MotM vs Ireland
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@hydro11 said in MotM vs Ireland:
@chris-b said in MotM vs Ireland:
@donsteppa Speed - yes. Physicality - not so sure.
The reality is that you're bringing in Ardie's physicality vs Squire's physicality (because Cane is playing regardless) and Squire is a much bigger unit.
Plus you're losing height in lineouts, size in the collisions. It's the reason everyone's been somewhat accepting of Jordan Taufua being left out.
Not a fan - hope it doesn't happen.
We should be fine in the lineouts though. Whitelock, Retallick and Read are all very good options.
If we talk about physicality, who offered more today Squire or Ardie? I think Nepia's idea is worth consideration but I would probably prefer Scott Barrett at 6
I'd have to watch the first 30 minutes again carefully to see what Ardie did, but I was watching Squire and I was quite happy with him apart from the head high penalty.
I'm not really a huge fan of Barrett at 6 either. As M4L points out - we're playing three locks, so we get to see what he does, but not so often where his lower mobility lets him down.
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@sparky said in MotM vs Ireland:
I thought Furlong was outstanding for them. Tight Head Prop dominance wins you Tests.
Channelling my inner RedBeard: the most important position on the field is Tighthead. THe second most important is the reserve tighthead.
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Akira could have been bought in to provide the "physicality" they were looking for at 6 while they trained him hard and made him spew doing beep tests to make sure he didn't get lazy. Akira...the answer to all our problems.
Not easy being ranked 76th best in the country. -
Crotty & Goodhue for their defence. Ardie for his work-rate and managing not to do anything dumb. The rest generally stank.
Didnd't include the replacements - unfair to compare to the starting XV
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@frank said in MotM vs Ireland:
Akira could have been bought in to provide the "physicality" they were looking for at 6 while they trained him hard and made him spew doing beep tests to make sure he didn't get lazy. Akira...the answer to all our problems.
Not easy being ranked 76th best in the country.Wow, now he gets mentioned in a Man of the match thread before he's even played.
This really is next level.
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I'm wondering whether Read has fully recovered from his back injury. Apparently that sort of an injury takes at least a year to come right post surgery. Look back at the Lions series last year, the guy was immense so am not convinced that he is fully fit atm.
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@akan004 I guess you have to trust both the player who knows his own body and limits and the medical staff...you could look at Brodie as being under done or not quite there yet, Goodhue had gladular fever about a month or so back, even Coles doesnt look fully comfortable running, Squire has been in and out all season, is he at the right fitness level to be playing, is big Kark at the required fitness levels, admire him for what he has achieved, but didnt quite look up with the pace of the game yesterday (although after being demolished in that 1 scrum he hit back nicely before being subbed off)
But if the player says he's right, passes whatever tests they have to measure....
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@taniwharugby Agreed, but I seem to remember Read saying that he won't be fully recovered until next year. I could be wrong.
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@snowy He made these comments last month, just checked. Yeah, he seems to think he's a hundred on the field so I take back my comment.
"The back's 100 per cent when I'm out there playing,"
"Just travel and a few things can stir it up so it's not 100 per cent.
"It's about 12 months before you actually start feeling like you were before, so I've still got a few months to go in that process but I look after it really well and it's all good."
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@akan004 said in MotM vs Ireland:
I'm wondering whether Read has fully recovered from his back injury. Apparently that sort of an injury takes at least a year to come right post surgery. Look back at the Lions series last year, the guy was immense so am not convinced that he is fully fit atm.
He played pretty well and was very physical for the crusaders after his layoff.
He looks to be on his last legs at the moment tho.
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@sammyc said in MotM vs Ireland:
@akan004 said in MotM vs Ireland:
I'm wondering whether Read has fully recovered from his back injury. Apparently that sort of an injury takes at least a year to come right post surgery. Look back at the Lions series last year, the guy was immense so am not convinced that he is fully fit atm.
He played pretty well and was very physical for the crusaders after his layoff.
He looks to be on his last legs at the moment tho.
So that's the problem, clearly the Crusaders are working him too hard.
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@nepia said in MotM vs Ireland:
@sammyc said in MotM vs Ireland:
@akan004 said in MotM vs Ireland:
I'm wondering whether Read has fully recovered from his back injury. Apparently that sort of an injury takes at least a year to come right post surgery. Look back at the Lions series last year, the guy was immense so am not convinced that he is fully fit atm.
He played pretty well and was very physical for the crusaders after his layoff.
He looks to be on his last legs at the moment tho.
So that's the problem, clearly the Crusaders are working him too hard.
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@mariner4life said in MotM vs Ireland:
@nepia said in MotM vs Ireland:
@sammyc said in MotM vs Ireland:
@akan004 said in MotM vs Ireland:
I'm wondering whether Read has fully recovered from his back injury. Apparently that sort of an injury takes at least a year to come right post surgery. Look back at the Lions series last year, the guy was immense so am not convinced that he is fully fit atm.
He played pretty well and was very physical for the crusaders after his layoff.
He looks to be on his last legs at the moment tho.
So that's the problem, clearly the Crusaders are working him too hard.
Damn, was I supposed to wait until tomorrow?
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@sammyc said in MotM vs Ireland:
@akan004 said in MotM vs Ireland:
I'm wondering whether Read has fully recovered from his back injury. Apparently that sort of an injury takes at least a year to come right post surgery. Look back at the Lions series last year, the guy was immense so am not convinced that he is fully fit atm.
He played pretty well and was very physical for the crusaders after his layoff.
He looks to be on his last legs at the moment tho.
Playing against Ireland in Ireland is a wee bit different to playing for the Crusaders in a competition where the Crusaders have by far and away have the most stacked forward pack in the competition.
