All Blacks 2025
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My 23 to play France.
- T. Williams
- C. Taylor
- T. Lomax
- T. Vaa'i
- S. Barrett
- S. Parker
- A. Savea
- W. Sititi
- C. Ratima
- D. McKenzie
- L. Carter
- J. Barrett
- B. Proctor
- S. Reece
- W. Jordan
- S. Taukei'aho
- E. De Groot
- F. Newell
- F. Holland
- P.Lakai
- C. Roigard
- R. Love
- Q. Tupaea
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@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
My 23 to play France.
- T. Williams
- C. Taylor
- T. Lomax
- T. Vaa'i
- S. Barrett
- S. Parker
- A. Savea
- W. Sititi
- C. Ratima
- D. McKenzie
- L. Carter
- J. Barrett
- B. Proctor
- S. Reece
- W. Jordan
- S. Taukei'aho
- E. De Groot
- F. Newell
- F. Holland
- P.Lakai
- C. Roigard
- R. Love
- Q. Tupaea
Think that's an excellent line-up - would personally have Taukei'aho starting with Taylor on the bench, simply because I think Taukei'aho is a better starter than finisher, particularly when it comes to hitting lineouts. That does pose the problem where all your best carriers are starting, mind you.
Also think it's probably quite far from the line-up we'll actully see...
No Blues just one year after they dominated the Super Rugby final might raise a few eyebrows though.
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2025:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
It's confusing - you'd think coaches would identify this and work with him on it, but something's not clicking there and he can't be ignoring them otherwise he'd be dropped, right?
Same goes for a complete lack of kicking game. Rieko's been playing test rugby for a decade and hasn't developed even a hint of a kicking game. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've seen Rieko ever kick the ball.
Would love for him to line up behind a ruck and chance his arm at a 3 pointer……..
Just so we could say Doppy scored a Droppy.
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@Mr-Fish Taukei'aho was superb tonight and his try driving through Ardie Savea was world class. I'm a big fan.
It's a tough call, but Codie Taylor has been the glue for the Crusaders all year. He executes everything brilliantly and creates time and space for the players around him that makes them look good. By a whisker, I think he deserves more game time.
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@Landers92 said in All Blacks 2025:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
All speculation its not what I hear, very destructive talk.
The Captain will be Scott Barrett 100%.It most probably will be because at the end of the day Razor gets to make the decision. Doesn’t mean the players don’t gravitate and look to someone else though… and that’s a fact. Nothing destructive at all.
The captain is also supported by the leadership group who endorse that selection and they have including Ardie so no issue.
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I'd probably also have Roigard starting. Have to value combinations but realistically, McKenzie should be playing 80 minutes at 10, so you're not going to be seeing much of the Roigard-Love combination regardless. Roigard is the better halfback than Ratima and has an excellent kicking game. Ratima tends to do better when his team have a bit of momentum.
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@ARHS said in All Blacks 2025:
Why unpopular?
Because Tupou Vaa'i
It's nit been popular to rate him.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2025:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
Although after a post just above I now have serious doubts Barrett and Ioane will even be selected.
Well, not on SR form.
Barrett the incumbent captain so can't see him getting dropped. Maybe, like Roigard last night, he'll start to come right. Ditto for Reiko starting in Test 1, but if Proctor isn't given good game time/starts a French Test, I'll be pretty pissed off.
Assuming Billy does start and is a success, who's the 12? Jordie or QT? That's the interesting question for me.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Tupaea and Proctor together. They scored very similar tries this weekend, have the ability to beat players through sheer smarts and footwork.
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@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2025:
I'd probably also have Roigard starting. Have to value combinations but realistically, McKenzie should be playing 80 minutes at 10, so you're not going to be seeing much of the Roigard-Love combination regardless. Roigard is the better halfback than Ratima and has an excellent kicking game. Ratima tends to do better when his team have a bit of momentum.
I agree, I think we’ll see Love coming off the bench at 15 and Jordan moving to the wing if anything. Who knows though, injuries always play a hand so wouldn’t be surprised if Love gets a run at 10 at some point. We also need to build depth so would be cool if he got a start in the last French test if we have the series wrapped up by then.
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@booboo said in All Blacks 2025:
@ARHS said in All Blacks 2025:
Why unpopular?
Because Tupou Vaa'i
It's nit been popular to rate him.
Aye? He was many Ferners AB forward of the year last year. Had a great season.
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@booboo said in All Blacks 2025:
@ARHS said in All Blacks 2025:
Why unpopular?
Because Tupou Vaa'i
It's nit been popular to rate him.
Tupou Vaa'i was a Fern favourite by about mid-way through 2024. Close to being the All Blacks' best of the season.
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@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
@Landers92 said in All Blacks 2025:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2025:
All speculation its not what I hear, very destructive talk.
The Captain will be Scott Barrett 100%.It most probably will be because at the end of the day Razor gets to make the decision. Doesn’t mean the players don’t gravitate and look to someone else though… and that’s a fact. Nothing destructive at all.
The captain is also supported by the leadership group who endorse that selection and they have including Ardie so no issue.
You can defend your boys as much as you want mate and that’s totally fine. I’m just stating that it doesn’t mean the players don’t gravitate and look to someone else and that is a fact. Nothing else to be said.
We all know who Razor is picking mate. It is what it is. Just hope Barrett can pick his game up because as of right now based off form there’s an argument he shouldn’t even be in the starting XV.
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2025:
Reece will likely make the squad but if he is a regular starter we've got problems.
But with Caleb Clarke out of sorts, Will Jordan playing fullback, Reiko Ioane no longer a Wing and out of sorts to put it mildly, Mark Telea leaving and Caleb Tangitau and Kimi Naholo injured, who do have who is remotely as good as Sevu Reece?
Wing is our problem position.
Yes I worry about Reece's top-end pace in comparison with Louis Bielle-Biarrey, but he works hard, has lovely hands, kicks intelligently and has scored eight tries this Super Rugby season which is joint top of NZ players.
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@sparky I think Reece is a fine stop-gap at the moment. Narawa isn't bashing down the door and Tangitau is injured.
In saying that, I'd rather see a Clarke/Carter combination on the wings, or see Love given a run at 14 (or even Jordan at 14 with Love at the back).
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Super Rugby always makes people forget players deficiancies at test level.
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Also, was Ardie getting bulldozed over the top of by Taukeiaho close to the line cause for concern or am I reading too much into it?
Test rugby is defence focused lets not forget people, and there will be plenty of traffic coming his way close to the line if he's gonna be that weak close to the ruck. He ain't gonna be hovering out wide chipping and chasing either at a test 7 like he does for Moana.
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@Duluth said in All Blacks 2025:
Clarke has been in good form this season apart from his last match. Being a bit rusty in his first match after a 5 week injury doesn’t push him down the pecking order
Correct. Some people seem to think that mass changes will be made and we're picking a SuperRugby form XV as opposed to the actual test team.
