He's probably thinking to himself "If Bridge can make the ABs...."

There's two outstanding number 8s in the country that are both excellent lineout exponents. If you had either of them at 8 you wouldn't need to shoehorn in a lock at 6.

At least he won't get benched now.

@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.

@nzzp said in All Blacks 2022:

Christ on a bike, how good would

12 Laumape

look right now.

Considering he did nothing at test level not very?

The ref saw Bridge so that ruled out the try option.....

What a moment.

What a team.

What an era.

Legends.

Sitting through the Black Ferns v Wallaroos XVs game was an absolute treat compared to sitting through the 2018 Blues season.

Clearly the punishment should be that the Crusaders are forced to start Brett Cameron at 10 this week vs the Blues.....

@cgrant No they'll just look short compared to the towering height of Ardie on the opposite side.....

Jordan is out for Test 2 as well isn't he? At least that's what Cane suggested

@Bones Also with how good he was in Ireland's win over the ABs last year.

Tsitsipas let Kyrgios get inside his head.

To knock out Tsitsipas out in 4 sets is a good effort.

Just another thing on the commentators - they credited Cane with that huge hit in the first half that was actually by Ofa.

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

Having a few little oompa-loompas in the team, who will attract high shots from giant locks might be a valuable commodity!

DMac the saviour

Smith was seriously underwhelming at 10 for England.

Just like against the French last year the Wallabies get it done with 14 men.

Some of those bench players need to start for England next week.

Much better than it started out.

Scrum a big tick.

More physicality in defence and counter rucking was nice.

Nice to have 2 dangerous wingers and a bit of size out there.

Aaron Smith back to his best.

Midfield promising.

For a lock at 6 Scott Barrett went well.

Thought the ref went bloody well.

Dalton try saver

Haha Big Karl wanted an early shower