Māori All Blacks 2025
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@hikastags West has a number of distinct Maori features though.
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@Kiwidom said in Māori All Blacks 2025:
@Bovidae I thought Nui Muriwai ( wgtn) and Quintony Ngatai ( Waikato) all looked better than Parapara in last year's NPC
Those are the other two names I immediately thought of if an NPC halfback was going to be selected. Ngatai is a PE teacher, so probably not available anyway.
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@Bovidae said in Māori All Blacks 2025:
Ah Kuoi speaks Samoan so I assume that is his ethnicity.
Fred Ah Kuoi kiwi league stand off in the 70s and early 80s was Samoan
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@booboo said in Māori All Blacks 2025:
Is he Maori?
Mostly or all Samoan https://www.thecoconet.tv/coco-talanoa/sports/champions-of-the-pacific-ken-and-naitoa-ah/
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@kiwiinmelb said in Māori All Blacks 2025:
Fred Ah Kuoi
According to Wikipedia "[Fred] Ah Kuoi made his international début for New Zealand Māori in 1975, at the age of 18. He toured Australia with the side, participated in the 1975 Pacific Cup and faced Australia, Wales, England and France in New Zealand.[5] "
The article I mentioned in a nearby post said Naitoa is related to Fred (if related to Fred then related to John Kirwan!)
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That is the reason why we shouldn't be using the Maori right now.
Ceremonial match once a year, or change the criteria, or bring out the fucking ABXV for these matches.Happy to die on this hill - NZRU not a professional organization, we should be developing and playing the guys at the next level down, regardless of their whakapapa.
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@gt12 said in Māori All Blacks 2025:
That is the reason why we shouldn't be using the Maori right now.
Ceremonial match once a year, or change the criteria, or bring out the fucking ABXV for these matches.Happy to die on this hill - NZRU not a professional organization, we should be developing and playing the guys at the next level down, regardless of their whakapapa.
I think they do it for "professional" reasons - IIRC it costs less and they are able to get a better fee for the team than the AB XV.
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@Nepia said in Māori All Blacks 2025:
@gt12 said in Māori All Blacks 2025:
That is the reason why we shouldn't be using the Maori right now.
Ceremonial match once a year, or change the criteria, or bring out the fucking ABXV for these matches.Happy to die on this hill - NZRU not a professional organization, we should be developing and playing the guys at the next level down, regardless of their whakapapa.
I think they do it for "professional" reasons - IIRC it costs less and they are able to get a better fee for the team than the AB XV.
Fine, then relax the criteria.
The NZ Maori are our second team and promote the role of Maori in shaping the fabric of rugby in New Zealand.
Players will develop a stronger understanding of Tikanga Māori and its role as a core component of rugby in NZ, regardless of whether they have Maori whakapapa.
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@nostrildamus said in Māori All Blacks 2025:
@kiwiinmelb said in Māori All Blacks 2025:
Fred Ah Kuoi
According to Wikipedia "[Fred] Ah Kuoi made his international début for New Zealand Māori in 1975, at the age of 18. He toured Australia with the side, participated in the 1975 Pacific Cup and faced Australia, Wales, England and France in New Zealand.[5] "
The article I mentioned in a nearby post said Naitoa is related to Fred (if related to Fred then related to John Kirwan!)
Yeah in those day’s because there were fewer of them I guess ( and people questioned things less 😀) Samoans played for the Maori league team , Dennis Williams , James leuluai did too .
Fred was born in Samoa
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You could probably massage it and add say three non-qualifying players like they do in the Olympics and have the qualifier that they display the values of Tikanga Maori.
I doubt it will ever happen though - the heritage of the Maori jersey is too tapu. -
Picking an NZ Maori team to play this time of year is what seems crazy. No ABs, no Under 20s and a bunch of worn out super players. Far better to play an AB xv of next best available. Then have the best Maori All Black selection play maybe as a prelude to Northern tour, or after the Championship. So weak in front row, halfback and wing, it devalues the history of the team in my view
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And, you’ve touched on this, we’ll be putting games into guys a million miles from international rugby while some of our next best will sit around on their asses then prepare to play semi -pro rugby against amateurs.
This lack of alignment shows how far away NZRU is from being a professional organization.
