All Blacks 2025
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2025:
@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
@KiwiMurph It ain't pretty, but he can do a job there.
Quinn Tupaea Vs Jordie Barrett for the 12 jersey is a very tight call.
Razor prolly still loves DH...
Super Rugby winning Captain.
Id say Razor will be all over him unfortunately.
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@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
@DMX this literally took seconds to find.
I wonder what Rees looks like in slo motion in his last AB game, don’t even have to go back 4 years for that!!! No issues with red but clear to me Jordie off balance as soon as he caught the ball. What is he 40/50 caps on? Zero relevance to Rees.
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@DMX said in All Blacks 2025:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
@DMX this literally took seconds to find.
I wonder what Rees looks like in slo motion in his last AB game, don’t even have to go back 4 years for that!!! No issues with red but clear to me Jordie off balance as soon as he caught the ball. What is he 40/50 caps on? Zero relevance to Rees.
Anyone see where those goalposts went?
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@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
@DMX said in All Blacks 2025:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
@DMX this literally took seconds to find.
I wonder what Rees looks like in slo motion in his last AB game, don’t even have to go back 4 years for that!!! No issues with red but clear to me Jordie off balance as soon as he caught the ball. What is he 40/50 caps on? Zero relevance to Rees.
Anyone see where those goalposts went?
He hates Reece so much he can’t even write a legible sentence.
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@SammyC said in All Blacks 2025:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
@DMX said in All Blacks 2025:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
@DMX this literally took seconds to find.
I wonder what Rees looks like in slo motion in his last AB game, don’t even have to go back 4 years for that!!! No issues with red but clear to me Jordie off balance as soon as he caught the ball. What is he 40/50 caps on? Zero relevance to Rees.
Anyone see where those goalposts went?
He hates Reece so much he can’t even write a legible sentence.
Zero relevance though.
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@DMX said in All Blacks 2025:
Surprised at the ones who still want to see Reece at test level. I mean how many times do you have to underwhelm for the ABs to stop getting picked? Feel the same way about Havilli too.
Yeah, there's guys who just haven't made the step up to test level and have been given plenty of opportunity to prove themselves. I'd put Reece in that category.
Great Super Rugby player, like Havili (Papali'i and Tuipulotu can be put in the same category too if im accused of bias), but they're not test level.
Still nice to have those guys around the scene for depth purposes.
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@African-Monkey I don't see a lot of difference between Reece and Lowe.
Except one is considered test match quality and one is considered a carry on blight on the game.
Depending on who you support generally.
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@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
@hkkiwi According to ChatGTP, Ardie has a London-based agent who is part of Jay-Z's network and yes he negotiated his last NZR contract himself.
Is that linked to Live Nation? Just watching the Travis Scott documentary, prolly not a good look....
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@Bones According to Chat GTP.
No, Roc Nation and Live Nation are not the same—they are two distinct companies that operate in the entertainment industry but serve different purposes.
⸻
🔹 Roc Nation
• Founded by: Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter in 2008
• Type: Full-service entertainment and sports management company
• Services:
• Music label and artist management (e.g., Rihanna, J. Cole)
• Sports agency (e.g., Kevin De Bruyne, Ardie Savea)
• Brand partnerships, philanthropy, media production⸻
🔹 Live Nation
• Founded in: 2005 (after a spin-off from Clear Channel)
• Type: World’s largest live events company
• Focus:
• Concert promotion, ticketing (owns Ticketmaster)
• Venue operations and event production
• Works with artists, but does not manage them⸻
🔄 Do They Ever Work Together?
Yes, occasionally. Roc Nation and Live Nation have partnered on certain projects:
• In 2008, Roc Nation signed a $150 million deal with Live Nation to launch its entertainment business.
• Live Nation has co-produced tours with Roc Nation artists (e.g., JAY-Z, Rihanna, Beyoncé).⸻
✅ Summary
Feature Roc Nation Live Nation
Founded by JAY-Z Spin-off from Clear Channel
Focus Artist & athlete management Live concerts, ticketing, events
Known for Rihanna, J. Cole, Roc Nation Sports Ticketmaster, large-scale music tours
Relationship Occasionally collaborate Separate companies with different rolesThey’re not the same, but they sometimes partner on business deals.
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@brodean said in All Blacks 2025:
Any AB wing who gets smoked by a lock shouldn't play for the ABs again
He just does not have the gas for test level and really limits ABs on attack Out wide and on defense against other flyers. You just have to look at the other test wings out there and it seems obvious to me picking him limits us. Every year he has a good Super season and come test matches so underwhelming. Defo don’t hate him any more than any other underwhelming ABs and there are a lot of them.
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Some thoughts on the backs after another pretty dire game last night:
It's always good to see a young player being composed in a big game, and his kicking was good, but I really haven't seen anything from Reihana other than what Plummer delivered last year. McKenzie didn't do anything special either last night of course, but if you swapped the two players I don't think anyone really thinks the result changes? Love remains ahead of Reihana (and Barrett) for me.
Our supposed halfback depth looks like a bit of bullshit to me. Ratima's kicking was terrible last night, and Hotham did some good stuff but his errors were a big part of what kept a dominated Chiefs team in the contest. Roe and Preston were poor. Roigard didn't fire a shot against the Brumbies when the Canes got knocked out, and Fakatava not even invited to training camp.
Midfield is interesting. there's players with potential there, but our performance with Barrett and Ioane there were mediocre last year, so if they get picked again can we really expect anything different? Or will Robertson reward form and pick Tupaea and Proctor? Is Tavatavanawai being considered as a bench option or more than that?
Reece was good last night, unfortunately. I don't see small slow pick and go wingers being effective at test level, no matter how good the work rate etc: I want pace and strength. The Chiefs back 3 were pretty poor positionally. Jordan was very good. Still pissed about Tangitau's injury. -
@Jet said in All Blacks 2025:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2025:
@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
@KiwiMurph It ain't pretty, but he can do a job there.
Quinn Tupaea Vs Jordie Barrett for the 12 jersey is a very tight call.
Razor prolly still loves DH...
Super Rugby winning Captain.
Id say Razor will be all over him unfortunately.
Winning captain who received a needless yellow that could have been red.