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All Blacks 2019 RWC squad

yeah, fair enough, think i just got caught up in the story and really liked the idea of someone actually storming into the squad, not just on potential or reputation but actually went out and dominated in a few games (admittedly at a lower level) and coming back all full of confidence...i might be worried about moral after the RC
 
Really disappointed for Liam Squire. I believe we will miss him at RWC because without him we don't have an uncompromising, hard running enforcer at blinside. On the other hand, that means he will be available for Tasman Makos for the rest of the season :D

Happy for Matt Todd though...
 
That's still a very good squad though. But I do see a few cracks in the armour, especially from the Bok camp's perspective.

Not picking Franks, is IMO a bad call, and while the other props do offer more variety, it might be a bad move at the scrums, one area where the Boks might target the AB's.

The other is the wings. They are all great wingers, but they're not that good with the bombs. Kolbe has shown on more than one occassion he can upstage Ioane in that facet of play.

Laumape is unfortunate, as he has the skills to break through tackles and score tries, but the other centres have overall better skills.
 
Larksea said:
All Blacks 2019 RWC squad

Hookers
Dane Coles, Liam Coltman, Codie Taylor

Props
Nepo Laulala, Joe Moody, Atu Moli, Angus Ta'avao, Ofa Tuungafasi

Locks
Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Patrick Tuipulotu, Samuel Whitelock

Loose forwards
Sam Cane, Luke Jacobson, Kieran Read, Ardie Savea, Matt Todd

Halfbacks
TJ Perenara, Aaron Smith, Brad Weber

First five-eighths
Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo'unga

Midfielders
Ryan Crotty, Jack Goodhue, Anton Lienert-Brown, Sonny Bill Williams

Outside backs
Jordie Barrett, George Bridge, Rieko Ioane, Sevu Reece, Ben Smith

Notable omissions: Owen Franks, Liam Squire, Ngani Laumape

Obviously Owen Franks is a huge call, he has more test caps than all the other props combined. Owen has always been seen as a specialist scrummager and defender around the rucks. He's never been able to develop his ball carrying which has been an anomaly in NZ as I believe NZ pioneered Props that can link, carry and distribute when needed Franks always bucked that trend and seemed to remain old school. I think it could be argued that his ability at scrum time is no longer so much better than the other options we have to lose out on the extra mobility and ball carrying skills guys like Angus and Ofa bring. I'd also say that in recent years when Laulala has been injury free he's been easily the equal of Franks at scrum time. The selection also confirms the remarkable rise of Ta'avao who gave up on his AB dream and went to Aussie to try and make the wallabies, failed in that bid and was lucky to get a spot back in NZ to try and save his career, maybe thanks to karl tu'inukuafe who moved from the Chiefs to the Blues.

Also spare a thought for karl tu'inukuafe who looked like he had become an All Black mainstay with an inspirational story behind his rise in Rugby but he's just struggled to capture that same this year form.

Good to see Moli back the options were light on the loosehead side, he has a ton of ability and looked good for the chiefs on his return from a horrific injury.

Locks were fairly predictable, last WC we went with 3 but with Retalick currently injured and too important to leave out 4 have been selected with Tuipulotu being the obvious benefactor.

That leaves room for just 5 lose forwards 3 of which are specialist open side flankers. I like it I honestly could not leave Todd out the guy would start for any other test side in the world. Tough as nails, stops everything that comes at him and carries hard. This guy could have left NZ long ago after constantly being stuck behind McCaw and Cane what a legend hard for a chiefs supporter to admit, He's absolute class.

Luke Jacobson is a massive call, I would have selected him but I didn't think the selectors would. His stats in super rugby made him the superior option but he had some concussion symptoms which limited his playtime during TRC. Just came back with a big game for Waikato and that was likely enough to see him pip Fifita.

Brad Weber confirmed.

Only 2 first fives and its likely both will be on the park at the same time. Looking for inside the squad for cover at 10 and you find Jordie Barrett, TJ Perenara, Ben Smith and Ryan Crotty who apparently played 10 in lower grades. of them the only genuine test goal kicker is Jordie. In an idea world we would only be in a situation to use these options in easier pool games where Bauden and Richie may be rested. Josh Ioane will be on call, also wonder if he will still start against Tonga to give him some more experience in the event he is called in as injury cover later.

Midfield is predictable with Laumape missing out but he needs to stay ready he's the obvious call up and SBW/Crotty have had injury issues the last couple of seasons.

with only 2 first fives selected that means they avoid having to make a huge call at the back with all 5 outside back options picked. The obvious knock on for that is Jordie Barrett and Ben Smith may have to cover 10 in a pinch.
I like this squad, I've been saying for a while now that NZ's best chance at this WC is to be bold on selection and push the evolution of the side. Don't be afraid and get locked into established selections because its WC year.

With Bridge, Sevu, Weber, Jacobson, Ta'avao, Moli, Richie we have bold selections of world class talent that will still be a bit of a mystery for many of our traditional WC Rivals.
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If we hadn't lost to Ireland, you could guarantee franks would be in and taavao would not. The performance of Healy and furlong in that game was outstanding in terms of their workrate, miles above what we had to offer. Karl possibly wouldn't have made it even if he had been fit all year, but being out with viral meningitis for several months meant he had practically zero chance, just not fit enough.

Luke was always going to make it if squire was left out, given they had already dropped frizell. Simply because they need three players able to cover each position, and Fifita can't cover number 8.

To me a bad decision to take 6 outside back options instead of a third first five option
 
TRF_heineken said:
That's still a very good squad though. But I do see a few cracks in the armour, especially from the Bok camp's perspective.

Not picking Franks, is IMO a bad call, and while the other props do offer more variety, it might be a bad move at the scrums, one area where the Boks might target the AB's.

The other is the wings. They are all great wingers, but they're not that good with the bombs. Kolbe has shown on more than one occassion he can upstage Ioane in that facet of play.

Laumape is unfortunate, as he has the skills to break through tackles and score tries, but the other centres have overall better skills.
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Its true that Franks has always been considered a good option VS the boks to hold his own in the scrums and help stop the big African ball carriers. I think there is more too it, Owen has dealt with injuries this year and his numbers are not where they have been in the past I recon the AB selectors have seen the strength and fittness tests and seen he is not at his best and put that together with the few soft performances he has had. it's a bold call for sure, I dont think they would have made that call without some information that we don't have access too.

I hope Ioane finds his magic again, maybe the best wing in the world for 2-3 years all of a sudden he's a bit off his game. If he's not then we have Bridge and Sevu, Bridges ball skills are superb for a guy that isn't huge, he has all the skills to be a first class fullback, only 6ft1 but has a great leap and timing. Sevu is a surprise package as well I'm always concerned with a winger on the smaller side how they will go under the high ball. he's not built like a high ball expert. But I have to say pretty much every time he gets put under pressure on defense he does the job, its an aspect of test rugby as a winger that is even more important than scoring tries IMO. We also have the option of selecting Jordie Barrett who is a natural under the high ball.

IMO there is enough time between that ugly first game against Aussie and the opening of the WC for Ioane and Ben Smith to sort their game out. In particular Ben Smith got a lot of slack but when you look at his stats he beat defenders, made a number of linebreaks and clocked up some good meters and try assists and just looked hard to tackle like always. Really he just had a tough night under a few high balls and made a couple of uncharacteristic knock on's. IMO he is not far off.
 
Jabby said:
Thats a good point, a lot of what ive ready suggested the 10.Richie 15.Beauden thing was locked in as the way forward but even forgetting injuries that means both your first fives are playing most games, fatigue could be a real issue come the business end...maybe hansen was just locking in his back up plan and we will see a more conventional 15.smith/jordie and 10.richie/beauden as first choice
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I doubt that the Richie Beauden combo isn't their first choice. But they will want back up in that game plan , which no doubt will include Jordie playing fullback but trying to have more of a playmaker role, and same with smith. I wouldn't be surprised if against a minow they start Jordie at ten and Ben Smith at 15 and ask them both to play a playmaking role.
 
Jabby said:
...just feels weird, have we ever played someone in a key role like 10 out of position before in such important games, yes these may be "minows" but we're still talking about first class rugby players with nothing to loose in a comp where we're already having to play someone as string as RSA in the pool....dont really have the luxury to drop a game
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The problem is Damian got injured. They had been developing this plan all of last and this year and had to make a call after Damian's injury, whether to continue the strategy or not despite having no real backup options for it.
TRF_heineken said:
That's still a very good squad though. But I do see a few cracks in the armour, especially from the Bok camp's perspective.

Not picking Franks, is IMO a bad call, and while the other props do offer more variety, it might be a bad move at the scrums, one area where the Boks might target the AB's.

The other is the wings. They are all great wingers, but they're not that good with the bombs. Kolbe has shown on more than one occassion he can upstage Ioane in that facet of play.

Laumape is unfortunate, as he has the skills to break through tackles and score tries, but the other centres have overall better skills.
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Not having franks is a worry. We lost against Ireland because their props were more mobile and potentially overreacted because now we could be vulnerable in the scrum. Good news is, however, that if laulala gets injured they can bring franks straight in, even if Nepo was only going to be injured for a week.

In terms of in the air, the first choices in the air, if they pick them, are reasonably strong. That being bridge, Beauden, and Jordie. It will be interesting if they use horses for courses.
Larksea said:
Cane's been getting a lot of turnovers this year, he's getting more per minute played than Savea and he's been getting them at critical times as well.
rugbypass for example has cane with 6 turnovers from 5 games Savea 10 from 16 games, Savea obviously played a lot more with Cane coming back late from his neck injury. Stats from other sites show a similar story with numbers being different depending on the criteria of what they class as a turnover. when super rugby ended I calculated using stats from a couple of different sites that Cane was getting turnovers at almost double the rate of Savea when calculating by per minute played. Savea is an amazing carrier but he almost always dies with the ball where Cane is more of a link carrier than Savea or squire and does a very good job a with it. of them all Cane is the best advantage line defender which IMO is the primary role of a 7

laumape scores tries but like Savea he often dies with the ball, his distribution game is lacking, in super Rugby ALB is getting more than double the try assists per minute played compared to laumape which came from leading the comp for midfield offloads by a lot. Alb has had an amazing season, the guy missed 1 tackle in the 4 tests he played this year. he excelled in every aspect of the game. Most midfielders average about 1 pass per run the better distributors more. Laumape is averaging closer to half a pass per run. Laumape as an individuel scores more tries but the stats suggest that a team ALB is in will score more tries. Alb is also making significantly more tackles per minute at a much higher accuracy(91%) compared to Laumape(82%). Fun stat - ALB beat more defenders than Laumape this super rugby season. That would prob surprise a few.

Crotty's stats are excellent all round. Crazy thing he's almost the opposite of Laumape in terms of he almost never scores tries, only one for the crusaders this year but its pretty well known that the crusaders outside backs have been running them in like crazy and its fair to say Crotty is a part of that equation.

Bit off topic but IMO the way Laumape plays and the skills he has he's almost better suited to playing on the wing. obviously without knowing his high ball skills his body type doesn't convert well to that area. Also speculation but Laumape though being build like a tank he is pretty small. I think against the bigger teams we are going to hit when the WC gets interesting his style may not be as effective as the likes of ALB/Goodhue. I look at a similar player in Tuilagi his power game does convert well into big games. i'd give Laumape an edge in speed but Tuilagi has a good 15-18KG on Laumape. Its harder to get that style to convert to the top end of test footy. And that ~10% he's missing from his defense is even more important.

I'm going to say it again though, I think the odds Laumape plays in this WC are still good. Look at all the series and tours from the last few years Laumape is hardly ever an initial pick but gets a shot after an injury.
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the stats are nonsense. Ardie achieved 6 turnovers in one game in super rugby but somehow rugby pass didn't see any of them. Even alb, whose stats are great, offers so much more than his stats suggest.
 
Looking at that squad I think its fair to say NZ are still the team to beat but I do get the feeling (at least from what I see on paper) that the daylight there was between NZ and the next best couple of teams isn't there any more. In saying that NZ will probably now rock up and dominate the RWC start to finish LOL. Me and my big mouth..
 
Umaga's Witness said:
the stats are nonsense. Ardie achieved 6 turnovers in one game in super rugby but somehow rugby pass didn't see any of them. Even alb, whose stats are great, offers so much more than his stats suggest.
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no source of stats is perfect but multiple sources confirmed that though cane had limited game time this season he was winning more turnovers per minute played than Savea. the finer detail doesn't really matter and it wasn't an putdown on Savea's stellar season. But it without a doubt disproves the claim that Cane wasn't winning enough turnovers. if anything he's been better at the breakdown this year than he has been the last couple of seasons. yeah on stats funny there was one game Cane probably should have been credited with 3 but only got credited stats for 1. I think with both of them on the field it will be a genuine area of strength.

DMAC's injury really changed the landscape. Hansen basically flat out admtted that they would have likely only selected 2 halfbacks if Damian wasn't injured. I'm glad Brad has been selected though I hope he gets a shot to show his form.
 
TRF_stormer2010 said:
Looking at that squad I think its fair to say NZ are still the team to beat but I do get the feeling (at least from what I see on paper) that the daylight there was between NZ and the next best couple of teams isn't there any more. In saying that NZ will probably now rock up and dominate the RWC start to finish LOL. Me and my big mouth..
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I think the thing that has me quietly confident is that despite less than stellar results against in those first 3 tests it was with the All Blacks using a super conservative gameplan. Literally Zero set plays, training moves. Just through the hands and running at gaps. no specific gameplans even when other teams have genuinely been trying stuff, Ive seen some interesting set moves be used in the northern warn up games and from AUS & SA showing new moves and set play. The AB's have all the cards still hidden. I'm guessing we will only see some proper game plans, strategy and set moves towards the end of pool play. For now all the interesting stuff has likely been kept behind closed doors. Even the big win over Aussie was straight up Vanilla rugby. If each match this year was must win we would have seen very different performances but there is an obvious strategy to hold everything back for the WC.

Boks, Eng and the Welsh all look strong. Ireland will be better than this last result and Aussie always have a big game in them. This WC is going to be hotly contested. it will be brutal too, injuries will be a factor.

So will the grounds in Japan, it will be interesting to see how the Japanese grounds play. How fast they are.
 
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Larksea said:
no source of stats is perfect but multiple sources confirmed that though cane had limited game time this season he was winning more turnovers per minute played than Savea. the finer detail doesn't really matter and it wasn't an putdown on Savea's stellar season. But it without a doubt disproves the claim that Cane wasn't winning enough turnovers. if anything he's been better at the breakdown this year than he has been the last couple of seasons. yeah on stats funny there was one game Cane probably should have been credited with 3 but only got credited stats for 1. I think with both of them on the field it will be a genuine area of strength.

DMAC's injury really changed the landscape. Hansen basically flat out admtted that they would have likely only selected 2 halfbacks if Damian wasn't injured. I'm glad Brad has been selected though I hope he gets a shot to show his form.
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I honestly don't think that cane is better than savea at 7 in terms of turnovers. Maybe it's just that what Ardie does isn't getting recognised as a turnover. I had counted turnovers over the course of three games and they came out higher than 10, supposedly from 16 games. And cane too, as you recognise, assists in a lot of turnovers by tackling the player behind the gain line. I think the stats can be interesting, but I can't fathom what they mean given how different they are to what I see, and I think they will only account for ten percent of what matters. Where is the number of effective clean outs, for instance? Sam whitelock is brilliant at the clean out, making him consistently one of our best players. Half a second extra at a ruck makes a massive difference. According to stats that doesn't matter.
 
For the sake of the game, just an opinion:

Liam in stead of Matt - much more dynamic player
Laumape - will never leave a try scoring machine out of the team - AlB is better that SBW and he is a good distributer as well - one way or the other, make room for a Laumape

Warning signs, opinion varies and some will kill you for just mentioning that but Ben S and SBW are over their best, taking them on past glories are a gamble
Retalic could be an injury risk as he just recovered, but then again, who would leave him at home
This so reminds me of a previous South African mindset

Still a damn good squad, wishing you well (but not the cup) in the tournament
 
Larksea said:
Midfield is predictable with Laumape missing out but he needs to stay ready he's the obvious call up and SBW/Crotty have had injury issues the last couple of seasons.
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This is one of those, "How could they possibly leave him out?" moments, except when the reply comes, "Well, who are you dropping him for?" I have no answer... Man oh man, he is a delight to watch!
 
Jabby said:
I think he came back out and said he wasn't right in the head to go away, i'll see if i can find something

edit: https://www.rugbypass.com/news/liam-squire-praised-by-fans-for-making-brave-call/

credit to the bloke, looking after himself and just playing the rugby he find enjoyable
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Fair enough then... shame he would have been a good addition.

I actually quite like Frizell - if he can make the mental switch like Tuipolotu seems to have done then he could make a big impact. Has all the physical tools to be a dominant #6.
 
Gutted for Luke but yeah Frizell is an awesome player and he can be great if he stays switched on I think Jabby is 100% correct.

So Fifita is injured I would have taken Frizell over Fifita anyway but I would have taken Dalton Papalii over them both but Dalton is injured as well?! Not sure how bad they are but in this situation you want guys that are ready to go.

More obvious than ever now that Squire was not ready to go to Japan. Hansen has been pretty guarded about that situation but foster was more open and hinted that the decision was Squires. Seems like squire will only asnwer an SOS later in the picture if it happens.

Still gutted for Luke, at the same time I've been thinking there was a strong chance that this would happen given the issues he has had this season. His last symptoms happened from just taking hits carring a tackle bag. That is not a good sign. He needs to take the summer off and just hope he gets sorted. The guy has all the assets to have a long rugby career if he can get through this patch. Looking at Dane Coles and Charlie Ngatai as examples of players who looked like their careers were over from concussion but seemed to have recovered ok.
 
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