection. The key for the Wallabies’ wins against the Boks in 2021 was the Wallaby backline spine of Nic White, Quade Cooper and Reece Hodge, who all provided a unique aspect to the kicking game. White, at the time, was one of the best box kickers in the world, Hodge had a massive punt that could put the Springboks back into their 22, and Cooper had an educated boot which could find space behind the Springbok blitz.
If Rennie is going to play a similar kick pressure game against the Springboks in the upcoming tour, some changes would be expected in terms of squad selection. The key area of selection would be halfback: neither Roigard nor Ratima have a box kick as dependable as Nic White’s, while Preston has had more of an impact role at the Crusaders this year, being asked to speed up the game when coming on.
A player like Noah Hotham might come back into consideration from this perspective: while his pass and decision-making can be subpar at times, in terms of contestable kicking, the Crusaders are the only side who come close to the South African franchises.
The Kiwi and South African franchises kick about as much per game but the percentage of contestability is on a whole different level. Across the top club competitions, all of the South African teams are in the top 15, while only the Crusaders appear there as well (14th). The other teams – Blues (37th), Chiefs (t-43rd), Hurricanes (t-43rd), and Highlanders (48th) – rank near the bottom
The tour of South Africa should show whether Rennie is still the pragmatist he was earlier in his career or whether he will persist with the same tactics and style no matter the opponent. One of Robertson’s biggest problems during his tenure was the lack of flexibility in tactics, with a changeup in playing style being all too rare. My hope is that Rennie shows some more cunning in terms of strategy and selection. He will need it, coming up against that most cunning of foxes in the Republic.
@frank said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
no way Rennie's picking Hotham ahead of Roigard.
I'm open to being corrected but from memory part of the reason the Australians beat the Springboks over there was Libboks moronic run it from everywhere style of play
I'm not saying he's picking Hotham ahead of Roigard. I'm saying he could well be in the squad in order to have a box kick option (you can also tactically use a kicking option from the bench).
And you are definitely wrong about Libbok, he didn't even play in those games. You're thinking of last year's Ellis Park Test.
@mr-fish said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
do you think the Crusaders would have kicked fewer contestables if Roigard had been playing for them?
Let me answer your suggestive question with one of my own: why did the Chiefs kick exactly the same amount of total kicks and contestables as the Hurricanes, despite not having Roigard?
@mauss said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
@mr-fish said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
do you think the Crusaders would have kicked fewer contestables if Roigard had been playing for them?
Let me answer your suggestive question with one of my own: why did the Chiefs kick exactly the same amount of total kicks and contestables as the Hurricanes, despite not having Roigard?
I'm assuming potentially because their team's tactics weren't dictated based on the box kicking abilities of their halfbacks.
My point being, Hotham might not be good at box kicks just because his team employed it as a tactic regularly. Roigard seems a much better box kicker than Ratima but as you say, that didn't affect how often the Hurricanes and Chiefs utilised it.
@mr-fish said in All Blacks Tour of South Africa 2026:
I'm assuming potentially because their team's tactics weren't dictated based on the box kicking abilities of their halfbacks.
My point being, Hotham might not be good at box kicks just because his team employed it as a tactic regularly. Roigard seems a much better box kicker than Ratima but as you say, that didn't affect how often the Hurricanes and Chiefs utilised it.
I think you are confusing the % of contestability stat with number of box kicks kicked. The stat doesn't say how many times a team box kicked; it reflects how many of them were actually contestable. This is Opta's definition: "The percentage of kicks which resulted in an aerial contest between an attacking and defending player."
I looked at contestable kicking in the early rounds of SRP, and in their game against the Blues, the Chiefs attempted to kick contestables both from 9 and 10. But the quality of the kick wasn't good enough, meaning that these kicks wouldn't even appear in this stat.
So I don't think the Crusaders kicked that much more contestables than the Chiefs; they were simply better at it. And I think Hotham was an important part of that success. Furthermore, while Roigard's kicking is usually a strength of his, I think he was quite poor in this area in July. Both his contestable and his exit kicking will need to be a lot better in South Africa.
