2025 All Blacks v France series
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i want it to be true so much i am willing to overlook all sorts of things
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@gt12 said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
There is a rumor that somehow Paps fucked things up with Razor.
One poster mentioned a late night phone call as the cause.
Another has just suggested a head butt.
Based on his selections last year, Razor probably deserved a headbutt...
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@reprobate said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
Was it a dominant head-butt? Cause a pussy one could be cause for omission.
The post head butt body language was not up to the required standards
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I think Paps and Jacobsen were competing for one spot, and he lost out. He works quite hard but I don't think he's fast enough to be an elite 7. Maybe he should come back to super rugby next year and play 6? He's going to have to learn how to smash people and shift bodies the way that Parker appears to be able to
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Papali'i is fast at top speed. His issue is his game doesn't have the balance the coaches are looking for.
His top speed would be faster than Jacobson, Kirifi, Lakai and probably Sititi.
The last 3 might be faster over 10m but not over 50m
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@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
@ACT-Crusader said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
the trio they went with against France
Isn't that the only game we lost? My memory is shithouse.
We lost it but we also had to bring Lakai on in the first few minutes to replace Finau.
Which points to a secondary issue of having the right pieces on the bench.
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@ACT-Crusader said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
@ACT-Crusader said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
the trio they went with against France
Isn't that the only game we lost? My memory is shithouse.
We lost it but we also had to bring Lakai on in the first few minutes to replace Finau.
Which points to a secondary issue of having the right pieces on the bench.
3 smallish guys who couldn't get the ball over the advantage line close in and couldn't stop the French from getting their own roll on.
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@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
Why? Ryan claimed Frizell was hitting the peak age for blindsides at 30.
Papali'i is 27 and has 36 test caps. They should be cashing in on that. The guy is big and an athlete.
I don't disagree
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@reprobate said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
@nzzp said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
@Chris said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
@nzzp said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
@canefan said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
@reprobate said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
@canefan said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
@nostrildamus said in 2025 All Blacks Squad v France:
I can see how they like Norris, he's a physical presence around the field. I hope they can help him refine his scrummaging.
Shame Ah Kuoi wasn't looked at as lock/6, small for a lock but quite athletic and hardworking methinks.
It's interesting the views on Blackadder in the final, he was a workhorse as always but didn't look that impactful or dominant or particularly speedy to my eye, but I wasn't looking particularly out for him.
If I had time I'd like to go back to see if the Chiefs when off the boil as LJ got hit/off the field, the loosies looked far more effective early on I thought.I kept an eye on him, you are correct. and 30 carries for 0.8m is a disgrace
Not sure where you are getting those stats from, but was it you who watched him closely in the semi and managed to miss the game high 30 odd tackles?
Someone posted that during the game. As for the tackle count, he may have got 30 odd, but I didn't notice them as they lacked dominance
Tackle counts are not that important. Racking up numbers hitting one off defensive players and being late to attacking rucks doesn't really help win games. It's just avoiding errors. Safe boring players are great, but if you have too many (if any) you can just beige your way out of any impact and dynamism.
So defence doesn’t count then someone can make one tackle per game at that’s all good.
You're twisting what I said. Defence is critical. Tackle counts in isolation are not a yardstick for effectiveness.
EB cops plenty, but not for workrate or commitment. But pointing at a tackle count and saying 'see, awesome' is just not justified. Particularly when players (Clarke) steamroll you the week before
Nobody on here says awesome about EB - I'm about his staunchest defender on here, and all I say is I don't understand him being rubbished all the time when he performs strongly.
Dominant tackle % Opta stats Super rugby this year:
Parker 14.6%
Finau 11.8%
Savea 7.3%
EB 5.4%, same as CLW.
Kirifi 4.6%
DP 4.3%
LJ 3.8%
Sititi 2.2%Taking into account how many tackles EB makes, it's actually Parker then Finau then him - in terms of dominant tackles per minute.
I'm in agreement with you on Ethan and I don't agree at all with those who argue he's busy but ineffective. In the final four weeks of Super rugby, he went up against four of the other top five teams and basically outworked all the loosies in all of them. Significant contributor to our title. Notable on Saturday night that Rob subbed Tom Christie and switched Ethan to openside to bring on Grace.
I reckon it's pretty undeniable that he's got the biggest motor of any loosie in NZ and that's quite phenomenal when you consider he's predominantly a blindside. He can cover 7 (obviously, from Saturday night), but he's not fast enough to play there in big tests.
So he's a smallish 6 with a massive motor - in cycling parlance, I reckon he equates to George Bennett - guys they talk about with big diesel engines - they can climb with everyone, but they don't have the dynamism to actually break away from the pack. And Ethan's not even fast for his size.
I also don't think he's a great lineout option.
What I hope Razor is looking at it is what ACT is suggesting, big dynamic blindsides who are dominant lineout options - Finau and Parker - guys who are going to empty the tank for 55 minutes and get subbed. I also suspect he's toying with the idea of 6-2 splits, which again negates Ethan's strength.
If you're going to deploy Ethan for 55 minutes, he's going to come off with the tank still half full - it's negating his core strength. He's a better match if you're picking Hoskins at 8 and planning to sub him.
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Quite surprised and pleased with the selection. Seems that Razor really is being a bit more adventurous, which can only be a good thing.
Happiest with the McAlister selection - he was ready to play for the All Blacks a couple of years ago but was incredibly unlucky with the timing of injuries.
Hoping that the smaller squad does suggest some injured players like Parker and Tangitau might join the squad at some point.
Given Jordie Barrett is coming off a long season, Tupaea and Tavatavanawai will both likely get opportunities at 12. A few people mentioning Tupaea as a 13 option but his defensive reads have always been subpar when wider out and it's only when he started focusing exclusively on 12 that he really stepped up his game, so don't think he will (or should) play elsewhere.
And it was silly of me, but I obviously should not have (quite vocally) questioned @chchfanatic! More or less on the money - I just couldn't picture a world where Razor didn't select Blackadder, and it still somewhat beggars belief for me. He was a semi-permanent fixture last year and has been in better form through Super Rugby, so not sure what the deal is there.
Or course, will take back a lot of what I've said if Barrett gets rolled out at 10 again against the French.
