2025 All Blacks v France series
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On ALB, I love him, but he either starts for me or doesn’t make the 23 - he’s been a penalty magnet off the bench, you cant make the tackles you miss because you are on the sideline with another YC.
Given that he either starts or doesn’t make the 23, I’m not sure he can hold his place - he shouldn’t be rated as top 2 at either 2nd five or center.
I’m not sure he makes the squad even if completely healthy.
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@gt12 said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
On ALB, I love him, but he either starts for me or doesn’t make the 23 - he’s been a penalty magnet off the bench, you cant make the tackles you miss because you are on the sideline with another YC.
Given that he either starts or doesn’t make the 23, I’m not sure he can hold his place - he shouldn’t be rated as top 2 at either 2nd five or center.
I’m not sure he makes the squad even if completely healthy.
Guy played 14 out of 14 tests last year so it would seem unlikely that they would drop him from the squad.
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Provides the best 12/13 cover from the bench and has been a great servant. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him there but he hasn’t exactly added heaps off the bench.
On a broader level, if that’s where we are staying with our selections, we’ll be lucky to get much impact from the bench.
I love him very much, I’ll be happy for him if he’s there but some very good players will miss out.
Jordie
TupaeaProctor
IoaneWould be the first four names. Lam is about as well, and big Jim.
We should have a full schedule for the AB XV
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@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
Main difference with Fainga'anuku is his defensive accuracy. When he was at the Crusaders it was between 55% - 75%. He's bumped that up to 75.6% at Toulon this year. It's an improvement.
But if you look at the other midfield contenders he'd be near the bottom in Super Rugby:
Midfield Players by Tackle Success
93.3% Anton Lienert-Brown
91.3% Billy Proctor
91.3% Braydon Ennor
89.1% AJ Lam
88.7% Xavi Taele
88.4% Quinn Tupaea
86.1% Riley Higgins
85.9% Peter Umaga-Jensen
84.7% Levi Aumua
83.1% David Havili
83.0% Bailyn Sullivan
80.6% Rieko Ioane
80.0% Daniel Rona
80.0% Gideon Wrampling
79.7% Tanielu Tele'a
78.8% Lalomilo LalomiloIt's only fair he come back and compete in SR. No one should get a free pass
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@gt12 said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
Provides the best 12/13 cover from the bench and has been a great servant. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him there but he hasn’t exactly added heaps off the bench.
On a broader level, if that’s where we are staying with our selections, we’ll be lucky to get much impact from the bench.
I love him very much, I’ll be happy for him if he’s there but some very good players will miss out.
Jordie
TupaeaProctor
IoaneWould be the first four names. Lam is about as well, and big Jim.
We should have a full schedule for the AB XV
ALBs YC numbers are right up there....
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ALB didn't play a full season this year but he did last year. He had zero yellow cards in SRP and gave away 3 penalties for the whole season over 14 games.
BTW I wouldn't select ALB or David Havili but for different reasons.
I'd go with:
Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes)
Quinn Tupaea (Chiefs)
Rieko Ioane (Blues)
Billy Proctor (Hurricanes)
AJ Lam (Blues) -
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
ALB didn't play a full season this year but he did last year. He had zero yellow cards in SRP and gave away 3 penalties for the whole season over 14 games.
BTW I wouldn't select ALB or David Havili but for different reasons.
I'd go with:
Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes)
Quinn Tupaea (Chiefs)
Rieko Ioane (Blues)
Billy Proctor (Hurricanes)
AJ Lam (Blues)He racked up a couple in tests IIRC
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Some midfield attack stats:
Gainline %
79.5% AJ Lam
76.7% Xavi Taele
75.7% Riley Higgins
67.9% Sam Gilbert
67.7% Gideon Wrampling
65.5% Corey Evans
64.9% Rieko Ioane
63.7% Quinn Tupaea
62.0% Lalomilo Lalomilo
61.5% David Havili
60.9% Leicester Fainga'anuku
60.8% Tanielu Tele'a
60.5% Daniel Rona
60.3% Billy Proctor
60.2% Peter Umaga-Jensen
59.6% Levi Aumua
58.0% Bailyn Sullivan
54.0% Jordie Barrett
54.0% Anton Lienert-Brown
53.6% Braydon EnnorDominant Carry %
62.3% AJ Lam
56.8% Sam Gilbert
54.4% Bailyn Sullivan
52.5% Leicester Fainga'anuku
52.2% Tanielu Tele'a
51.2% Peter Umaga-Jensen
48.0% Gideon Wrampling
41.2% Quinn Tupaea
39.7% Lalomilo Lalomilo
37.8% Rieko Ioane
37.0% Corey Evans
35.5% Tamati Tua
35.3% Billy Proctor
34.5% Timoci Tavatavanawai
34.3% Riley Higgins
34.1% Jordie Barrett
32.0% Braydon Ennor
31.8% Levi Aumua
31.0% Xavi Taele
29.7% Daniel RonaCarries Committing 2+ Tacklers
74.0% AJ Lam
70.8% Timoci Tavatavanawai
70.2% Levi Aumua
67.5% Quinn Tupaea
66.3% Leicester Fainga'anuku
64.0% Anton Lienert-Brown
62.4% Peter Umaga-Jensen
59.1% Bailyn Sullivan
58.6% Billy Proctor
58.1% Tanielu Tele'a
58.1% Gideon Wrampling
53.5% Lalomilo Lalomilo
53.5% Xavi Taele
50.5% Rieko Ioane
50.0% Jordie Barrett
50.0% Braydon Ennor
48.6% Riley Higgins
48.5% Tamati Tua
42.3% David Havili
38.3% Daniel RonaTackle Evasion %
44.8% Billy Proctor
35.3% AJ Lam
34.8% Timoci Tavatavanawai
31.0% David Havili
30.6% Leicester Fainga'anuku
28.4% Tanielu Tele'a
27.7% Sam Gilbert
27.0% Levi Aumua
26.7% Peter Umaga-Jensen
26.4% Corey Evans
26.3% Jordie Barrett
25.9% Anton Lienert-Brown
25.6% Bailyn Sullivan
25.0% Braydon Ennor
23.6% Lalomilo Lalomilo
22.9% Tamati Tua
21.7% Gideon Wrampling
21.3% Daniel Rona
18.8% Riley Higgins
18.7% Quinn Tupaea
15.9% Xavi Taele
12.6% Rieko Ioane -
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As someone mentioned earlier, if our game plan really is supposed to be a wide game spreading thr ball to the edges, then ALB should be thr first midfielder picked.
But it's not. And he won't.
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@taniwharugby the stats are for this Super Rugby season only https://theanalyst.com/club-rugby-stats
I haven't updated them from a couple of weeks ago so there might be a few changes.
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@canefan said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
ALB didn't play a full season this year but he did last year. He had zero yellow cards in SRP and gave away 3 penalties for the whole season over 14 games.
BTW I wouldn't select ALB or David Havili but for different reasons.
I'd go with:
Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes)
Quinn Tupaea (Chiefs)
Rieko Ioane (Blues)
Billy Proctor (Hurricanes)
AJ Lam (Blues)He racked up a couple in tests IIRC
3 YCs across the year, I think, against:
Australia at Accor (65th minute, they scored straight away and we went down to 13 for a bit there)]
Off the benchEngland at Twickenham (78th minute that nearly cost the match)
Off the benchItaly (50th minute)
Started the match -
