All Blacks 2025
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@Tim Super rugby stats:
Reece is:
3rd= in tries scored
3rd= in clean breaks
4th in defenders beaten
7th in metres gained
1st in offloadsAn incumbent AB winger and one of the other two has signed offshore.
I don't see him missing out to Fihaki!
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@Chris-B Jordie will available after Leinster's season ends on May 17th or May 24th if they make the European Cup final. His playing minutes have been carefully managed by Leinster so fatigue won't be a factor. My guess is that he will play a half of so of a club footy once he's back in New Zealand. He'll be a contender for Player of the Season in the Northern Hemisphere for 2024-5. Bar serious injury, he's a certainty for the All Blacks squad against France.
Leicester F is still contracted with Toulon until the end of July. Under NZR rules he will need to play for Ta$man in the NPC before he's All Blacks eligible. So he might play towards the end of the Rugby Championship if there is an injury. I think he's a near certainty for the end of year tour. He's played well at Toulon and Robertson is a fan.
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@Tim To be fair to Sevu Reece, Louis Bielle-Biarrey has been making lots of other wingers look slow in recent months. 21 years old and probably the best back in the world at the moment. The French are really lucky to have a such an exceptional talent. I wish we had someone like him at the moment. But we don't.
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@Tim said in All Blacks 2025:
@Chris-B He did that at Super Rugby level last year too, and struggled all season for the ABs.
Maybe - but, I'm not sure about the logic that says we should instead pick someone else who doesn't look as good at Super rugby on the off chance they might be better at tests.
Teleá is leaving which opens up a spot for Tangitau, who's looked the best of the rest to me. Big Leicester is in the wings..
I don't think they'll be in any rush to punt Sevu from the start of the year.
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@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
I wish we had someone like him at the moment. But we don't.
We could well do, but we're not getting the chance to find out with the selection of average carthorses possessing bland all round skills.
the correct term is "vanilla"
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@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
I wish we had someone like him at the moment. But we don't.
We could well do, but we're not getting the chance to find out with the selection of average carthorses possessing bland all round skills.
the correct term is "vanilla"
I thought we'd established that now means the opposite?
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@Chris-B said in All Blacks 2025:
@Tim said in All Blacks 2025:
@Chris-B He did that at Super Rugby level last year too, and struggled all season for the ABs.
Maybe - but, I'm not sure about the logic that says we should instead pick someone else who doesn't look as good at Super rugby on the off chance they might be better at tests.
Teleá is leaving which opens up a spot for Tangitau, who's looked the best of the rest to me. Big Leicester is in the wings..
I don't think they'll be in any rush to punt Sevu from the start of the year.
Well, they can't have it both ways.
If they are picking on Super form, fine, do that.
But, that means no Fihaki. So, if they want him, they see something that is needed at test rugby that is not shown at Super.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2025:
I'd say this year will give us a much better picture of whether he is upto the task or not, if we cant start to climb back up after the slide that started around 2016/2017, might be time to start supporting the Warriors....
We started the climb back in 2023 IMHO and are still progressing, though patchily. Expected in his first year
The forwards look good, esp. the tight 5, there's options available at 6/7/8 and we're in a much better position at 9. 11 & 14 are also OK. I think 10 is solid, but concerned about options if DMac is injured, midfield is still a bit of a mess and we're still in a muddle at 15.
This year Robertson needs to get the loosies working as a unit, try some options at 12/13 and give "new" players like Lakai, Perofeta, Proctor, Love etc. way, way more game time than last year.
Sense there's still an issue around on-field leadership. The headless chicken stuff has abated, but we're still not in a good space when under pressure. Again, expected with a new coach and captain but he needs to work on the on-field smarts this year.
Be a bit bolder and confident. Oh, and sort out the bloody exits and re-starts - almost seems like that's an afterthought with this bunch.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2025:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2025:
I'd say this year will give us a much better picture of whether he is upto the task or not, if we cant start to climb back up after the slide that started around 2016/2017, might be time to start supporting the Warriors....
We started the climb back in 2023 IMHO and are still progressing, though patchily. Expected in his first year
The forwards look good, esp. the tight 5, there's options available at 6/7/8 and we're in a much better position at 9. 11 & 14 are also OK. I think 10 is solid, but concerned about options if DMac is injured, midfield is still a bit of a mess and we're still in a muddle at 15.
This year Robertson needs to get the loosies working as a unit, try some options at 12/13 and give "new" players like Lakai, Perofeta, Proctor, Love etc. way, way more game time than last year.
Sense there's still an issue around on-field leadership. The headless chicken stuff has abated, but we're still not in a good space when under pressure. Again, expected with a new coach and captain but he needs to work on the on-field smarts this year.
Be a bit bolder and confident. Oh, and sort out the bloody exits and re-starts - almost seems like that's an afterthought with this bunch.
Re watched a few games this Easter weekend to refresh the memory. The amount of dumb decisions that were made that cost the All Blacks in South Africa and France were staggering. Unbelievable stupid in some many cases.
I also forgot how much of a liability TJP was. Thank fuck he’s gone.
Would say the same with Cane but it is so evident that the attacking breakdown is a mess without him and Whitelock around. There needs to be a priority of picking some players who do the dirty work. Not just make up junk metres down the edge.
The leadership core needs to change. B Barrett and Savea are part of a generation that have been constant losers (Lions, 2x RWC fuck ups, loses to Argentina, the rot against Ireland). There can’t be any inspiration or confidence from that group. Flush it out, start anew with a group of young, confident players.
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@KiwiInLondon said in All Blacks 2025:
Unbelievable stupid in some many cases.
Maybe a bit of indecision too.
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@Steven-Harris said in All Blacks 2025:
his form is way better than it was last year
Not exactly a resounding endorsement.
I'll be the first to admit that his form is better, I think I was and got flak for it.
But I still don't see a player who is screaming "pick me" as an All Black.
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@Steven-Harris said in All Blacks 2025:
Was in at the Sport Nation studios on friday , picked up some oil that both Fihaki and Tangitau will be selected in the first All Black squad .
I would imagine they would have a squad in mind if they selected it today .
But there is always wriggle room to change their mind between now and then
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@booboo said in All Blacks 2025:
@Steven-Harris said in All Blacks 2025:
his form is way better than it was last year
Not exactly a resounding endorsement.
I'll be the first to admit that his form is better, I think I was and got flak for it.
But I still don't see a player who is screaming "pick me" as an All Black.
The thing that annoys me a bit about Fihaki getting included, is that Shaun Stevenson had bashed the door down for years, is a better player than Fihaki, but had defensive issues and got crucified for it. It almost felt like he got picked to shut the public up before getting spat out into no man's land once he missed a tackle.
Fihaki, whose defence so far looks worse than Stevenson, seems to be getting every opportunity possible to prove himself. If he gets picked and does well, fair play, but as of right now in their careers, Stevenson has done far more to deserve some sort of run in the black jersey than someone like Fihaki.
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@KiwiInLondon Geez you are a harsh judge. Hope none of the players or coaches read your posts.
But more concerning is the wording of a bunch of earlier posts. If the AB selectors are really telling fringe candidates they are in at this stage of the season then something is very very wrong with their methods. I would hope it is all about getting around candidates and telling them what they need to work on to make their best case for selection.
Can anyone elaborate on what exactly is being said?
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2025:
Here's something to criticise/discuss.
Marc Hinton and Paul Cully selected their AB team to play now. They've taken different approaches with JB, and there is some provincial bias. Neither chose Tele'a.
late to the party but these have to be piss takes surely? No one who gets paid to talk about rugby would serve this level of shit up in any serious capacity.
right?
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@Chris-B said in All Blacks 2025:
@Steven-Harris said in All Blacks 2025:
Was in at the Sport Nation studios on friday , picked up some oil that both Fihaki and Tangitau will be selected in the first All Black squad .
Even if one of them breaks their leg?
Pretty early in the season to be locking in newbies, so I'm a bit sceptical that they are - but, I daresay both are being watched closely.
I'm imagining that for the French tests, Faingaánuku won't be back in the country -but, after that, I'm pretty sure he'll become a part of the equation. When does Jordie become available?
If they're selecting a pretty bloated squad of 36 for France, then the backs will look something like:
Roigard, Ratima, Hotham
BBarrett, McKenzie
JBarrett, Ioane, ALB, Proctor, Havili
Clarke, Reece
Jordan, LoveAnd then a few from Faingaánuku, Tangitau, Narawa, Fihaki, Perofeta, Teleá - and whomever else I've forgotten or has caught their eye.
Not sure there's space for both of Tangitau and Fihaki for a start.
There isn't in my squad - I don't need four wings.
I think you are pretty spot on here. My preference would be Lam over Havili but I can see them picking Havili, especially considering he's been performing for one of the front runners. I'd love them to pick Ioane as a winger to include Lam though.
Would really love to see Tangitau get in as a winger. I think we need some fresh blood on the wing and I think he will be deadly at international level with his work-rate and speed.
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