K
I still think Chiefs are vulnerable up the guts - especially as the weather will get worse from now til the end of the Super season
Both Reds and Tahs really made in roads with direct forward play.
Blues did the same thing in the final last year
The question is can Chiefs shore things up in the business end of the comp.
@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 .
Players locked in before the business end of Super Rugby
Interesting....
@frugby said in All Blacks 2025:
wouldn’t make a difference, but if it did, it would be minimal.
At test level you should be looking for any improvements no matter how minimal.
We lead both Boks games in the second half - we only just lost to France by a point or so.
The margins are fine at test level - you can't afford to carry players.
We got absolutely nothing out of our bench loose forward and our bench utility back position last year. The likes of Lio Willie, Lam, Tavatavanawai etc should be being looked at to see if they can make a difference.
Proctor at 13 and Rieko at 23 is worth a look. Even something like a 6-2 bench with Sotutu covering the backs would be an interesting experiment - there would be cries that it would be too risky but what's really to lose when the likes of Jacobson and Havili/ALB got picked on the bench test after test and offered zero test after test.
I'm not saying try all of the above but at least try something.
There were some encouraging signs late in the AB season in terms of an evolution on the bench - the likes of Tosi and Tuipulotu really added some oomph late in games that wasn't there earlier in the season because they weren't involved.
Similarly on the wing we are crying out for more pace - Reece and Telea are dynamic in short spaces but lack real pace to really punish opposition when they get put into space. Tangitau has the profile of a player our backline could use if developed properly.
@frugby said in All Blacks 2025:
I don’t know why people can’t comprehend that just picking 15 new players isn’t a good idea
Nice straw man argument. Who has suggested 15 new players?
@frugby said in All Blacks 2025:
We have absolutely no idea how Razor will pick his squad
Well.... we have the three squads he picked last year.....
@Chris said in Blues 2025:
@pakman said in Blues 2025:
Based on how we bullied Chch I doubt any of the others would fancy meeting Blues in playoffs.
Yep Bullied yourself to another Loss even bullied the Crusaders in the last scrum to lose the game.
Well going forward the hope would be Renata is the tighthead in that situation and not a greenhorn on debut
Reds up for the Blues will be very tough. No NZ team has won in Aus and Reds off a bye.
@sparky said in Force v Hurricanes:
Harkin is absolutely shite. How someone that bad under the high ball is a professional fullback is beyond me.
Isn't he a 10 and Love a fullback?