Lomax had a very good game. He scrummed well and was outstanding in the loose. Is he developping into the best THP in NZ ?

@No-Quarter
The Lions have lost so many influential players lately that it will be very hard for them to maintain their level.

Moli hasn't found his mark at loose head. He struggled vs Tupou in the warm up game against the Red. His confrontation with Lomax is an interesting one. I don't know much about Johnstone but this will be a hard introduction to Super Rugby for him against Angus TM. Retallick vs Parkinson is another great feature. This will be a big test for the young Tasman lock.

NZ Conference : Crusaders
SA Conference : Jaguares
Aus Conference : who cares ?

Tamati Williams ? This young guy has a lot of potential from what I've seen of him with the NZ schools. A future star IMO.

I thought that Selby-Ricketts had declined this year's selection in the Highlanders squad in order to add a few kgs of muscle.

@Stargazer said in Hurricanes 2019 Discussion:

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The Proctor brothers will start together for the Hurricanes for the first time on Saturday as the squad heads to Mangatainoka for their final Investec Super Rugby pre-season match against the Blues.

Younger brother Billy will start at second five-eighth with senior sibling Matt at centre in what will be the squad's last hit-out before they face the Waratahs in Sydney in the opening round of the competition.

Hurricanes head coach John Plumtree has named seven players who started against the Crusaders in Levin in his starting XV.

That includes four players in the pack with Ricky Riccitelli,Jeff To'omaga-Allen, Reed Prinsep and Gareth Evans all running on for a second straight week.

Fletcher Smith, who was originally meant to start against the Crusaders but came off the bench, will combine with halfback Finlay Christie who has recovered from a minor hamstring injury which kept him out of the Levin game.

The reserve bench has been reduced from last week with a number of players who featured in Levin playing for the Hurricanes Under-20 side against the Blues in Palmerston North on Friday.

Plumtree said the coaching staff had taken a lot of positives out of the review of the Crusaders match and were looking forward to the challenge the Blues will bring after they had a good win over the Chiefs in their warm-up game.

"There are obviously a lot of things to work on at this stage of the season but we will be hoping the guys have made improvements in some areas from last week's match," he said.

https://www.hurricanes.co.nz/news/article/hurricanes-squad-named-for-mangatainoka-match/

The forwards on the bench look much stronger than the starting ones.

@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Ma'a Nonu for the World Cup......:

How well has he been playing in France?

Well, it depended if he looked interested or not. He used to be outstanding when it mattered and his distribution was always superb. A few brain explosions (late and high tackles), which is surprising for a guy with plenty of experience.

@Catogrande
It wasn't Ringrose but Stockdale.

Today, England are the obvious favorites for the WC title. But things may change till October. Don't forget the ABs looked pretty exhausted in November when they faced England and Ireland. I think that a rested and fit AB team is still the best in the world. This England team have a few players who aren't worldclass (Daly, Nowell, Kruis, George, Sinckler) and their bench is far from impressive.

Moody - Vunipola = even
Taylor/Coles - George = advantage NZ
Franks - Sinckler = even
Retallick - Itoje = advantage NZ
Whitelock - Kruis = advantage NZ
Squire - Wilson = advantage England
Cane/Savea - Curry/Underhill = even
Read - Vunipola = even
Smith - Youngs = advantage NZ
Barrett - Farrell = they are so different they can't be compared
Ioane - May = advantage NZ
Crotty - Tuilagi = advantage England
Goodhue - Slade = even
Naholo - Nowell = advantage NZ
Smith - Daly = advantage NZ