New Zealand - RWC 2015 Discussion Thread

[Shaggy]

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All the cool kids are starting RWC 2015 threads for their country, so, given that I am now back in the land of the long White Cloud, and can consider myself a "proper" Kiwi again, I thought I'd start one for New Zealand.

I guess Steve Hansen and co have pretty much telegraphed what the likely make up of the squad is likely to be, but injuries have already had an effect, with Aaron Cruden's injury, which may open up another place in the backs. We also have had McCaw concussed, along with Kaino earlier in the season, plus Brodie Retallick side lined for four weeks with another shoulder injury.

The only one certain to miss the RWC is Cruden, but there will no doubt be other injuries that will effect the squad closer to the time.

There's been plenty of discussion in other threads concerning "bolters" who might make the squad, such as Lima Sopoanga, Nehe Milner-Skudder, James Lowe, and even another half back - I'm looking forward to the test against Samoa, as I guess that would be the logical time to blood new players.

... Anyway, over to you guys ... thoughts?

 

[ENZED-88]

Haven't realy had the time or patience to watch much of the Blues thus season.Do you guys think Luatua has done enough so far this season to earn a place in the WC? (Think he could sneak in with him being able to play 2nd row)I see Ioane has benn picked ahead of him for this weekends game...

 

[Shaggy]

Haven't realy had the time or patience to watch much of the Blues thus season.Do you guys think Luatua has done enough so far this season to earn a place in the WC? (Think he could sneak in with him being able to play 2nd row)I see Ioane has benn picked ahead of him for this weekends game...

... Well he should be well rested, anyway - he might be pushing it if they only include five loose forwards in the squad, but, anything can happen (and it probably will).

I'm hoping that they go for specialist locks, rather than a loose forward that can cover lock, as I'm sure someone like S.Whitelock or Patrick Tuipuluto can cover the blind side flank if need be

 

[Kapa O Pango]

James Lowe would be pretty good cover for Savea or Jane, if any of them both injured. Not only Lowe is a speedster he has the size and strength, also his massive racking boot.

 

[Jaguares]

James Lowe would be pretty good cover for Savea or Jane, if any of them both injured. Not only Lowe is a speedster he has the size and strength, also his massive racking boot.

Yeah, I really like Lowe. I would like to see him in the black jersey soon

 

[arry nordy key]

No intention to deliberately stir he pot. But from the (limited) Super Rugby I have seen this year I can't help but feel that if NZ want to live up to the favourites tag and take the cup, that Hansen is going to have to make a couple of big calls in leaving out certain players (from XVs not necessarily full squads). McCaw and Carter look shells of what they once were. By the final Smith and Nonu will be 34/33 & a couple of others are well into their 30s.
NZ have basically got a 3 game tournament. Do these guys have it in them to go full whack, 80 mins at the standard we are accustomed to for 3 consecutive weekends?
Genuinely interested to your opinions.

Personally I'd rather have England line up against these guys than Cane, Barrett/Slade, and Fekitoa + Smith/Nonu

 

[nickdnz]

No intention to deliberately stir he pot. But from the (limited) Super Rugby I have seen this year I can't help but feel that if NZ want to live up to the favourites tag and take the cup, that Hansen is going to have to make a couple of big calls in leaving out certain players (from XVs not necessarily full squads). McCaw and Carter look shells of what they once were. By the final Smith and Nonu will be 34/33 & a couple of others are well into their 30s.
NZ have basically got a 3 game tournament. Do these guys have it in them to go full whack, 80 mins at the standard we are accustomed to for 3 consecutive weekends?
Genuinely interested to your opinions.

Personally I'd rather have England line up against these guys than Cane, Barrett/Slade, and Fekitoa + Smith/Nonu

Meh. Conrad and Nonu are playing some of the best rugby in their careers, particularly Nonu. Looking like 2008 Nonu.

McCaw is never going to look bad at international level. Maybe Cane would be the better player, but to be honest I'd imagine McCaw will probably play his socks off come the RWC.

Daniel Carter will make the squad, which I'm not unhappy about. Having a 100 test caps of experience isn't going to hurt having around when you also have Barrett and Slade, who haven't got half of that collectively. Giving a guy like Carter some warm up games is probably only going to help him build up confidence. I'd be very surprised to see many guys who haven't been in the squad being selected - it's not like Hansen has always picked the best form guys, more guys who work well within the gameplan. I think England's big fault has been selecting whoever is 'in form' and dropping them on half a bad game - resulting in basically no combinations.

 

[yaboyjj]

No intention to deliberately stir he pot. But from the (limited) Super Rugby I have seen this year I can't help but feel that if NZ want to live up to the favourites tag and take the cup, that Hansen is going to have to make a couple of big calls in leaving out certain players (from XVs not necessarily full squads). McCaw and Carter look shells of what they once were. By the final Smith and Nonu will be 34/33 & a couple of others are well into their 30s.
NZ have basically got a 3 game tournament. Do these guys have it in them to go full whack, 80 mins at the standard we are accustomed to for 3 consecutive weekends?
Genuinely interested to your opinions.

Personally I'd rather have England line up against these guys than Cane, Barrett/Slade, and Fekitoa + Smith/Nonu

Write off McCaw at your own peril, Nonu's on fire for the Canes though and Dagg (when not injured) and Jane have been playing well.
As for Fekitoa (defence) and Barrett (kicking, game control and taking ball to the line) , I think England would fear them a lot less, as I get the feeling they are still a little fragile at times (if starting inthe first 15). On that note I think Cruden is a big loss

 

[Jaguares]

No intention to deliberately stir he pot. But from the (limited) Super Rugby I have seen this year I can't help but feel that if NZ want to live up to the favourites tag and take the cup, that Hansen is going to have to make a couple of big calls in leaving out certain players (from XVs not necessarily full squads). McCaw and Carter look shells of what they once were. By the final Smith and Nonu will be 34/33 & a couple of others are well into their 30s.
NZ have basically got a 3 game tournament. Do these guys have it in them to go full whack, 80 mins at the standard we are accustomed to for 3 consecutive weekends?
Genuinely interested to your opinions.

Personally I'd rather have England line up against these guys than Cane, Barrett/Slade, and Fekitoa + Smith/Nonu

I'm feeling some of what you say, especially the key Saders players aren't at their best. But these guys with a black jersey, do magical things. If key Saders players keep these low performances, it could be an opportunity for Saffers and Wobs after many years. It's really hard to be the best team for so long, and they have probably been the best team in rugby history between 2012-2014. Our grandchildren will talk about this team.

 

[nickdnz]

I'm feeling some of what you say, especially the key Saders players aren't at their best. But these guys with a black jersey, do magical things. If key Saders players keep these low performances, it could be an opportunity for Saffers and Wobs after many years. It's really hard to be the best team for so long, and they have probably been the best team in rugby history between 2009-2015. Our grandchildren will talk about this team.

Ftfy

 

[Jaguares]

Ftfy

I don't agree. Boks beat the ABs 3 times in a row in 2009 and won the Tri Nations. Wobs beat NZ in 2011 and won the Tri Nations. And 2015 has not yet begun in SH at international level

 

[MotherRucker1]

Individually those 'rusty' Crusaders will step up as All Blacks. There is plenty of precedent of that. I can't see how we will lose to an inept team like the Wallabies at the moment. Robbie Deans was the best coach Australia had in awhile, despite what his critics said at the time. And to be honest, at the time they were monstrous at home - especially at Suncorp. The moment we got them away from the place we whooped them, more than once that year. Our failure in 2011 was more to do with the fact we didn't really fire a shot in South Africa. At the risk of making excuses, the side we fielded over there was far from our best at the time - and we paid for it. Lesson learned. Besides, I think the fact we won the world cup that year kinda makes up for it. To simply say Australia was the best during that period discards completely what they had then, and do not have now.

Shaggy, I agree. I think it's more important that you have a guy who specializes in line outs, is accustomed to the process and the jumping/locking process and feels in his element. When I think of blindside flanker, I don't see such a demand to specialize. It's more of an enforcer role which a physical character could slot into - ala Patrick Tuipuluto, who is in form and who I really like. Didn't Jason Eaton do the same thing? Pretty sure it's been done before.

 

[nickdnz]

I don't agree. Boks beat the ABs 3 times in a row in 2009 and won the Tri Nations. Wobs beat NZ in 2011 and won the Tri Nations. And 2015 has not yet begun in SH at international level

Don't care if you agree, from the IRB World Rankings we've been the #1 team in the world from most of 2009 (start and end of the year) till now. We also beat Australia in the Tri Nations - however rested players in order to be fit for the RWC for the one match they beat us. Either way our rankings didn't change and we still beat the Wallabies more times in 2011 than visa versa, while the Wallabies lost to Samoa, Ireland, New Zealand that year.

 

[TRF_heineken]

The SH teams only play 4-5 tests before the World Cup, 3 of them are the RC.

With that said there are only 5 regular season matches left in the Super Rugby tournament. There's enough time for players to come into form, so why worry about that now? I think NZ's biggest concern at this moment are the injury front.

My question is if Hansen would go with the route of bringing in a few new players into the mould? At world cup time we have seen it in the past during every tournament that experience plays a major role towards winning the trophy. Stocking new blood into the team might not be such a good Idea.

As a Saffa, I'd still be very nervous if Mccaw, Carter, Nonu and Conrad Smith was in the starting line-up.

The other thing with regards to Mccaw is that the referees are penalising him more than in the past. Would Hansen run the risk of getting too much penalties against the AB's?

 

[MotherRucker1]

What position does everybody think we can ill-afford to lose any more players in?

Personally I wouldn't want Slade or Barrett going down from here. I was never Cruden's biggest fan, but then again I wasn't Stephen Donald's biggest fan either. It just means that Carter would feature more and more, and despite trying to apply his trade in a struggling Crusaders side, I'm not sure if he has the type of form we're looking for. It just makes things a bit cut throat. Say Slade went down, then Carter picked up a ****le - who then? There isn't an older guy or the type of player that can see "yeah I'm not in great form, but I've been there before" waiting in the wings like 2011. I guess Tom Taylor could say that.

Hooker is a bit scarce in terms of form. Kevy is great, but nobody really comes close to a fit Dane Coles. Not sure about 3rd choice. Hika Elliot will probably be there? Parsons was underwhelming last year.

Locks and midfield are pretty well sorted. And there is a few options in the looseies to be reasonably covered

 

[TRF_heineken]

Man it must suck that you have only 2 positions which are a problem, Hooker and Fly Half...

if only all the teams had a problem just 2 positions.

Fly Half is one position I think you guys are pretty solid. Carter, Barrett, Slade, Taylor, Sopoaga... That is some pretty good options.

 

[MotherRucker1]

I didn't say it was limited to those 2, I simply gave suggestions. Just curious to see if anyone is a bit wary of any more injuries in a particular area.

It would be interesting to see how Sopoaga would go if called into the mix.

 

[Kiwi_]

Our front row isn't our strong point..

Coles, KM, Elliot, Harris.. Bit of a worry if Coles goes down injured..

Crockett, Owen and Ben Franks, Faumuina, Moody, Franks been the only real player in form here, but Crockett is very reliable

I'm worried for BR out of everyone, we need this man fit, he is a monster. We have great locks, but BR is something else. You've seen how **** the Chiefs are without him and Cruden.

McCaw putting on the black jersey is a man possessed, let the opposition think he's fading please, then he will come out and kill them. Also Cane is great support along with a great depth in the back row. Injuries to Kaino will likely see Messam starting ahead of him I think..

LS might be there. I'd start with Barrett and Slade on the bench, with LS and Carter in the squad. His combination with Smith is easily one of the best in the world at the moment (form wise). McCaw has always had dips in form at Crusader level, but come ABs time, he puts everything into the game, he will play to the rules as well and if he doesn't come right, Sam Cane is more than capable and even Todd. We have more than enough leadership and seniority in the team to cope with the loss of McCaw.

For MF, SBW, C.Smith. M.Nonu. Fekitoa hopefully makes the squad.

For wing I'd personally like to see Naholo or Osbourne with a call up even if he is leaving, but Lowe is solid also.

Fullback, obviously Ben Smith, his back up will cause some head aches. Only injuries would see Milner Skudder get a call up over Piutau and Dagg.

I think it's good to go into the WC with the opposition thinking we're a bit down with injuries and form. It makes us more dangerous, I hope Hansen bloods some players and protects the right ones come the Investec Championship, don't get any injuries!! Especially to Barrett, Retallick, Reid, Ben Smith, Aaron Smith, Savea, Conrad Smith, Coles. These are our absolute crucial players and game breakers/changers. Keep them as fit and protected as possible while also giving them enough game time. Always easier said than done.

 

[Jaguares]

Don't care if you agree, from the IRB World Rankings we've been the #1 team in the world from most of 2009 (start and end of the year) till now. We also beat Australia in the Tri Nations - however rested players in order to be fit for the RWC for the one match they beat us. Either way our rankings didn't change and we still beat the Wallabies more times in 2011 than visa versa, while the Wallabies lost to Samoa, Ireland, New Zealand that year.

Don't care if you agree with me

You don't understand my point. ABs 2009-2011 and ABs 2012-2014 are differents animals. I think ABs 2009 could be the best team in world at their moment but not the best team of history. ABs 2012-2014 is probably the best team in rugby history IMO.

 

[Kiwi_]

Don't care if you agree with me

You don't understand my point. ABs 2009-2011 and ABs 2012-2014 are differents animals. I think ABs 2009 could be the best team in world at their moment but not the best team of history. ABs 2012-2014 is probably the best team in rugby history IMO.

Little bit irrelevant to the thread. But I do agree, 2008 we weren't flash either.