All Blacks 2025
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Those plugging for big Jim, do you really think he will suit the way the ABs play? While he would bring some handy skills to the team, I have my doubts as to whether he would fit in. He tends to run sideways a fair bit, and with Dmac still prone to doing that from time to time, will we end up with a sideways problem? Ball playing is not his strength, as in putting others in space with his passing, so if he is paired with RI our midfield will not exactly be creative. And God help us if he is combined with BB.
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@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks 2025:
There seems to be an assumption lately that Roigard and Ratima are fighting it out for starter and bench. Hotham will be very much in the mix and it would not surprise me in the slightest if he is the bench half.
Gotta have Ratima in the 23, excellent pass, the best support lines for a halfback in NZ and is Defensively strong as we have seen when stopping Tele'a in February and Lennox last night.
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@Grooter The top two half backs are clearly Ratima and Roigard. Both good passers and runners and decent kickers.
Ratima edges it for me at the minute because of his strengths in terms of decision-making and defence. Ratima's combination with Sititi and DMac is also why I'd start him in Test 1 against the French.
Roigard's confidence and acceleration will help him get a lot of AB game time in 2025 though. Even though he makes the odd mistake, I love his enthusiasm and positivity.
In terms of the third half back slot, there's not much between Fakatava, Funaki and Hotham. Fakatava would be my pick because I see him as the most consistent and reliable of the three, as well as the one who will challenge defences the most.
But I think the selectors will go with Noah Hotham as they seem to see him as a long-term project.
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From the Opta stats:
Top 20 Loose Forward Players by Rucks_Per_80minutes (desc)
35.24 Dalton Papali'i
35.19 Ethan Blackadder
33.57 Sean Withy
33.12 Charlie Gamble
31.78 Corey Kellow
31.4 Du'Plessis Kirifi
29.97 Caleb Delany
29.68 Tom Christie
29.13 Jahrome Brown
27.87 Ardie Savea
26.91 Luke Jacobson
26.56 Reed Prinsep
25.77 Peter Lakai
25.44 Kaylum Boshier
23.85 Cullen Grace
23.35 Simon Parker
22.39 Vaiolini Ekuasi
21.74 Oliver Haig
20.72 Christian Lio-Willie
20.28 Samipeni Finau
Club Rugby Stats Hub 2024-25 | Opta Analyst
Our Club Rugby Stats for the 2024-25 season includes individual player and team advanced stats broken down by category.
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@handa457 said in All Blacks 2025:
FInau (6)
Ardie (7,8)
Lakai (7,8)
Sititi (8,6)
Jacobson (6,8,7)Quick, good workrate, but a pretty lightweight group.
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@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2025:
Jacobsen are certainties.
I'm sure he will be picked but there's no way Jacobson should be a certainty
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2025:
@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2025:
Jacobsen are certainties.
I'm sure he will be picked but there's no way Jacobson should be a certainty
I really can see him being the starting 6 and stated the reasons earlier in this thread.
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@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks 2025:
@sparky yeah I suspect they will go for Ratima and Roigard, and I will be happy enough with that because Ratima did well last year. We're well stocked at 9.
Ratima had a run of poor form near the end of the year last year and lost his confidence - to put it kindly.
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@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
So with Reiko Ioane back in form, who misses out in the selection for the ABs in midfield?
Proctor
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@booboo said in All Blacks 2025:
@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:
So with Reiko Ioane back in form, who misses out in the selection for the ABs in midfield?
Proctor
ALB.
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@brodean said in All Blacks 2025:
I'd take Lam over Tavatavanawai. I think Lams game is better suited to test rugby. Both will probably miss out to Havili and Ennor.
Lam is bigger and plays arguably in a more test-like Super team but with less turnovers.
How do/could they compare as a backup wing? -
I don't think it is scandalous to consider Savea and Sititi are viewed as ahead of Sotutu at 8 in AB coaches' eyes (and of course they play 7 and 6 as well) but he seems pretty useful to the Blues to me, not sure he has really been playing as badly as some here suggested (I haven't seen today's game).
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Nobody here picking Beauden? Or more accurately, picking the coaches to pick BB?
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2025:
Nobody here picking Beauden? Or more accurately, picking the coaches to pick BB?
Huh? Everybody knows he's a certainty.
