@Bones said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:

@Bones said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:

@Stargazer said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:

@Bones Those stats only say something about where a player starts. It doesn't give info about a player changing position during a game as a result of substitutions.

We're talking about starting aren't we?

To me starting at 6 is what's weird about his selection. It means either Retallick & Whitelock play the full game or one is replaced by a SB who's played 6 since kick-off.

I think that's the hardest part to swallow for me - after all the talk of the 6's, as well as Vaai playing 6 (presumably at Foster's suggestion) and excelling, we go back to a guy who should be starting at lock and hasn't exactly set the world on fire at 6.

What also annoys me is it takes away another chance to see a young player get some game time.

Vaai was a bolter in 2020 - went better than expected - and has barely been sighted in black since.

Grace picked in 2020 - one test off the bench for a handful of minutes I think (the Bledisloe loss in Brisbane) - never seen again.

Sotutu barely played last year - Hodgman picked and discarded - De Groot picked and discarded - Peter Umaga Jensen impressive cameo then never seen again.

Meanwhile nearly 3 years after the RWC 2019 semi we roll out a forward pack that is pretty damn close to our forward pack then.

The Silver Fern

KiwiMurph