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The Rugby Championship 2023
All Blacks squad named
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<blockquote data-quote="Larksea" data-source="post: 868472" data-attributes="member: 43875"><p>Its an interesting squad though its hard to read into it too much knowing the crusaders will displace ~9-10 or so of these guys.</p><p>Some of my observations from recent times and the lions series in particular.</p><p>#1 for mine is that as great and accomplished a player Crockett is. I think he is starting to get a bit past his used by date at test level. With faumuina now gone too we desperately need to develop more depth on both sides of the front row. Moody was very good in the lions series and standards seemed to drop when Crockett came on for him.</p><p></p><p>Seems like some guys here dont know these props well.</p><p>kane hames had an excellent end to the season. Hes already had a taste of test footy and was good, I would keep him in but that would mean dropping someone like Crockett out...</p><p>Nepo Laulala was an all black in 2015 and was very unlucky not to make the World Cup Squad. he seemed like the find of the season. he then blew his Knee and spent 2016 on the sidelines.</p><p>Ofa Tu'ungafasi has been a bit of a project for the All Black coaches for a while, highly rated through the age grade system. Probably hasn't delivered yet but he is still solid and very young. Seems like he has been groomed to take over from Faumuina for a couple of years now. I say he is young but he's now 25 and really needs to start delivering.</p><p>Atu Moli has been great off the chiefs bench, solid at scrum time and an excellent ball carrying prop who adds impact. Probably wont make the full squad.</p><p>Jeffery Toomaga-Allen - I'm simply not a fan of this guy. He can be a bit silly at times. hes solid around the park but in my opinion frankly not good enough in the scrum to be anywhere near the full AB squad any time soon. Also unlikely to make the full squad.</p><p></p><p>Unlucky: I really like Daniel Lienert-Brown, hes like an extra loose forward around the field. Solid at scrum time. If anything maybe he is a bit small as far as the current meta goes with props regularly being 115kg-120kg+ but he is only 24.</p><p></p><p>Its going to be interesting to see what happens with Michael Alaalatoa. Samoan Aussie, played in NZ for a few years, brother is a wallabie. He has been excellent for the Crusaders. Interesting to see if he is keen to stay in NZ and potentially be an All Black. Surely the aussies will be chasing him as well?</p><p></p><p>#2, this maybe blasphemy to some but as I said for Crockett maybe we are in the same situation with Jerome Kaino. hes been off the boil for a while, spent a fair bit of time injured, average against the lions, gave away a silly card and the coaches pulled him when we were down to 14? What does that say? Kaino is still massive, physically is there anyone with shoulders like his? He is not an easy guy to replace. Replacing Kaino is every bit as hard as replacing McCaw. But kaino is now 34 and has a lot of miles on the clock. With the Lions Tour over we need to build for the next WC which is 2 years away...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Larksea, post: 868472, member: 43875"] Its an interesting squad though its hard to read into it too much knowing the crusaders will displace ~9-10 or so of these guys. Some of my observations from recent times and the lions series in particular. #1 for mine is that as great and accomplished a player Crockett is. I think he is starting to get a bit past his used by date at test level. With faumuina now gone too we desperately need to develop more depth on both sides of the front row. Moody was very good in the lions series and standards seemed to drop when Crockett came on for him. Seems like some guys here dont know these props well. kane hames had an excellent end to the season. Hes already had a taste of test footy and was good, I would keep him in but that would mean dropping someone like Crockett out... Nepo Laulala was an all black in 2015 and was very unlucky not to make the World Cup Squad. he seemed like the find of the season. he then blew his Knee and spent 2016 on the sidelines. Ofa Tu'ungafasi has been a bit of a project for the All Black coaches for a while, highly rated through the age grade system. Probably hasn't delivered yet but he is still solid and very young. Seems like he has been groomed to take over from Faumuina for a couple of years now. I say he is young but he's now 25 and really needs to start delivering. Atu Moli has been great off the chiefs bench, solid at scrum time and an excellent ball carrying prop who adds impact. Probably wont make the full squad. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen - I'm simply not a fan of this guy. He can be a bit silly at times. hes solid around the park but in my opinion frankly not good enough in the scrum to be anywhere near the full AB squad any time soon. Also unlikely to make the full squad. Unlucky: I really like Daniel Lienert-Brown, hes like an extra loose forward around the field. Solid at scrum time. If anything maybe he is a bit small as far as the current meta goes with props regularly being 115kg-120kg+ but he is only 24. Its going to be interesting to see what happens with Michael Alaalatoa. Samoan Aussie, played in NZ for a few years, brother is a wallabie. He has been excellent for the Crusaders. Interesting to see if he is keen to stay in NZ and potentially be an All Black. Surely the aussies will be chasing him as well? #2, this maybe blasphemy to some but as I said for Crockett maybe we are in the same situation with Jerome Kaino. hes been off the boil for a while, spent a fair bit of time injured, average against the lions, gave away a silly card and the coaches pulled him when we were down to 14? What does that say? Kaino is still massive, physically is there anyone with shoulders like his? He is not an easy guy to replace. Replacing Kaino is every bit as hard as replacing McCaw. But kaino is now 34 and has a lot of miles on the clock. With the Lions Tour over we need to build for the next WC which is 2 years away... [/QUOTE]
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