2025 All Blacks v France series
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@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Good to Razor had no hard feelings about the Papali'i headbutt.
After Wallace being ruled out, he should probably be in the squad proper. That's a lot of green players in the back row, and I'm not sure Luke will be ready to go judging by the look of him in the final
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@AmberArmy said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Papali’i coming in ahead of Blackadder is another blight on the current selectors…
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@chchfanatic said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@brodean pretty sure that didn’t happen.
The headbutt was so strong Razor has no memory of it
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where are all these sick new usernames coming from?
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@mariner4life said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
where are all these sick new usernames coming from?
unleash the AI
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The selectors are really going hard on the loose forward positions being interchangeable and not being wedded to who's playing where.
I was thinking when they named their original five that actually they had three people who could play each position.
- Finau, Sititi, Jacobson
- Kirifi, Savea, Jacobson
- Sititi, Savea, Jacobson
But with CLW coming in - if Luke is ruled out and Dalton also comes in, really we'd have:
- Finau (I guess Dalton at a pinch)
- Kirifi, Savea, Papali'i
- CLW, Savea
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Blackadder and Bell both been training with ABs this week.
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@AmberArmy said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Chris-B which makes it very hard to fathom why Blackadder hasn’t been brought in. Something is definitely off there.
Razor thinks Ethan lacks impact. So that would suggest he's down the pecking order and may have been told to address that in the NPC?
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@nzzp said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@mariner4life said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
where are all these sick new usernames coming from?
unleash the AI
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@antipodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@AmberArmy said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Chris-B which makes it very hard to fathom why Blackadder hasn’t been brought in. Something is definitely off there.
Razor thinks Ethan lacks impact. So that would suggest he's down the pecking order and may have been told to address that in the NPC?
Took him long enough.
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@Tim said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Chris-B It was mentioned in the Herald a couple of times this year (and by @george33) that Papalii had increased his weight to have more impact in collisions, so he may be looked at as a seven and six cover.
He may be doing the right thing, but it's bloody hard to know.
On the one hand they appear to be picking utility guys who are going to be good in general play - almost left and right flankers - but not great at lineouts or where massive speed is a necessity.
On the other hand, they're picking Kirifi (a whippet) and Finau a big body.
I can't tell whether they want two or three generalists or three specialists.
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@MN5 said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@antipodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@AmberArmy said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Chris-B which makes it very hard to fathom why Blackadder hasn’t been brought in. Something is definitely off there.
Razor thinks Ethan lacks impact. So that would suggest he's down the pecking order and may have been told to address that in the NPC?
Took him long enough.
Yeah, after all in the playoffs the impact of Finau, Jacobson, Papalii, Sititi against Blackadder was what exactly?