All Blacks final World Cup squad?

[austingtir]

Do you hate being wrong most of the time?;0) Bar the Messam/Thrush, Stuff.co.nz were pretty much spot on.

I like being wrong in this instance because Naholo and pretty much all the rest are great players. There was no way they were going to select Thrush ahead of Messam.

I was hugely dissapointed in Naholo going down as he's a game changer for us it could easily of gone the other way.

Anyway theres no way England can contain that backline for 80 minutes so im pretty content right now.

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Forgot about Barrett, but in still guessing NMS is 2nd to Ben Smith before Barrett or Slade?

Id be very surprised to see that. No way is he second choice FB. He might get to play there though.

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As a part of that "upping his game" he needs (along with Ben Franks) to put away the dumb stuff.

Yellow Cards could end up being costly. Messam gave away some really dumb penalties this year in Super Rugby, and he cost us a match in Ellis Park last year giving away completely unnecessary penalty.

I dont agree with that at full speed there was totally nothing in that tackle and they happen in nearly every game. It was simply incredibly bad luck that Barnes picked up on it (and thats putting it mildly).

The penalty to SA after that where Vermulen stole the ball of us was highly dubious aswell thats where they really won the match imo as we were set to either score or get a penalty eventually imo.

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Dagg, well almost everyone wanted him dropped but it was almost unfathomable to think that he actually would be dropped. Think about it he's been selected for the last 3 years on patchy form and persisted with playing average at best with only the odd random game maybe every 5-6 tests where he's looked good. Then all of a sudden on the eve of the world cup he's dropped!? This is a little out of character for these coaches. And in a why it also reflects a bit on how giddy they are about Naholo.

Piutau - IMO the unluckiest player not to make the squad is not Dagg or Jane or Thrush or anyone else for that matter. It's Piutau, he got the forst 3 tests of the season and he aced them, do doubt about it. He was man of the match against the Boks, one of the only players to look good against Samoa and he was very good against Argentina as well. And in my view he showed he's much better at looking for work and getting involved more outside set plays and in other parts of the field. And defensively he's right up there with the best. That play where he saved a try against the springboks on the right wing when he was playing left wing... That sort of play could win us the World cup. Also considering Savea is a long way off his best. IF I was selector and the WC final was tomorrow then Piutau would run on wearing 11.

Ive said it many times in this thread. The style of play and skillset Piutau has is much more suited to Rugby World Cup knockout football than Naholo or Skudder.

With form and experience as the only factor for selection, Piutau would make the squad 100%. The way his contract signing went bad has surely played a role here, that clearly put a bug up Hansen's arse....

I dont agree about Dagg in 2011 he was the form fullback arguably just like Ben Smith or NMS and they were AT the WC by the time they dropped Muliaina. So if anything they are doing a better job of it by getting rid of these loose end players before the WC. (Muliaina was still a perfectly fine player in comparison to Dagg now though).

On Piutau Hansen has pretty much shown his hand here. They are going to attack alot more than in 2011 and rightly so. In 2011 We had Dan out Richie carrying a pretty bad injury and no real attacking threats (other than Dagg) at the back the team defended well and got points off other teams mistakes really. The only issue with this way of doing it is how this tournament will be reffed. We could possibly get caught out by being to attacking minded and teams manage to shut us down effectively. Thats my only concern about it. But I really dont think we can do the same thing as in 2011 and hope to win.

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Can someone shed some light for me on this Naholo "miricale" recovery? I read he had his leg wrapped in leaves and was suddenly cured?!? What have NZ medics said?

Its a media beat up pure and simple. He fractured his leg and he has recovered as per normal imo theres nothing miraculous about it. The NZRU are just going along with it for that feel good story ahead of the cup.

 

[Kiwi_]

Why Colin slade is in the squad makes no sense to me. To be crude in my disgust he clearly gives Hansen ( a hard on) apologies but had to be said. I realized last year that he was above cruden in the pecking order . Gents cruden would never had made this World Cup squad . Why? Because he has no utility value . If you disagree with me why has Lima been left out and slade picked ?Can some one please educate me as to why a player who is unlikely to have any significant impact or to play any crucial role can be favored above specialists no 10. Charles piutau can play full back centre and wing. He is overall a more talented and more effective player that slade! I will not be surprised if piutau never comes back to play rugby in New Zealand. You don't need to be a genius to see that Lima sapoaga can cover full back and both Cente positions!! Thoroughly disgusted!

Really rough on Slade, I'm a big fan of Lima, but Slade has been there in the last few seasons and has proven he can fill a vital role in the ABs. He's our next best place kicker to Dan as well. He also fills Wing, Fullback, 1st 5, 2nd 5 and I've heard he can step in at half back, he's all round a good player. I wouldn't be so hard on him, he made a great pressure kick last year against Australia to win us the game also.

 

[Mcfadden]

Can someone shed some light for me on this Naholo "miricale" recovery? I read he had his leg wrapped in leaves and was suddenly cured?!? What have NZ medics said?

Not sure what the details of the injury actually are, but if it was just a hairline fracture type injury then it wouldn't have been that grave anyway. But yeah, pretty amazing. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation about how it works so fast. Plenty of medicines out there work besides the Western pills and surgery methods. Just hope the guy doesn't aggravate it. Maybe do what Auckland did with Faumauina, give him 40 minutes against Namibia and sub him off. Then the next time see how he goes against Georgia.

 

[austingtir]

Really rough on Slade, I'm a big fan of Lima, but Slade has been there in the last few seasons and has proven he can fill a vital role in the ABs. He's our next best place kicker to Dan as well. He also fills Wing, Fullback, 1st 5, 2nd 5 and I've heard he can step in at half back, he's all round a good player. I wouldn't be so hard on him, he made a great pressure kick last year against Australia to win us the game also.

Slade is that Donald like player he's not going to make major errors and he's going to play the numbers defend well and generally do a decent job. And then he might even shock a few people if he gets a chance.

 

[Mcfadden]

Slade is that Donald like player he's not going to make major errors and he's going to play the numbers defend well and generally do a decent job. And then he might even shock a few people if he gets a chance.

I dunno, kicking the ball back to Australia in Hong Kong and allowing them to win was a pretty big error Before the World Cup Final he was public enemy number one. Probably worse than the heat Dagg gets now.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

I like being wrong in this instance because Naholo and pretty much all the rest are great players. There was no way they were going to select Thrush ahead of Messam.

I was hugely dissapointed in Naholo going down as he's a game changer for us it could easily of gone the other way.

Anyway theres no way England can contain that backline for 80 minutes so im pretty content right now.

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You know what I don't disagree with that, but unlike you I'm pretty relaxed about my own nation's chances. Looking at it objectively, this World cup is a world cup too soon for a lot of England's players. They just don't have the experience in key positions and the combinations are just not developed enough to withstand 7 matches of an RWC against the very best teams. Home advantage will only take England so far. The difference is if England fail to live up to expectations, and personally I do expect that, I won't be blaming the referee and or Lancaster etc for choosing so and so a player, as they would have made a fundamental difference. I understand that a lot of things have to come together to win a world cup.

 

[austingtir]

I dunno, kicking the ball back to Australia in Hong Kong and allowing them to win was a pretty big error Before the World Cup Final he was public enemy number one. Probably worse than the heat Dagg gets now.

Either way he's less of a risk that Sopoaga in a knockout match. I really rate Sopoaga but that bloody Brumbies game earlier in the year shows he can be skittish at times.

 

[Kiwi_]

Either way he's less of a risk that Sopoaga in a knockout match. I really rate Sopoaga but that bloody Brumbies game earlier in the year shows he can be skittish at times.

Yeah agreed, Lima can some days be really off and make some bizarre decisions, when he has a howler he has a HOWLER. Slade is really solid and cool head. If Lima is needed due to injury I'd certainly be happier than when I was when Donald got the call, haha.

 

[Mcfadden]

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[smartcooky]

Why Colin slade is in the squad makes no sense to me. To be crude in my disgust he clearly gives Hansen ( a hard on) apologies but had to be said. I realized last year that he was above cruden in the pecking order . Gents cruden would never had made this World Cup squad . Why? Because he has no utility value . If you disagree with me why has Lima been left out and slade picked ?Can some one please educate me as to why a player who is unlikely to have any significant impact or to play any crucial role can be favored above specialists no 10. Charles piutau can play full back centre and wing. He is overall a more talented and more effective player that slade! I will not be surprised if piutau never comes back to play rugby in New Zealand. You don't need to be a genius to see that Lima sapoaga can cover full back and both Cente positions!! Thoroughly disgusted!

Slade's selection make perfect sense to me.

He can play left or right wing, fullback and scrum-half as well as his selected position of 10. He kicks equally well with both feet and he's a very reliable goal-kicker (if we needed a last minute try converted from the right hand touchline to win the game, and I had to choose between Barrett and Slade to kick it, I would choose Slade)

Colin Slade is the epitome of Mr Reliable. He's calm under pressure, he rarely make mistakes and rarely takes wrong options on attack or defence.

 

[ianw16]

Hansen is saying Naholo brings real genuine speed which the AB's havent had in a winger for a while and I agree. NMS also brings a huge stepping game on the wing which we also havent had probably ever.
If we could have both of these guys selected and one on the bench for any given game I cant see why we cant break any defence down.

I cant wait to see Naholo play.

"NMS also brings a huge stepping game on the wing which we also havent had probably ever."

Probably too young to remember BG Williams then?

 

[nickdnz]

Firstly, of course Cruden would have made the squad. Hansen has continually said losing Cruden is a huge blow. He would probably be the incumbent to be honest.

In terms of Slade, I'm pretty indifferent. Yes he can play wing. In the same sense that almost any back-line player can be placed on the wing. Same goes for his play at scrum half. He can play there, based on him being used there once to mediocre effect. Really, he's a 10 who can play fullback to a decent degree. I would probably be much happier seeing Barrett on the wings, at least he has genuine pace.

My preference would have been Sopoaga as well. With that being said - there isn't much in it. One thing Slade has going for him well is that he can interchange with Barrett quite easily as they have a reasonably similar skill-set.

 

[TobesHodges]

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There are about 7 more great clips that aren't in here.
Most guys don't have a reel like this in a career, this is one season.. :O

 

[Kiwi_]

NMS seems like a really good kid as well, great attitude. Good bunch of All Blacks.

 

[CaliRa1]

The coaches have a game plan and have selected according to that game plan
I don't know what this game plan is but only taking 1 specialist FB and 1 Winger that has sustained a fracture to his leg only a month ago for a tournament that starts in 3 weeks is foolish IMO

 

[TobesHodges]

I would contradict and say NMS is a specialist FB turned Very decent wing..
Kiwi is right there seems great spirit amongst this AB squad at the moment, I think the defeat to Aus has probably made the stronger, maybe a blessing in disguise going into the WC..

 

[Kiwi_]

I would contradict and say NMS is a specialist FB turned Very decent wing..

This

 

[Mcfadden]

Does anyone think NMS could play any position(s) outside of wing and fullback? Not in terms of this World Cup, but just curious.

 

[Kiwi_]

The coaches have a game plan and have selected according to that game plan
I don't know what this game plan is but only taking 1 specialist FB and 1 Winger that has sustained a fracture to his leg only a month ago for a tournament that starts in 3 weeks is foolish IMO

They had a secret game last week and Naholo played the whole game and he's fit. They wouldn't take him otherwise. We don't know the full stories and extent.


His leg was barely broken, 'broken' is a loose thing to call a tiny hairline fracture, with proper rest for a few weeks, good nutrition and physio can heal very quickly.

Skudder is a fullback, Ben is a fullback.

Barrett has covered there plenty, Slade can cover there. That's 4 players already cover 1 position. I think we'll be ok mate, if there's an injury we can give some one a call in NZ and they'll be over on the next plane. Chill.

 

[nickdnz]

I would contradict and say NMS is a specialist FB turned Very decent wing..
Kiwi is right there seems great spirit amongst this AB squad at the moment, I think the defeat to Aus has probably made the stronger, maybe a blessing in disguise going into the WC..

Yeah, it's funny how people are forgetting that. He rarely played on the wing till this season - and even for the Canes he was only used on the wing because of injuries to Cory Jane.

He showed he can transfer that form to the wing, but I think he looks better when he can join the back-line from fullback.

They had a secret game last week and Naholo played the whole game and he's fit. They wouldn't take him otherwise. We don't know the full stories and extent.


His leg was barely broken, 'broken' is a loose thing to call a tiny hairline fracture, with proper rest for a few weeks, good nutrition and physio can heal very quickly.

Skudder is a fullback, Ben is a fullback.

Barrett has covered there plenty, Slade can cover there. That's 4 players already cover 1 position. I think we'll be ok mate, if there's an injury we can give some one a call in NZ and they'll be over on the next plane. Chill.

Then why exactly is he not available till the third game?