All Blacks vs England I
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The have got some decent players even if they are short of world class through the side.
Borthwick was a hard honest toiler when he captained England and he seems to be putting a similar work ethic into this England team.
The pack looks to be good although their propping stocks aren鈥檛 that strong at the moment, relying on Marler and 37 year old Dan Cole.
Locks and backrow are good. Ben Earl is a player I really like except for his over the top celebrations. Is Itoje not the force he once was?
They are well drilled and improving. They will be a very tough team to beat for an All black side just coming together for the first time under Razor.
Borthwick was lineout coach for Eddie Jones so they may look to attack us here as we don鈥檛 have a tall lineout for this series.
Having said that, I still expect us to beat them.
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@Frank said in All Blacks vs England I:
@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs England I:
So as the dust settles on the first ABs squad of the year, who is in the 23 to play the first test against England. I think Razor will select the following:
- De Groot
- Taylor
- Lomax
- Barrett (C)
- Tuipolotu
- Finau
Papali'iBlackadder- Savea (VC)
ChristieRatima- McKenzie
- Clarke
- Barrett (VC)
- Ioane
- Reece
- Barrett
- Aumua
- Williams/Tu'ungafasi
- Newell
- Vaa'i
BlackadderPapaliiRatimaPerenara- Perofeta (yuck)
- ALB
I think we can all get to 90%+ on the 23.
Locks is a real worry. Razor in SENZ interview suggested that the TWM until very late on assumed Patty T was crocked. Which suggests Darry woul have been next up. But there must be doubts, and Scooter's bulging disc must also be a real concern. So Vaa'i, the only one at 100% will start. Scooter most natural to be LH lock, but if back plays up can only hope that Patty's knee is good enough!!!!!
Expect Paps to start. Slight chance Proctor will get a run, ribs permitting.
Bench more interesting. Ofa probably form LH, so would expect him, ribs also permitting. Blackadder seems to cover all three loose forward positions, and to come on at 60.
Perofeta, DMac and Beaudy are all going to be in 23. Hard to go past ALB for cover, although it does mean that if a wing goes down it would be logical for Rieko to shift out. That's where someone like Jordan or Stevenson is so handy!
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@pakman said in All Blacks vs England I:
@Frank said in All Blacks vs England I:
@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs England I:
So as the dust settles on the first ABs squad of the year, who is in the 23 to play the first test against England. I think Razor will select the following:
- De Groot
- Taylor
- Lomax
- Barrett (C)
- Tuipolotu
- Finau
Papali'iBlackadder- Savea (VC)
ChristieRatima- McKenzie
- Clarke
- Barrett (VC)
- Ioane
- Reece
- Barrett
- Aumua
- Williams/Tu'ungafasi
- Newell
- Vaa'i
BlackadderPapaliiRatimaPerenara- Perofeta (yuck)
- ALB
I think we can all get to 90%+ on the 23.
Locks is a real worry. Razor in SENZ interview suggested that the TWM until very late on assumed Patty T was crocked. Which suggests Darry woul have been next up. But there must be doubts, and Scooter's bulging disc must also be a real concern. So Vaa'i, the only one at 100% will start. Scooter most natural to be LH lock, but if back plays up can only hope that Patty's knee is good enough!!!!!
It's a bit concerning how little (first class) rugby some of our likely starting pack has played in recent times.
Taylor, Lomax, Scooter and Ardie have all had extended stints on the sidelines.
I hope these guys have all played a bit of club rugby and I would quite like to hear that they've got one of those game of three halves lined up at the weekend so some of these guys get a decent run.
Vaa'i to start this one wouldn't be a bad call. As I said earlier, Newell to start ahead of Lomax wouldn't surprise me either.
Given what happened when we played SA last year after three weeks in camp, I'm a bit concerned about how undercooked we might be in this one.
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@Chris-B said in All Blacks vs England I:
Given what happened when we played SA last year after three weeks in camp, I'm a bit concerned about how undercooked we might be in this one.
Apples and oranges. Mostly a new coaching group. First test of a new era at home vs for all intents and purposes a rwc 'warm up' game played at a neutral site.
More comparable would be first tests of a new season.
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@Chris-B said in All Blacks vs England I:
Vaa'i to start this one wouldn't be a bad call.
It is a worry to me, when the going gets tough (like the Super final) he seems to still go missing. Happy to be proven wrong but it concerns me.
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@nostrildamus Definitely an area of concern - especially with SB and TP carrying injuries.
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MacDonald talking about the backs:
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs England I:
MacDonald talking about the backs:
鈥淐onsistency-wise, I think [Proctor] would have been one of the hardest working midfielders. He鈥檚 a very accurate defender and he鈥檚 an effective attacker"
When I read that I kept thinking so why didn't they select A J Lam over still recovering from injury Havili?
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks vs England I:
@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs England I:
鈥淐onsistency-wise, I think [Proctor] would have been one of the hardest working midfielders. He鈥檚 a very accurate defender and he鈥檚 an effective attacker"
This has been blindingly obvious for 2 years. It would be nice if Leon would provide a bit more insight - though I never found his comments as Blues coach especially enlightening.
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@nostrildamus Rangi probably doesn't like AJ Lam either....
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@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs England I:
@nostrildamus Rangi probably doesn't like AJ Lam either....
What are Lam's weaknesses? I haven't seen enough of him to know but everything I have seen recently looks test-material..
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks vs England I:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs England I:
@nostrildamus Rangi probably doesn't like AJ Lam either....
What are Lam's weaknesses? I haven't seen enough of him to know but everything I have seen recently looks test-material..
At times on the wing defensively he could be a bit passive - he seems to defend better in the middle of the park - once he shifted to 12 his defensive was terrific
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks vs England I:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs England I:
@nostrildamus Rangi probably doesn't like AJ Lam either....
What are Lam's weaknesses? I haven't seen enough of him to know but everything I have seen recently looks test-material..
inepexperience. He's only had half a season at 12.
Ther'es a stronger argument to bring him into the wider squad than Havili
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Interesting to see BOK hanging with the ABs.
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@nzzp said in All Blacks vs England I:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks vs England I:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks vs England I:
@nostrildamus Rangi probably doesn't like AJ Lam either....
What are Lam's weaknesses? I haven't seen enough of him to know but everything I have seen recently looks test-material..
inepexperience. He's only had half a season at 12.
Ther'es a stronger argument to bring him into the wider squad than Havili
I totally agree.
I can see they want experience in the team and a few fresh talents in the wider squad but it surely makes more sense to have the conservative already been ABs in the forwards, and the reserves being inexperienced but fit - this doesn't to me explain the Havili decision.
If he is experienced and good enough he needs to be starting, otherwise if his fitness and or form is shaky, bells start ringing when Rangi says DH just needs a few games, AB games are surely more than refresher games. -
@nostrildamus I rated Havili at 12 when he came in - but he disappeared and got found out against bigger teams (SA).
If you play him against Fiji, he'll look a million dollars. But you know what you'll get against Ireland, SA, France or England on a good day. And it won't look pretty.
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