[2014 EOYT] New Zealand

[TRF Mr Fish]

I know we still have one more match to go in the Rugby Championship but I think it's worth getting a bit of debate going.

It's likely the All Blacks will take a 32 man squad for their tour to the northern hemisphere where they will play the USA, England, Scotland and Wales. I'd imagine a number of senior players will head to England early as it's unlikely our strongest lineup will be fielded against the US.

Probable squad
Hookers - Coles, Mealamu, Harris
Props - Crockett, Moody, Franks, Franks, Faumuina
Locks - Retallick, Whitelock, Tuipulotu, Bird/Thrush
Loose Forwards - Kaino, Messam, Luatua, Cane, McCaw, Read
Halfbacks - Smith, Perenara, Kerr-Barlow
First Fives - Carter, Cruden, Barrett
Centres - Williams, Smith, Fekitoa, Crotty
Outside Backs - Savea, Smith, Dagg, Piutau/Jane

Possibly both Jane and Piutau will make the trip with Crotty getting cut, but I think Crotty has done well enough with him time to warrant travelling. Jane has been selected ahead of Piutau so far but that's mainly because Piutau is returning from an injury. Given it's the year before a World Cup I can't see any experimentation on tour - bar maybe one or two positions this is going to be the World Cup squad.

I think we'll probably see a match day 23 for the game against the USA resembling:
1 Moody
2 Harris
3 B Franks/Faumuina
4 Tuipulotu
5 Bird/Thrush
6 Luatua
7 Cane
8 Messam
9 Perenara
10 Cruden
11 Savea
12 Williams
13 Smith
14 Piutau
15 Dagg
16 Coles
17 Crockett
18 B Franks/Faumuina
19 Whitelock
20 Kaino
21 Kerr-Barlow
22 Carter
23 Fekitoa

 

[ratsapprentice]

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see you put out the most obviously athletic team you can. The USA game is, after all, practically a marketing exercise - and the US sports mindset is one that places a lot of value on individual athleticism.
SBW, Fekitoa, Tuipolotu, Piutau type players might be favored over Ben Smith/Conrad Smith looking blokes. I know it sounds silly, but I'm being deadly serious.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see you put out the most obviously aesthetic team you can. The USA game is, after all, practically a marketing exercise - and the US sports mindset is one that places a lot of value on individual athleticism.
SBW, Fekitoa, Tuipolotu, Piutau type players might be favored over Ben Smith/Conrad Smith looking blokes. I know it sounds silly, but I'm being deadly serious.

I think SBW/Smith is almost a given, assuming that's the combination the All Blacks plan on using against England.

 

[Darwin]

I think the squad you suggest will be pretty close to the squad they end up selecting. The AB's selectors will not want to be experimenting too much this close to the RWC (there is only about a dozen AB's tests until the RWC starts?), it will be more about refining combinations with players they are already familiar with.

The biggest selection issues will be the breakdown of midfielders/outside backs (as you suggest). If there are any injuries (I'm looking at you Mr Carter) the likes of Slade and Taylor will obviously be the next players in line.

There could perhaps be room for Vito (at Luatua's expense) as he was in the squad at the start of the season before injury. As long as they don't pick Luke Whitelock again I will be happy

 

[Darwin]

Looks like Kerr-Barlow will miss the tour with a torn cruciate ligament. That leaves one halfback spot open. It is unclear at this stage who that will be. Andy Ellis would normally be my choice, but given he is playing in Japan at the moment that will almost certainly rule him out. The selectors in the past have mentioned Augustine Pulu, so he may well get a chance...

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Looks like Kerr-Barlow will miss the tour with a torn cruciate ligament. That leaves one halfback spot open. It is unclear at this stage who that will be. Andy Ellis would normally be my choice, but given he is playing in Japan at the moment that will almost certainly rule him out. The selectors in the past have mentioned Augustine Pulu, so he may well get a chance...

That's pretty disappointing. I found it quite funny that TKB was only on the bench for one match this year and yet he came onto the field the earliest of any halfback sub we've had, bar maybe TJP against Argentina when we had a big lead? I thought TKB played well too, up to the point where he tried to kick the ball quite late and ultimately suffered because of it.

Pulu and probably Bryn Hall are the likeliest players to go on the tour, though Weber could be an interesting selection.

 

[William18]

Jimmy Cowan even as a long shot?

 

[Darwin]

Jimmy Cowan even as a long shot?

I hope not. I suppose he shouldn't be completely ruled out, but I would be very disappointed if we had to resort to him...

 

[nickdnz]

Halfback is the only position which we're likely to see a bolter (as others have mentioned) - seems Pulu is the most likely option (although both Hall and to a lesser extent Webber would be intriguing). Frustrating as I thought TKB was playing his best match up until his injury, the pace didn't drop when Aaron Smith came off which is pretty magnificent (until of course Slade became the halfback..).

 

[Darwin]

While I do like Bryn Hall's overall game I do worry a bit about his habit of taking 2-3 steps before passing. He can generally get away with this at lower levels, but may find himself under a lot more pressure at higher levels. I'm not sure who out of him and Pulu I would opt for personally (I still think Pulu is a bit raw). Brad Weber is the best running halfback in he country, but I think the selectors will wait until he has played a bit more Super Rugby before they look at him seriously (though how much game-time he will get behind Kerr-Barlow and Pulu is yet to be seen).

Meanwhile.... It sounds like there will be a few changes to the AB's side for the 3rd Bledisloe. Ben Smith is set to be rested, with Cruden, Retallick, Tuipolotu, and Bird all available for selection.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

While I do like Bryn Hall's overall game I do worry a bit about his habit of taking 2-3 steps before passing. He can generally get away with this at lower levels, but may find himself under a lot more pressure at higher levels. I'm not sure who out of him and Pulu I would opt for personally (I still think Pulu is a bit raw). Brad Weber is the best running halfback in he country, but I think the selectors will wait until he has played a bit more Super Rugby before they look at him seriously (though how much game-time he will get behind Kerr-Barlow and Pulu is yet to be seen).

Meanwhile.... It sounds like there will be a few changes to the AB's side for the 3rd Bledisloe. Ben Smith is set to be rested, with Cruden, Retallick, Tuipolotu, and Bird all available for selection.

I haven't been impressed with Hall for Harbour. He looked good at the start of Super Rugby but his form has steadily dropped since then. Pulu is a good impact player, but I wouldn't want him on the field trying to close out a tough match! To be honest I think Weber is the best of them, he's looked pretty good for Waikato even without a great platform.

I think Pulu is the most likely to be selected, however.

 

[Jaguares]

AB have named 31 for Bled3:

Hookers: Dane Coles, Nathan Harris and Keven Mealamu.
Props: Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Ben Franks, Owen Franks and Joe Moody.
Locks: Brodie Retallick, Jeremy Thrush, Patrick Tuipulotu and Sam Whitelock.
Loose forwards: Sam Cane, Jerome Kaino, Steven Luatua, Richie McCaw, Liam Messam and Kieran Read.
Halfbacks: TJ Perenara, Augustine Pulu and Aaron Smith.
First five-eighths: Aaron Cruden, Beauden Barrett and Colin Slade.
Midfielders: Ryan Crotty, Conrad Smith and Malakai Fekitoa.
Outside backs: Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Charles Piutau and Julian Savea.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Sounds like we will see a squad of 34 players and that Luke Romano is in the running to return.

It also sounds like we might see a bolter. We'll know in the next couple of hours!

 

[donmcdazzle]

Liam Squire maybe as the bolter? Or Maybe they'll take Crotty and Slade.

 

[nzlizard]

Liam Squire maybe as the bolter? Or Maybe they'll take Crotty and Slade.

Would be good to see Squire as a bolter, can't see both Crotty and Slade going, neither deserves to be dropped for DC though.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Liam Squire maybe as the bolter? Or Maybe they'll take Crotty and Slade.

Well if you look at the squad for th match against the Wallabies, the only other players near the squad are Carter, SBW, Bird and Romano.

That's 35 players altogether. We won't see six locks, so you'd imagine one of Thrush, Bird or Romano is left behind. That would mean in order to include another outside player either another lock or a back would have to be dropped. Basically this means we'll only see Slade/Crotty dropped if the squad has five locks.

 

[nzlizard]

Team Named

The squad is as follows: (with province and Test caps. New caps are in bold)

Forwards

Hookers

Dane Coles (Wellington, 24 Tests)

Nathan Harris (Bay of Plenty, 1)

Keven Mealamu (Auckland, 120)

Props

Wyatt Crockett (Canterbury, 33)

Charlie Faumuina (Auckland, 22)

Ben Franks (Hawke's Bay, 37)

Owen Franks (Canterbury, 63)

Joe Moody (Canterbury, 5)

Locks

Brodie Retallick (Bay of Plenty, 33)

Luke Romano (Canterbury, 16)

Jeremy Thrush (Wellington, 4)

Patrick Tuipulotu (Auckland, 5)

Samuel Whitelock (Canterbury, 60)
Loose

Forwards

Sam Cane (Bay of Plenty, 21)

Jerome Kaino (Auckland, 54)

Richie McCaw - captain (Canterbury, 134)

Liam Messam (Waikato, 35)

Kieran Read (Canterbury, 69)

Victor Vito (Wellington, 24)

Backs

Halfbacks

TJ Perenara (Wellington, 7)

Augustine Pulu (Counties Manukau -)

Aaron Smith (Manawatu, 36)

First five-eighths

Beauden Barrett (Taranaki, 25)

Daniel Carter (Canterbury, 100)

Aaron Cruden (Manawatu, 35)

Midfielders

Ryan Crotty (Canterbury, 9)

Malakai Fekitoa (Auckland, 6)

Conrad Smith (Wellington, 83)

Sonny Bill Williams (Counties Manukau, 19)

Outside backs

Israel Dagg (Hawke's Bay, 43)

Cory Jane (Wellington 52)

Charles Piutau (Auckland, 11)

Julian Savea (Wellington, 28)

Ben Smith (Otago, 35)

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Well, Hansen lied. There's nothing 'exciting' about the squad.

ALL BLACKS TOURING SQUAD

Forwards: Dane Coles, Nathan Harris, Keven Mealamu, Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Ben Franks, Owen Franks, Joe Moody, Brodie Retallick, Luke Romano, Jeremy Thrush, Patrick Tuipulotu, Sam Whitelock, Sam Cane, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw (capt), Liam Messam, Kieran Read, Victor Vito.

Backs: Aaron Smith, TJ Perenara, Augustine Pulu, Beauden Barrett, Dan Carter, Aaron Cruden, Ryan Crotty, Malakai Fekitoa, Conrad Smith, Sonny Bill Williams, Cory Jane, Israel Dagg, Charles Piutau, Julian Savea, Ben Smith.

Romano and Vito come in at the expense of Luatua, and Carter and SBW replace Slade in the backs. Vito is ever so slightly surprising, but I don't imagine anyone would raise their eyebrows at that selection.

 

[nickdnz]

Very happy Vito is in there - I think he deserves it (tough on Luatua who has been reasonably strong in his AB performances). Tough again for Slade as well - get a match winning kick one week, get the boot yourself the next. Still, Carter is more important. Very disappointed Romano is back - not sure there is a lock who I think the AB coaches over rate more (and do we really need four specialist locks over three locks and Luatua?).

 

[donmcdazzle]

Very happy Vito is in there - I think he deserves it (tough on Luatua who has been reasonably strong in his AB performances). Tough again for Slade as well - get a match winning kick one week, get the boot yourself the next. Still, Carter is more important. Very disappointed Romano is back - not sure there is a lock who I think the AB coaches over rate more (and do we really need four specialist locks over three locks and Luatua?).

Jeremy Thrush - how he keeps getting picked is beyond me. I'd take Luatua over Thrush anyway I don't think he deserved to be dropped.