AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?
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The weekend was the first time I really started to think Rieko might evolve into a bloody good centre. Need to watch him more on defence, but I thought he showed some nice touches ball in hand (passing to set up others) that I hadn't really seen from him before. Good to see him evolve
I wonder if a Goodhue/Reiko partnership could develop? With Goodhue the glue that allows the dynamic players to flourish.
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@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@taniwharugby Clarke is keen to go based on a quote only a week ago.
“I want to go to Tokyo,” he says. “It’s a big goal, especially while I’m still young. But we’ll just see how this season pans out. The ultimate goal is always the black jersey. If there’s a shot of that it would be something real cool to pursue. But the Olympics is once in a lifetime as well.”The way things are going, there ain't going to be any Olympics next in 2021
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@Tim said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bones ALB/Goodhue, ALB/Ioane, Goodhue/Ioane, and Goodhue/ALB all lack a dominant midfield ball carrier, and rely on a player who looks to take the outside break.
I guess you missed the ALB/Crotty midfield that was such a success a couple of years ago. Through the middle.
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@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
We don't have a Nonu available. Laumape isn't that either as his distribution is more like Nonu c2003.
You need to have all 3 on the field so that's (11) Ioane, (12) ALB and (13) Goodhue.
How did Nonu turn out? Nani may end up being another Sam Tuitupou, or maybe he'll expand his game like Ma'a. He does bring toughness and the ability to break the line
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@canefan said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
We don't have a Nonu available. Laumape isn't that either as his distribution is more like Nonu c2003.
You need to have all 3 on the field so that's (11) Ioane, (12) ALB and (13) Goodhue.
How did Nonu turn out? Nani may end up being another Sam Tuitupou, or maybe he'll expand his game like Ma'a. He does bring toughness and the ability to break the line
Laumape is already 27 so hasn't got the same time to develop as Nonu did. He should be in the AB squad but I don't think he starts unless the coaches want a point of difference in the midfield.
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@canefan said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
We don't have a Nonu available. Laumape isn't that either as his distribution is more like Nonu c2003.
You need to have all 3 on the field so that's (11) Ioane, (12) ALB and (13) Goodhue.
How did Nonu turn out? Nani may end up being another Sam Tuitupou, or maybe he'll expand his game like Ma'a. He does bring toughness and the ability to break the line
Laumape is 27. Ma'a Nonu was already polished product 2011 Ma'a Nonu by that point. I think it's time to accept current Laumape is the finished product.
He's also not very big, so more punchy than anything at test level.
He's not the next Nonu, and agree with @Bones he's not even really Tuitupou
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@Tim said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Foster's starting forwards will probably be the following, and it will be a big wet turd. Then we'll thrash Australia and there will be one hundred posts about how good they are.
- Moody
- Taylor
- Laulala
- Whitelock
- Barrett
- Frizell
- Cane
- Savea
with a back division of
Smith
Mounga
Bridge
ALB
Goodhue
Reece
BarrettWe'll get bashed by everyone who isn't Australia
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@junior said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Crucial said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Word. Clarke had to be in, he is a real weapon with all the extra skills.
Needs a touch more experience and he looks like he could be Bridge with a bit more power.
Clarke is young, but needs to get himself more involved if the ball isn't going his way.
how many games had our starting wingers in a RWC semi final played? combined? If you are good enough...
I'm pretty over the "safe" wing spot. I think the trench warfare of test rugby needs a couple of game breakers out wide.
Agree with this. Look at the Pom and Safe wings at the 2019 RWC and every one of them had that "extra" ability to beat a man, which can be a crucial outlet in a tight test match. Look at the value the Poms got out of their wings in that semi as compared to the 3/5 of fuck all we got from ours. It was almost like they'd swapped jerseys before the match. Similarly, the Saffa wings were absolutely terrific in the final, especially late on when defenders are fatigues and there to be beaten by someone capable of using a bit of footwork.
Maybe apart from Jonny May who was a cripple that got run down by Scott Barrett.
