[2015 RWC] Pool C: New Zealand vs. Namibia (24/09/2015)

[ABs2011]

Who is likely to kick goals? Slade or Barrett?

I haven't heard anyone speak about the team yet but it looks to me as though at 2, 9, and 10 (plus more obviously) we have the second pick players starting - Taylor at 2 (although I'm not convinced he is ahead of Mealamu) but certainly TJP at 9, and Barrett at 10. Following that logic it would be silly not to have Barrett get some kicking practice as he will have to be the one that steps up if he has to replace DC.

I'll put my money on Barrett kicking to start with although there is talk of him and Slade swapping at half time.

Overall a reasonably predictable team. Whitelock is the only starter I didn't get right, but against this big Namibian side then its probably a bit safer than playing Kaino out of position.

chikwa chibwe , 40 to 50 points? I'd say it will be a lot more than that. I'm picking the ABs to hit or get very close to 100 (perhaps more like 90, and I can't see Namibia scoring much more that 10.

​

 

[The Jones Boy]

Windhoek... wasn't the surname of Ren from Ren and Stimpy?

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Windhoek... wasn't the surname of Ren from Ren and Stimpy?

Not sure. It's ****ty beer though

 

[Mcfadden]

1. Ben Franks
2. Codie Taylor
3. Charlie Faumuina
4. Luke Romano
5. Sam Whitelock
6. Liam Messam
7. Sam Cane (c)
8. Victor Vito
9. TJ Peranara
10. Beuden Barrett
11. Julian Savea
12. Sonny Bill Williams
13. Malakai Fekitoa
14. Nehe Milner-Skudder
15. Collin Slade

16. Keven Mealamu
17. Wyatt Crockett
18. Tony Woodcock
19. Kieran Read
20. Richie McCaw
21. Tawera Kerr-Barlow
22. Ma'a Nonu
23. Ben Smith

Interesting team. Looks like they don't expect both prop replacements to be used as neither Woodcock or Crockett play tighthead. Again no specialist lock cover from the bench either. Sam Cane as captain is also really interesting; goes to show how highly he is regarded.

Not to stroke our own egos, but to me that 15 looks like a very good side. I guess because it's fresh, it looks agile, athletic, fast - it's not our best team on the technical aspects by a long shot, but some of those players have pace and great skill. Taylor is somebody who I've been waiting to see more of. To me, he's our best line out thrower. In fact, I'm fairly sure he was New Zealand's best in the Super Rugby competition, hence his selection. I don't think anybody could match the running game of Coles, but if anyone comes close it's Taylor.

I think Cane's captaincy is a good call. I thought it would have been Messam who was chosen for that, but he has proven himself to be ill-disciplined and hot headed, so I think Messam will have to earn that role within the squad back. Too many yellow cards for the Chiefs and probably in the bad books after the water boy thing. From memory I think Cane was New Zealand's top tackler in the Super 15, and he'll be the guy to slot into Ricchie's place after the World Cup so I love the fact they are giving him an opportunity to build on his leadership skills.

Beuden Barrett and Julian Savea are going to be worth watching. Barrett was a little rusty in the appearances he's made since his injury late in Super Rugby (which is totally understandable), but last week it looked like he found confidence and speed in his running game that we know him for. It'll be interesting to see if he can get back into his old rhythm through starting in the 15 as opposed to the bench. Carter could go down like a sack of potatoes at any minute, so we need Barrett to be operating well. Just hope him and Slade stay injury free this match. As for Julian Savea, I wouldn't say he's playing horrendously. Critics have been a bit harsh on him. I'm no attacking specialist, but I think there's a lot he could do better in terms of technique. Against Namibia I'd expect at least one or two classic bump-offs, but perhaps he should expand on this and see what other ways he could be effective.

I have my fingers crossed for Milner-Skudder. One dropped catch isn't representative of what the kid can do. We know what he can do; we saw it against the Wallabies. Let's not forget he is inexperienced and has never played on these grounds before. Most people have the luxury of starting their career on an end of year tour against Italy or Scotland for 50 minutes. I was an advocate for Piutau because I thought he might suit the WC environment a little more, but we have Skudder. Somebody who was in form going into this, and who can do devastating things, so we just have to make sure he realizes that potential and does his thing well.

 

[ABs2011]

Must be over 500 test caps on the bench from the forwards alone. This must be some kind of record surely!

Yeah I agree with much of what you've said Mcfadden.

I think this is the type of side that truly can rack up a huge score, more so than our first string starting line up. The only concern may be combinations and cohesion but the attacking flair of this side, the mobility of the forwards (particularly in the loose) is quite incredible. Super excited to see how they all go, but in particular I'll be watching Taylor, Vito, Barrett, NMS, the Feki/SBW combo, and Savea.

Just to add a little bit to what you've said.

Cane's captaincy is a bit of a surprise I guess, but makes sense moving forward. He is obviously the replacement for McCaw and I guess now looks like he will be the future vice captain to Read post the world cup.

I think it is so funny how some so called rugby pundits are so quick to turn on our players. Save is the latest example. I can't believe some people are seriously calling for him to be dropped or think that this may be his last chance to impress. How quickly people seem to have forgotten that basically ever since this guy came on the international scene he would have been a lock in most peoples world XVs. It was hugely disappointing to see him so out of shape post Super Rugby, but he is looking good now, and actually I thought he started to show he was coming back into form. ON the other wing, I really hope NMS shines as well. This game is taylor made for him really, so fingers crossed. He looked massively disappointed after the Arg game, but he has some fantastic leaders around him, so hopefully he puts that one moment behind him and focusses on the next game.

I would have loved to see Piutau in the squad as well, the guy is probably the best rugby player in the world not to be at the RWC. BUT he is the architect of his own demise. Well him and his dumb arse manager I guess. Going back on his word sealed his fate, so at the end of the day its a mute point really.

All in all this is the perfect game for many ABs to play them selves into a bit of form and grown in confidence. Fingers crossed for good weather and that the team gels because if thats the case the world could be in for a real treat.

All the best to Namibia though. No doubt they will have the crowd rooting for them!

 

[chikwa chibwe]

Not to stroke our own egos, but to me that 15 looks like a very good side. I guess because it's fresh, it looks agile, athletic, fast - it's not our best team on the technical aspects by a long shot, but some of those players have pace and great skill. Taylor is somebody who I've been waiting to see more of. To me, he's our best line out thrower. In fact, I'm fairly sure he was New Zealand's best in the Super Rugby competition, hence his selection. I don't think anybody could match the running game of Coles, but if anyone comes close it's Taylor.

I think Cane's captaincy is a good call. I thought it would have been Messam who was chosen for that, but he has proven himself to be ill-disciplined and hot headed, so I think Messam will have to earn that role within the squad back. Too many yellow cards for the Chiefs and probably in the bad books after the water boy thing. From memory I think Cane was New Zealand's top tackler in the Super 15, and he'll be the guy to slot into Ricchie's place after the World Cup so I love the fact they are giving him an opportunity to build on his leadership skills.

Beuden Barrett and Julian Savea are going to be worth watching. Barrett was a little rusty in the appearances he's made since his injury late in Super Rugby (which is totally understandable), but last week it looked like he found confidence and speed in his running game that we know him for. It'll be interesting to see if he can get back into his old rhythm through starting in the 15 as opposed to the bench. Carter could go down like a sack of potatoes at any minute, so we need Barrett to be operating well. Just hope him and Slade stay injury free this match. As for Julian Savea, I wouldn't say he's playing horrendously. Critics have been a bit harsh on him. I'm no attacking specialist, but I think there's a lot he could do better in terms of technique. Against Namibia I'd expect at least one or two classic bump-offs, but perhaps he should expand on this and see what other ways he could be effective.

I have my fingers crossed for Milner-Skudder. One dropped catch isn't representative of what the kid can do. We know what he can do; we saw it against the Wallabies. Let's not forget he is inexperienced and has never played on these grounds before. Most people have the luxury of starting their career on an end of year tour against Italy or Scotland for 50 minutes. I was an advocate for Piutau because I thought he might suit the WC environment a little more, but we have Skudder. Somebody who was in form going into this, and who can do devastating things, so we just have to make sure he realizes that potential and does his thing well.

Fair comment , fair comment ! Let's compare Sam cane to Richie when Richie was 23! Unfair example you say . Sam cane is being groomed and protected to take over . We don't see this potential in his performances at the Chiefs notwithstanding he may have been the top tackler. You never want to see any body get injured but there is a fine fly half by the name of Lima sopoaga who deserves to be here . Why Colin slade is here does not make sense at all?!!! I hope Savea form picks up. Remember this is the World Cup . Form has to count and not loyalty based on hope & past performances!! Nehe (pause) Milner skudder has incredible skills!!

 

[ABs2011]

Fair comment , fair comment ! Let's compare Sam cane to Richie when Richie was 23! Unfair example you say . Sam cane is being groomed and protected to take over . We don't see this potential in his performances at the Chiefs notwithstanding he may have been the top tackler. You never want to see any body get injured but there is a fine fly half by the name of Lima sopoaga who deserves to be here . Why Colin slade is here does not make sense at all?!!! I hope Savea form picks up. Remember this is the World Cup . Form has to count and not loyalty based on hope & past performances!! Nehe (pause) Milner skudder has incredible skills!!

Colin Slade being there makes absolute sense. He can cover wing and fullback, is a very good goal kicker and has proven him self many times for the ABs at the highest level. Exactly what is needed for a RWC. There was never any doubt he was going to be at the world cup. I'm sure this has been gone over many times in the past but Sopaga doesn't offer that versatility which I believe was the thing that counted against him most. Also remember Sopaga will be on a plane quick smart if any of our tens go down injured and he may well find himself playing as well.

As for Cane, I'm not sure what you have been watching? He is a fantastic player with great potential. You don't rate him? He is certainly more than a tackler. He is a very good pillager, strong ball runner, good leader, and very quick around the park. What more do you want?

 

[Mcfadden]

Fair comment , fair comment ! Let's compare Sam cane to Richie when Richie was 23! Unfair example you say . Sam cane is being groomed and protected to take over . We don't see this potential in his performances at the Chiefs notwithstanding he may have been the top tackler. You never want to see any body get injured but there is a fine fly half by the name of Lima sopoaga who deserves to be here . Why Colin slade is here does not make sense at all?!!! I hope Savea form picks up. Remember this is the World Cup . Form has to count and not loyalty based on hope & past performances!! Nehe (pause) Milner skudder has incredible skills!!

I would love a stats website that told me about turnovers won (not conceded) by an individual player in a match. Would be curious to see how Cane's turnover ability stacks up, because I believe that's what counts when it comes to being a flanker. That, and tackling. To me it seems like Cane has been groomed to be Ricchie's successor as well. The only other person for me who would fit that flanker mold is Matt Todd, and he'll be in the mix as another understudy who waits on the bench for awhile, but they've invested so much time in Sam now. I know people in NZ love Ardie Savea because he's an excitement machine and an attacking God, but I'm not sure if his future is permanent openside flanker for the All Blacks. In the loose trio somewhere else? Yeah, I could see that. But that's another discussion!

 

[ABs2011]

I would love a stats website that told me about turnovers won (not conceded) by an individual player in a match. Would be curious to see how Cane's turnover ability stacks up, because I believe that's what counts when it comes to being a flanker. That, and tackling. To me it seems like Cane has been groomed to be Ricchie's successor as well. The only other person for me who would fit that flanker mold is Matt Todd, and he'll be in the mix as another understudy who waits on the bench for awhile, but they've invested so much time in Sam now. I know people in NZ love Ardie Savea because he's an excitement machine and an attacking God, but I'm not sure if his future is permanent openside flanker for the All Blacks. In the loose trio somewhere else? Yeah, I could see that. But that's another discussion!

Ardie will be in the mix for sure - I suspect Cane and Ardie off the bench will be what we see for a while. But remember Ardie will be with the sevens squad so Todd will probably get a season with the ABs. No-one else springs to mind although I am really rating this young kid Karpik!

 

[Shaggy]

Ardie will be in the mix for sure - I suspect Cane and Ardie off the bench will be what we see for a while. But remember Ardie will be with the sevens squad so Todd will probably get a season with the ABs. No-one else springs to mind although I am really rating this young kid Karpik!

There's a few that would go alright it the 7 shirt ... there's Shane Christie too

... any way, here's the Namibian team



http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...ibia-bank-on-experience-in-ultimate-challenge





NAMIBIA: Johan Tromp, David Philander, JC Greyling, Johan Deysel, Conrad Marais, Theuns Kotze, Eugene Jantjies, Leneve Damens, Tinus du Plessis, Jacques Burger (captain), Pieter-Jan van Lill, Tjiuee Uanivi, Johannes Coetzee, Torsten van Jaarsveld, Jaco Engels. Reserves: Louis van der Westhuizen, Casper Viviers, Raoul Larson, Renaldo Bothma, Janco Venter, Rohan Kitshoff, Eneill Buitendag, Chrysander Botha.

 

[ABs2011]

There's a few that would go alright it the 7 shirt ... there's Shane Christie too

... any way, here's the Namibian team



http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...ibia-bank-on-experience-in-ultimate-challenge





NAMIBIA: Johan Tromp, David Philander, JC Greyling, Johan Deysel, Conrad Marais, Theuns Kotze, Eugene Jantjies, Leneve Damens, Tinus du Plessis, Jacques Burger (captain), Pieter-Jan van Lill, Tjiuee Uanivi, Johannes Coetzee, Torsten van Jaarsveld, Jaco Engels. Reserves: Louis van der Westhuizen, Casper Viviers, Raoul Larson, Renaldo Bothma, Janco Venter, Rohan Kitshoff, Eneill Buitendag, Chrysander Botha.

Yeah maybe, although I just can't see him jumping up the ladder of players they have already shown interest in. He is probably next in line out of the current crop of players after Todd and Savea, but I'm not sure he gets a look in unless on of the income,bent guys goes down injured. The ABs have a tendency to look to the future when it comes to the 4th in line so I reckon Karpik will be on their radar for the next "training camp" player. He's the best youngster I've seen going around anyway.

 

[Shaggy]

Yeah maybe, although I just can't see him jumping up the ladder of players they have already shown interest in. He is probably next in line out of the current crop of players after Todd and Savea, but I'm not sure he gets a look in unless on of the income,bent guys goes down injured. The ABs have a tendency to look to the future when it comes to the 4th in line so I reckon Karpik will be on their radar for the next "training camp" player. He's the best youngster I've seen going around anyway.

Well, you could be right, I only mentioned Shane Christie because he's already been called into the All Black camp previously, so he's obviously in their thinking somewhere, even if it's on the periphery.

 

[Mcfadden]

Nothing to do with Shane playing for the Makos and you being from Golden Bay aye Shaggy

 

[Kiwi_]

Shane is such a good player, what a great Highlanders squad we have, the perfect make up of hard players, from Christie to Pryor, Bucky to Banks. The ITM cup is a gold mine.

 

[RedruthRFC]

Nothing to do with Shane playing for the Makos and you being from Golden Bay aye Shaggy

Lol Makos....back in the days of Bright and Poff a third tier English team had a better back row! (<<<<<<<)

 

[nzlizard]

I think Cane's captaincy is a good call. I thought it would have been Messam who was chosen for that, but he has proven himself to be ill-disciplined and hot headed, so I think Messam will have to earn that role within the squad back. Too many yellow cards for the Chiefs and probably in the bad books after the water boy thing. From memory I think Cane was New Zealand's top tackler in the Super 15, and he'll be the guy to slot into Ricchie's place after the World Cup so I love the fact they are giving him an opportunity to build on his leadership skills.

Messam is off to play 7's as well so he will not be around much if at all next year and after that he may not get a place back, so it makes sense for him not to play a role in the captaincy of the team.

 

[ABs2011]

Messam is off to play 7's as well so he will not be around much if at all next year and after that he may not get a place back, so it makes sense for him not to play a role in the captaincy of the team.

also Kaino was ruled out with a precautionary injury, so any thought of him playing at lock and potentially captaining had to be scrapped.

 

[Shaggy]

Nothing to do with Shane playing for the Makos and you being from Golden Bay aye Shaggy

... Nah, he plays for the wrong club ... I'm a Stoke lad originally

Lol Makos....back in the days of Bright and Poff a third tier English team had a better back row! (<<<<<<<)

That's a pretty sad comment considering the Makos have undoubtedly improved since they left (their a good shot at the premiership this year), and that Mark Bright captains one of your more successful English second division sides ... am I to conclude that while we've got better, the general standard of English rugby has deteriorated

I also note that Mark was also good enough to represent England internationally, all be it, it was in Sevens

Anyway, we are somewhat off topic here ... I was expecting Kaino at lock for this match ... didn't realise he had an injury

 

[TRF_heineken]

For Shaggy .

Have to admit, after that Argentina game I'm glad I don't have to wait a full week for the next match. It has left me feeling a little flat. If I may pull a heineken - I predict the All Blacks to vent any frustrations on a soon to be savaged Namibia. One trillion points.

Haha, Well, I think you shouldn't underestimate the Namibians. Most of them play their rugby in SA. Some even kept Springboks out of starting line-ups during the Super Rugby. For example, Renaldo Bothma. He's a big mobile no. 8 that played for the Sharks, and kept a guy like Ryan Kankowski out of the team. Even though he's on the Bench for this match. They also have Chrysander Botha, who is a very good interceptor. If the game gets very loose, a guy like him will score some points.

With that said though, I don't think NZ will win by less than 45 points...

 

[Mcfadden]

They also have David Philander who played a bit of rugby in Taranaki Most of the them are relatively unknown to us though, apart from a few in Super rugby as mentioned. I thought I saw an article that most of them were dentists, engineers, tradespeople, etc.

New Zealand shouldn't be stupid, but I do expect them to win - because they do have a pretty awesome team in my view as you'd expect - the question for me is around how well they execute , staying injury free, and absorbing the occasional spell of attacking flair and passion (particularly in the first half) from Namibia.