All Blacks 2021-2023 Thread

[Umaga's Witness]

Isn't TJ back soon? Or is he going to play test rugby next season?

Hes not eligible to play tests until he has played a game of professional rugby in nz. So have to wait for mitre 10

 

[GoTheNaki]

Hes not eligible to play tests until he has played a game of professional rugby in nz. So have to wait for mitre 10

Ah yeah. Has Havili put on quite a bit of muscle too?

 

[GoTheNaki]

Hes not eligible to play tests until he has played a game of professional rugby in nz. So have to wait for mitre 10

Erm hang on, did Barrett do that?

 

[GoTheNaki]

What's he meant to do about that tackle... like. It's like the refs and TMOs have never played rugby.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Erm hang on, did Barrett do that?

Tj was iff contract with nzr when he went iverseas, barrett and retallick were iff conteact but using their sabbatical clause

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Ahh, ill post here about the game.

akira was my man of the match. Ive been really disappointed with the few chances in super and test rugby hes had thsi year prior to this test, though its probably worth remembering he has very little experience at 6. He really stiod up today, particularly on defecne but also did well at securing rucks and carrying. Ardie and luke did well on d and securing rucks too. Ardie was a bit quiet by his standards at 7, but has had very little game tome in quite a while after injuring then quickly reinjuring his knee.

one thing i was a bit disappointed with was that we didnt manage to make much of an impact from phase play. Ironically we wernt helped by a lack if forwards out wide, as they wete too busy securing rucks in close. Anton and dmac were a bit disappointing on attack. I think well see beauden start at 15 in the next test.

havili got good go forward. I like rieko as a reserve. Midfield still doesnt feel settled but id give havili alb another shot

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Didn't you start a thread for all the internationals?

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Didn't you start a thread for all the internationals?

Yeah, lol, but gothenaki posted here during the game.

@GoTheNaki looks like tj is eligible now after playing club rugby, so i was wrong that he had to play provincial.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

New All blacks squad named.

ofa and joe back, de groot and bower out
Taukeiaho out
Tj back, christie out

oddly there are 4 tightheads and just 2 looseheads. Guess that means ofa and/or taavao are covering loosehead.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

i really thought De Groot had done enough to get the nod

 

[Umaga's Witness]

i really thought De Groot had done enough to get the nod

He didnt do anything wrong, but might still need some development in his scrummaging. There were always going to be two props missing out with joe an ofa coming back, but a bit surpising it was two looseheads. Bower didnt do too well, gave away quite a few penalties and wasnt much help at securing rucks. So i guess they figure neither de groot or bower are ready. Or aidan ross for that matter. But youd think theyd want to develop someone as a backup to joe and karl. I cant remember what happened to atu moli, he came back from injury during the super rugby season; did he get jnjured again or just fail to make the side ahead of ross and norris?

edit: apparently bower is still with the squad as injury cover (so hes basically in the squad but theyve decided to send him a message that hes not good enough). christie and taukeiaho are also with the squad as jnjury cover.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Props a big concern depth wise for the ABs?

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Props a big concern depth wise for the ABs?

concern isnt the right word, i think we have too many who MIGHT be good, show promise in super rugby, but they all need a bit of work and foster cant decide who to concentrate on developing

De Groot dropping out might also have other reasons, his provincial team southland ARE short of front rowers so as a newbie it might have been decided he'll get better development playing a whole NPC season than coming off the bench for the AB's

 

[GoTheNaki]

Yeah, lol, but gothenaki posted here during the game.

@GoTheNaki looks like tj is eligible now after playing club rugby, so i was wrong that he had to play provincial.

I actually didn't see that thread because it wasn't in the "regular" format lmao. Y'know... The whole [Who is playing, the date] etc. Completely missed it.

Not a bad looking team, be interested to see who Foster FINALLY settles on in the centres... What's it been now, 6(?) years... I think he might reckon Ennor is a permanent fixture.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

concern isnt the right word, i think we have too many who MIGHT be good, show promise in super rugby, but they all need a bit of work and foster cant decide who to concentrate on developing

De Groot dropping out might also have other reasons, his provincial team southland ARE short of front rowers so as a newbie it might have been decided he'll get better development playing a whole NPC season than coming off the bench for the AB's

i think thats it. Hes young and played a lot off the bench for the landers and only later in the season (? Cant remember). He would have got some work ons and been sent away to work on them.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

i think thats it. Hes young and played a lot off the bench for the landers and only later in the season (? Cant remember). He would have got some work ons and been sent away to work on them.

of the 16 super games this season De Groot actually started 12 including big ones like against the saders and the SRTT final, would comfortably be considered first choice

 

[Umaga's Witness]

of the 16 super games this season De Groot actually started 12 including big ones like against the saders and the SRTT final, would comfortably be considered first choice

Argh, i watched almost all of them too, shame on me. This year i took a more casual approach to watching the game, and this is a case in point that casual observation doesnt turn you into an expert. For what its worth i did notice he often scrummaged well, did a lot of work around the field, but got destroyed by laulala in that one game. Maybe casual observation does tuen you into an expert haha, even if you wrongly remembered the player didnt play much!

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Adidas not going out of their way to do too much special....

cant wait to loose the AIG from the front

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Adidas not going out of their way to do too much special....

cant wait to loose the AIG from the front

Never going back to grey,

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I always see ABs fans complain about the AIG on the front but as far as sponsors go it's one of the far less visually intrusive and looks perfectly fine in my opinion. Is it something about the company itself that people have an issue with?