Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?
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@mimic said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
@Stargazer said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
@KiwiMurph Pefofeta being picked would worry me just as much as Cameron. Way too green in SR.
Perofeta led the Blues to a victory over the B&I Lions. He'll be fine.
Stephen Brett had some good wins too. That didn't make him "fine".
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@shark said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
@sparky said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
Tom Taylor plays at 13 for Pau these days, Colin Slade is their fullback and Simon Mannix their coach.
So you're saying we need three 'drivers'?
Mannix just quit after a 70 point smashing, and I've no interest in either Slade or Taylor
Cruden is playing shite
Twenty-five per cent wage cut likely if Cruden takes up Glasgow's offer
Aaron Cruden has failed to consistently impress since his 2017 switch from Super Rugby to Montpellier, so PRO14 club Glasgow aren't offering him the same salary he is on in France.
As is soapy
Lima Sopoaga admits it’s been slow progress for him at Wasps
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Only DC has been playing decently of our off shore tens, and he's in hospital
NZR isn't going to change the rules for that shit bunch. Neither will they for Parker, who unlike Todd is not NZ signed and unproven
The man to replace Damian McKenzie in the All Blacks' World Cup squad
The injury-enforced absence of Damian McKenzie at this year's World Cup could leave the All Blacks in a selection hole at first-five. However, if they're willing to look offshore, they could find the man they need to fill the gap suitably.
We've just got to live within our means, and hope for no more injuries
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The few games I've seen of Cruden for Montpellier he has been rubbish. Ditto Sopoaga for Wasps. Haven't seen Slade or Taylor play at all, so no idea for them. In the pool, I voted for Black. I reckon he could do a job, not sure about a RWC winning job though.
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no way they send out an SOS to anyone playing off-shore, that said I guess if Cruden, Spopaga, Slade or someone was seriously considering a move home, they should be getting in touch with the Chiefs management right now and I expect NZR would make it easy.
So yeah...BB, RM...dayllight...night time...sleep in...
As above, if I was forced to choose, I'd be inclined to give Crotty a run at 10, but with him in the same team as RM, it aint gonna happen.
Are a few outside backs that could probably convert to 10, but too late for many.
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@mimic said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
@Stargazer said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
@KiwiMurph Pefofeta being picked would worry me just as much as Cameron. Way too green in SR.
Perofeta led the Blues to a victory over the B&I Lions. He'll be fine.
Wasn't West the guy who made the difference in that game?
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
@mimic said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
@Stargazer said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
@KiwiMurph Pefofeta being picked would worry me just as much as Cameron. Way too green in SR.
Perofeta led the Blues to a victory over the B&I Lions. He'll be fine.
Wasn't West the guy who made the difference in that game?
and SBW scored a magnificent try under the sticks - just off the charts. We got beaten up all game, but burgled it. Still the best experience I've had with the Blues in 11 years at Eden Park
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We've only got five tests to get someone new involved and in some degree up to speed, pre-RWC.
If the selectors are determined to continue with the two playmaker model they used in 7 of 12 tests last year with McKenzie at fullback, the only way to do it is start Mo'unga at 10 and shift BB to 15. We wouldn't need a 10 on the bench but it'd make sense to blood someone.
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We need Buckman. The Barracuda can play anywhere
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@Stockcar86 Send him to Naholo's Fijian doctor asap! If he can heal a knee, I'm sure he can heal an Achilles, too!
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Indeed. He is now at La Rochelle alongside Kerr-Barlow and Victor Vito, looks like he is doind well and has been the regular starter there. I always wondered if he couldn't have covered 9 and 10 for the national side. But irrelevant now as he has 2 more years on his La Rochelle contract.
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It is worth thinking about how this hole was created. I remember watching early in the ITM Cup before the 2011 RWC Auckland vs Canterbury with Tom Taylor and Gareth Anscombe leading both sides around and being pretty confident we had to future 10s whose floor was higher than the World's best first five at the time (who you will remember was Quade Cooper).
Have your individual opinions on each player but how the NZRU mismanaged/failed to retain the Anscombe, Taylor, Sopoaga, Bleyendaal, West 1989-1992 birth year cohort is why we are where we are.
I understand some of it was Dan hanging around longer than expected with Cruden overbaking, but there is a lot more to it than that.
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@rotated Of those Taylor was clearly in the frame and chose to leave, Sops is all about the Benjamin’s, Blyeendraal was a bit over hyped and did nothing of note, Ihaia never found his groove, and Anscombe was an average 10 for the Blues and an ok 15 for Chiefs.
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@rotated said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
It is worth thinking about how this hole was created. I remember watching early in the ITM Cup before the 2011 RWC Auckland vs Canterbury with Tom Taylor and Gareth Anscombe leading both sides around and being pretty confident we had to future 10s whose floor was higher than the World's best first five at the time (who you will remember was Quade Cooper).
Have your individual opinions on each player but how the NZRU mismanaged/failed to retain the Anscombe, Taylor, Sopoaga, Bleyendaal, West 1989-1992 birth year cohort is why we are where we are.
I understand some of it was Dan hanging around longer than expected with Cruden overbaking, but there is a lot more to it than that.
At no point was Quade the world's best 10. Winning a Super Rugby title against a team who didn't play a single game in their home city all season does not make you the world's best 10.
