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Rugby Union
The Rugby Championship 2023
Ma'a Nonu's season over
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<blockquote data-quote="Larksea" data-source="post: 672587" data-attributes="member: 43875"><p>Nonu is a class act, he's well and truly a NZ great.</p><p></p><p> but I also see this as a blessing in disguise.</p><p></p><p> we have got so used to nonu playing at 12 hes basically had a monopoly on the 12 jersey for years now. their have probably been less than 10 or so tests in the last 8 or so years where someone other than Nonu has worn the 12 jersey for the All Blacks and he has held that position even though for a long time now hes not been he best or form 12 the NZ game.</p><p></p><p>That one game Crotty started recently basically proved that we are not so reliant on Nonu and infact the guys who are showing better super form than Nonu may actually also be able to to a better job at test level as well.</p><p></p><p>And another thing that has been proven is that Conrad Smith doesn't need Nonu inside him to play well. Smith is simply a great player in his own right.</p><p></p><p>Fekitoa may not have the vision of distribution game of Nonu but I'd take him on defense any day. Nonu is generally a lazy defender, sure he make some important tackles but hes also generally been a weak link on defense and he's often lazy/slow to get back into the line after making a tackle. Where players like Crotty, SBW, kahui or Fekitoa make multiple tackles in a row because they get back in line with urgency sometimes when Nonu makes a tackle it literally takes him 3+ phases to get back in line and that's a pet hate of mine. Defense is a numbers game and I sometimes think Nonu has got away being lazy because he has three of the best defenders in history of the game working around him (Carter, McCaw and Conrad).</p><p></p><p>Crotty is coming into his prime. I've always believed that generally (not always) wingers peak early and midfielders peak late. Crotty i think is 25-26 now and coming into the prime of his career for what could be the next 6 years or so. He has a huge amount of experience for his age because he was young when he broke into top level rugby. Hes always been a good defender and under rated on attack, actually capable of great things on attack. But his decision making has got better and better, he's consistent and i think hes ready for regular test rugby.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Larksea, post: 672587, member: 43875"] Nonu is a class act, he's well and truly a NZ great. but I also see this as a blessing in disguise. we have got so used to nonu playing at 12 hes basically had a monopoly on the 12 jersey for years now. their have probably been less than 10 or so tests in the last 8 or so years where someone other than Nonu has worn the 12 jersey for the All Blacks and he has held that position even though for a long time now hes not been he best or form 12 the NZ game. That one game Crotty started recently basically proved that we are not so reliant on Nonu and infact the guys who are showing better super form than Nonu may actually also be able to to a better job at test level as well. And another thing that has been proven is that Conrad Smith doesn't need Nonu inside him to play well. Smith is simply a great player in his own right. Fekitoa may not have the vision of distribution game of Nonu but I'd take him on defense any day. Nonu is generally a lazy defender, sure he make some important tackles but hes also generally been a weak link on defense and he's often lazy/slow to get back into the line after making a tackle. Where players like Crotty, SBW, kahui or Fekitoa make multiple tackles in a row because they get back in line with urgency sometimes when Nonu makes a tackle it literally takes him 3+ phases to get back in line and that's a pet hate of mine. Defense is a numbers game and I sometimes think Nonu has got away being lazy because he has three of the best defenders in history of the game working around him (Carter, McCaw and Conrad). Crotty is coming into his prime. I've always believed that generally (not always) wingers peak early and midfielders peak late. Crotty i think is 25-26 now and coming into the prime of his career for what could be the next 6 years or so. He has a huge amount of experience for his age because he was young when he broke into top level rugby. Hes always been a good defender and under rated on attack, actually capable of great things on attack. But his decision making has got better and better, he's consistent and i think hes ready for regular test rugby. [/QUOTE]
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Ma'a Nonu's season over
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