Pumas v All Blacks
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The squad to travel to Argentina is:
Forwards: Wyatt Crockett, Kane Hames, Nepo Laulala, Jeffery To'omaga Allen, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Dane Coles, Codie Taylor, Nathan Harris, Scott Barrett, Luke Romano, Patrick Tuipulotu, Vaea Fifita, Jerome Kaino, Kieran Read (captain), Ardie Savea and Matt Todd.
Backs: Tawera Kerr-Barlow, TJ Perenara, Aaron Smith, Lima Sopoaga, Anton Lienert-Brown, Ngani Laumape, Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane, David Havili, Damian McKenzie, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Waisake Naholo.
Six players will stay home from Argentina and join the squad in South Africa. They are locks Samuel Whitelock and Brodie Retallick, loose forwards Liam Squire and Sam Cane and backs Beauden Barrett and Ryan Crotty.Meanwhile, replacement players Akira Ioane and Tim Perry will return to their Mitre 10 Cup provincial teams, while Nathan Harris and Jerome Kaino will also play for their provinces this week.http://www.allblacks.com/News/31444/familiar-faces-return-to-all-blacks-squad
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Huge call leaving both locks at home. A line out that melts down is the quickest way to parity in the modern game. But clearly the coaching panel have a lot of faith in Romano with him getting a shout out for the defensive plan this week.
On balance the presence of Read on both trips is crucial.
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I think they'll go with
Hames, Taylor, Ofa, Romano, Barrett, Kaino, Savea, Read, Perenara, Sopoaga, Ioane, Laumape, ALB, Naholo, Havili
Harris, Crockett, JTA, Fifita, Todd, TKB, DMac, SBW
Plenty of lineout options with Kaino and Read and the two locks.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Pumas v All Blacks:
Plenty of lineout options with Kaino and Read and the two locks.
and Savea...
Shit never gets old eh.
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Argentina vs New Zealand is a Sellout
As was the case in 2016, Argentina vs New Zealand is a sellout. The UAR has officially declared that all tickets for the upcoming Rugby Championship match have been purchased. For Los Pumas it is welcome news. The Argentine national men’s team has struggled to win matches this year. Having played seven times the return has been one win and six losses. Furthermore the victory over Georgia was one of just two over the last twelve months. The other being against Japan last November. Despite the venue for the September 30 match, Estadio Vélez Sarsfield fitting 50,000, capacity for the fixture will be 31,500. All tickets have been sold. High demand in Argentina’s largest city combined with other test matches having been spread explain the sales. -
Strange to see a "high demand" for tickets yet playing in the smaller configuration.
Smart policy on tickets for kids. They'll never forget this the rest of their lives.
Looking at that twitter handle... is ARG pushing for a 2027 RWC bid?
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@salacious-crumb said in Pumas v All Blacks:
Strange to see a "high demand" for tickets yet playing in the smaller configuration.
Smart policy on tickets for kids. They'll never forget this the rest of their lives.
Looking at that twitter handle... is ARG pushing for a 2027 RWC bid?
Yes, indeed!
Argentina has officially announced its bid to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11925280
Barrett will be replacing Lima Sopoaga, whose partner is awaiting the birth of their first child.
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Anyone think they’ll select DMac to run the cutter now that Sopoaga is out? They obviously saw him as the backup option whilst hinting at Havili getting a start at fullback.
I’m sure the preference would’ve been for Lima to play 80 and DMac on the bench as impact to cover 10/15.
Not a huge fan on the evidence, but they might as well give him the go given they see him as an option there.
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@act-crusader now you're just trying to put the shits up people.
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@bones I will break new ground for breath holding if they do go down that path, but it does seem as if they want to see him at 10 at some point.
Not that it matters for this test because he is injured, but they missed a trick with Dagg.....
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@act-crusader said in Pumas v All Blacks:
@bones I will break new ground for breath holding if they do go down that path, but it does seem as if they want to see him at 10 at some point.
Not that it matters for this test because he is injured, but they missed a trick with Dagg.....
Remember that DMac has only been there because of injuries. The original preference was for him to come in and out of camp while getting some time at 10 for Waikato. Then after a Super season at 10 for the Chiefs they could introduce him.
When JB became unavailable they changed to giving him the BB apprenticeship of getting used to test rugby from the back.
I think the lessons he has been learning will be invaluable when it comes to decision making at this level.
Any time at first five in a black jersey would only have been in emergencies.
When looking at workloads on players DMac is streets ahead of anyone else in the squad on minutes played over 2017. -
TKB to start according to TV3 news.
If Sopoaga was at 1st 5 it would have made sense to start Smith to retain the Highlanders combination. So there could be more changes apart from the replacements for the 6 (now 5) who didn't travel to Argentina. I'm sure Kaino gets a run and maybe Laumape and Havili also get an opportunity. The latter two likely aren't on the plane to SA anyway.
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Sopoaga will jut have to start in South Africa. He did pretty well last time.
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@crucial understand that, but they were willing to travel to Argentina with only Sopoaga and DMac as guys that have played any 1st 5. So prior to Lima’s missus popping, DMac was the backup option.
Plans are now changed and there is a distinct possibility of him being at 1st 5.
