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Marty Holah? All Blacks?

vyeung

Academy Player
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Jun 26, 2010
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Marty Holah is easily one of the best no.7s in the game. The only reason he left NZ was because he spent most of his days as an All Blacks on the bench or in the stands due to a certain Mr. McCaw.

Can anyone see him making RWC All Blacks? In my opinion, if he plays well during the ITM, he's in with a shout. Experience + Ability - definitely there. If he shows form as well I can't see why not...

In other news, Nick Evans to follow suit?
 
Marty Holah is easily one of the best no.7s in the game. The only reason he left NZ was because he spent most of his days as an All Blacks on the bench or in the stands due to a certain Mr. McCaw.

Can anyone see him making RWC All Blacks? In my opinion, if he plays well during the ITM, he's in with a shout. Experience + Ability - definitely there. If he shows form as well I can't see why not...

In other news, Nick Evans to follow suit?

Marty would be way down the pecking list behind Thomson, Messam, Braid, Todd etc ... Nick won't come back, but offered to fill in if Dan Carter gets injured, but that would involve a change of policy from the NZRU, and that won't happen
 
I'm not sure. He's a good player no doubt, but from my experience from watching him over the last few years with the Ospreys, he often comes up short in the big matches. When the crunch Heineken Cup matches have come along, he's often been totally anonomous. The game v Saracens stands out, where he was totally outplayed by a one legged Richard Hill (I think). There's simply not much middle ground with the guy, he's either excellent, or annonomous.

There must be a better option in NZ, because I'd honestly say there's quite a few better opensides than him in the Magners League alone, although on his day he's up there with the best. The fact that a youngster in Tipuric has looked better than Hollah for the majority of this season doesn't look good either, maybe it's because Hollah's winding down at the O's ready to move back to NZ, or maybe it's because he's just not the player he once was, I'm not sure.

He's never been a player that I wished was eligible to play for Wales, in the same way as I have with Rush or King on occasion. Saying all that, I'm not all that clued up about the quality of opensides NZ have behind McCaw, so maybe Hollah would still be a viable option.
 
Unless Holah has been in phenomenal form for Ospreys (and it sounds like he hasn't) he will be nowhere near the AB's. I was a big fan of him when he was in NZ, but felt he faded towards the end of his career in NZ - indeed I was not surprised to see Chris Masoe taken ahead of him as McCaw's backup for the 2007 RWC. He is almost 35 - he is clearly past his prime, and the likes of Matt Todd, Dan Braid, Scott Waldrom et al. will all be far ahead of him in terms of potential AB's openside flankers go. If he is lucky he might make a Super Rugby squad next year (though I wouldn't necessarily count on it). Not saying I'm not happy to see him back - indeed it's great to have players like him back in NZ rugby to share his experience, as there is a dearth of players with his experience, I just don't think he will be anywhere near the AB's!
 
And we all know how bad Chris Masoe was...
 
I think he 's a bit to old, especially when you look at the other options at 7
 
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Doc Brown has more chance of making it into the All Blacks than Holah I'm afraid.
 
Marty Holah would be behind McCaw, Adam Thompson and Matt Todd for an AB spot.

Few if any players returning from Europe are up to speed for the of game we play in NZ.

Can't see it happening TBH.
 
Doubt he'd play, but if you catch him on a good day, then he's one of the best opensides in the world. However, as said, he's prone to gonig missing, but it still a very good player.
 
Marty Holah is easily one of the best no.7s in the game. The only reason he left NZ was because he spent most of his days as an All Blacks on the bench or in the stands due to a certain Mr. McCaw.

Can anyone see him making RWC All Blacks? In my opinion, if he plays well during the ITM, he's in with a shout. Experience + Ability - definitely there. If he shows form as well I can't see why not...

In other news, Nick Evans to follow suit?

Nick Evans was one of our greatest losses. Obviously it was his decision to leave but he was an idiot for doing so.
 
Nick Evans was one of our greatest losses. Obviously it was his decision to leave but he was an idiot for doing so.

Don't really agree with the idiot comment, he's two years older than Dan Carter, and he felt he was only going to be warming the bench behind DC ... he didn't want to do that, so why not take the extra cash and play for Quins
 
Had he remained in NZ, he'd have been just another forgotten 10. By moving to quins however - specifically after the Stade Francais game at the Stoop - he'll go down in club folklaw.
 
Had he remained in NZ, he'd have been just another forgotten 10. By moving to quins however - specifically after the Stade Francais game at the Stoop - he'll go down in club folklaw.

I don't agree that he would've been forgotten in New Zealand. He was a class player and he was picked for the WC squad after only a few tests which says a lot. If he had stayed here he would be leagues ahead of any other DC replacment we've got going. In hindsight he would have had a lot of game time at 10 had he stayed on with Carter being out for a considerable time following the WC.
 
NZ are really struggling to find that guy to be the second choice no.10 behind Carter for the RWC. Kruden, Brett, Donald, Brown, Berquist - you can keep naming them and none of them make you sit up and say, "Yeah, that's the guy you can rely on if Dan pulls a hammy again." None of them have a great kicking game and the best option right now to cover that position is McAlister.
However, if Nick Evans was playing super 15 rugby right now he'd be the best 2nd choice for the All Blacks. He is sorely missed out here. Nobody can find any form because they're either getting injured and are unable to get any consistency or they are just plain **** (please see: Brett, Berquist and Donald.)

The amount of number 7s available here however is the good kind of headache for Henry...and Holah certainly doesn't come into that equation.
 
Shame that Colin Slade has had so much injury time this season,he was shaping up to be the pick of the bunch. And may yet make the cut.
 
Funny how everyone goes spastic about "oh what is NZ going to do if they lose Carter or McCaw???!!!"
Well what is Aus going to do if they lose Genia or Pocock?
What is SA going to do if they lose Du Plessis or Burger? (OK maybe not as good an example there)
What is Ireland going to do if they lose BOD
etc etc.
No point worrying about something that might not happen.
 
Funny how everyone goes spastic about "oh what is NZ going to do if they lose Carter or McCaw???!!!"
Well what is Aus going to do if they lose Genia or Pocock?
I imagine they'd use Richard Kingi and Beau Robinson....
 

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