All Blacks v Ireland II
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With Whitelock back, this is a very predictable squad to me. Not surprised at all by SBarrett being preferred over PT after his two great performances. I found PT quite underwhelming in most of the games he played this season.
Kaino is definitely a big loss to the squad. Squire will have to show what he's made of. Depending on the seriousness of Kaino's injury, I wonder whether they will keep Tom Franklin in Europe, now that the Maori tour is over? As injury cover? (I wouldn't mind Shane Christie either, btw).
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@KiwiMurph said in Ireland II:
I'm actually more worried about Squire than S Barrett - having said that 2 proper locks will help Squire do his thing I reckon. It's a real chance for him to show he's up to the 6 jersey.
Squire's probably been a bit undercooked by the AB management. He wasn't released for any gametime for the Mako$, so going into the Chicago test he'd had one full game against Argentina and four appearances off the bench in about three months.
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I'm thinking him, Sam Cane and Aaron Smith should all be significantly better for having a bit of game time under their belts.
Lets hope Whitelock and Retallick are up-to-speed.
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@Donsteppa Same applies to every other forward who started that game. Very selective to focus on him.
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@Donsteppa now you've done it, you have upset the Canerbry of Auckland rugby!
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@Tim at least @Donsteppa isnt actually wrong for once though
Moody went missing the most though....
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Slightly nervous about Moody starting - if he has another game full of indiscipline, there will be Qs for Joe & Steve to answer.
Disappointed Kaino injured, but Squire is probably the best option. Squire has been a major mover this year, from Highlanders bench to core AB23 player.
No problem with the backs - I suppose I should follow the herd and criticise Savea and bemoan Naholo not starting...but I won't because I agree with the selection.
On the bench, I agree too. PT has been a major disappointment in his 2 recent games - didn't think he was that impressive against Italy either...he needs a big Super 18 season, and hoping the ABs continue with a lock on the bench.
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@Billy-Tell no coments thus far that Naholo should start over Savea?
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when Kaino is unavailable , it hits home how handy Messam was
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@KiwiMurph not since the team naming though??
all you said above was
Julian Savea needs a much better performance than the rubbish he served up in Chicago.
I was more pointintg to the comment by Willy
No problem with the backs - I suppose I should follow the herd and criticise Savea and bemoan Naholo not starting...but I won't because I agree with the selection.
I think Savea deserves most of the shit he has copped, but Naholo isnt doing enough to dsiplace him at the moment, which is saying somethign IMO.
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Fair point. I'm saying it now. He should. I don't see Savea and Naholo being held to the same standard if i'm honest. Savea produced some terrible mistakes in Chicago, meanwhile Naholo was dangerous against Italy and his mistake rate has come way down this year in tests.
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@KiwiMurph I agree to an extent, I think Naholo has more of an upside when on his game, but I think both are quite a way off thier game.
Although I think that running the ball dead a fortnight ago was very, very poor.
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In a perfect world I would read 11. Piutua...but the world is not perfect so I'll take "1 try a match" savea. The whole team was rubbish in Chicago including savea but I don't think Hansen should drop 15 players not should savea be singled out.
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How the fuck does JSavea earn so much redemption? Exactly what has he done to show Shag and co he has upped his game? And when does Sops get a start?
Fuck if it is shitty weather and comes down to goal-kicking I hope bloody Barrett and Cruds have their kicking boots..
It almost may have been better for a 6-2 split as you can guarantee Ireland will mauk all night -
@Crash said in Ireland II:
How the fuck does JSavea earn so much redemption? Exactly what has he done to show Shag and co he has upped his game? And when does Sops get a start?
Fuck if it is shitty weather and comes down to goal-kicking I hope bloody Barrett and Cruds have their kicking boots..
It almost may have been better for a 6-2 split as you can guarantee Ireland will mauk all night@Bones I'll leave this one for you to handle
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@Tim said in Ireland II:
@Donsteppa Same applies to every other forward who started that game. Very selective to focus on him.
Moody could have been dropped off a selectorial cliff for all it would have bothered me, but then the squad wasn't big enough to cope with all my knee-jerk droppings in fury at Chicago. In PT's case though he's not in the best three locks on recent form and the selection is a good one. So in one paragraph I've now incurred the wrath of the Canerbry of the North and of the South.
The case could be made for more changes, but PT's is fine.
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