All Blacks squad for the Lions named on the 8th... predictions?

[Penne Rara]

He's in the squad and I guess he'll have the role of an old wise man, training with the newcomers, giving them advice, cheering them up from the bench, running around as a waterboy or teeboy and giving last minute instructions.
Nah, he'll possibly play too I guess. I don't know why but it feels as if Hansen knows what he's doing, and I think he expects Coles to be back from concussion until then, somehow.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Why are you worried? Fekitoa is, at most times, a liability. And this season, and his last games with the ABs have been "wishy-washy", he did play good against the Crusaders, mind. He makes really vital mistakes literally every game. Vince Aso is 22 years old... Have you seen that kid over 40metres? Before this season we were scratching for a centre partnership.. Now? Its ridiculous. Aso does what Fekitoa does, perhaps better? He didnt make it.

That's super harsh and just wrong

 

[nik]

The past few years we have seen certain ABs when they get the ball they hesitate.. and make wrong decisions. These guys are:
Fekitoa
Moala
Naholo

Looks like they are still persisting with Naholo but given up on Fekitoa and Moala for now.

McKenzie is too small for an international FB. He is courageous and a good defender but will get bumped off easily as we saw last year in the test against Argentina.

Jordie offers more versatility and size.

Sopoaga is selected based on his previous AB experience. So is Dagg. Both lucky to be there.

Luatua misses out because he is leaving otherwise he seemed a shoe in.

 

[ALJ]

Did I hear right that when Kevin Barrett retired he said he was off to breed some All Blacks?

Wasn't bloody kidding was he.

 

[mania]

wow gotta give hansen credit picking laumape. awesome

 

[mania]

yip, the crazy thing is that dmac has made a huge amount of tackles at around 85-87% and Jordie is tackling at around 55-60% mark

yeah i rate dmac above jordie. poor guy just cant get a break

 

[GoTheNaki]

Its just something so trivial as "size".

These Lions are gonna hit midfield bombs.. Gonna need the bomb squad from 2011.

 

[Penne Rara]

Its just something so trivial as "size".

These Lions are gonna hit midfield bombs.. Gonna need the bomb squad from 2011.

Don't you worry about that mate, New Zealand has got the shock brigade ready for action:



(back when the Bus was a bit less chubby)

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

My thoughts on the forwards:

Hookers
As expected. Doubt Coles will see any game time and I'm not sure that Taylor will be the starting rake either. Should be a good battle between him and Harris for that number one number two berth.

Props
Disappointed that Tu'ungafasi has been selected over Laulala, but it's unlikely the 5th choice prop will get more than maybe 40 minutes of the bench. I imagine that Laulala will take Faumuina's place on the EOYT.

Locks
See hooker. Tuipulotu probably wasn't ahead of Romano in the first place, but he lost any chance of pushing his case when he was omitted from the Blues v Lions match. All our locks are on form so that's good.

Loose forwards
Main squad loosies are not surprising at all. The selectors were never going to pick three 7s and Cane is obviously the incumbent (for good reason). If he is hit by injury then Todd will slot straight back into the starting lineup. Surprised that Fifita has been listed as a loosie, but he's not going to get any game time anyway.

 

[mania]

My thoughts on the forwards:
Props
Disappointed that Tu'ungafasi has been selected over Laulala.

Locks
Tuipulotu probably wasn't ahead of Romano in the first place, but he lost any chance of pushing his case when he was omitted from the Blues v Lions match. All our locks are on form so that's good.

i'm disappointed that tuugafasi still gets picked. how?
i dont rate sBarrett above tuipolotu. romano's all right in that he's good at what he does, however i reckon tuipopotu offers more
i reckon laumape getting picked is a real positive and glad to see him on board. could he be the next best league convert?

 

[GoTheNaki]

i'm disappointed that tuugafasi still gets picked. how?
i dont rate sBarrett above tuipolotu. romano's all right in that he's good at what he does, however i reckon tuipopotu offers more
i reckon laumape getting picked is a real positive and glad to see him on board. could he be the next best league convert?

Hes not a "convert" . He played Palmy Boys 1st XV. He got stolen from rugby in the first place, lol.

Also, he didnt perform well enough in league to be considered that either.

 

[GoTheNaki]

My thoughts on the forwards:

Hookers
As expected. Doubt Coles will see any game time and I'm not sure that Taylor will be the starting rake either. Should be a good battle between him and Harris for that number one number two berth.

Props
Disappointed that Tu'ungafasi has been selected over Laulala, but it's unlikely the 5th choice prop will get more than maybe 40 minutes of the bench. I imagine that Laulala will take Faumuina's place on the EOYT.

Locks
See hooker. Tuipulotu probably wasn't ahead of Romano in the first place, but he lost any chance of pushing his case when he was omitted from the Blues v Lions match. All our locks are on form so that's good.

Loose forwards
Main squad loosies are not surprising at all. The selectors were never going to pick three 7s and Cane is obviously the incumbent (for good reason). If he is hit by injury then Todd will slot straight back into the starting lineup. Surprised that Fifita has been listed as a loosie, but he's not going to get any game time anyway.

Neither Cane nor Todd stack up to Savea.. It certainly shouldnt be Todd replacing Cane. Its just Hansen doing that whole "he was here first" malarkey again, like he did with Dagg who was terrible for years, and was clearly not the best fullback we had in NZ rugby. Anyway, Savea passed Cane last season and got nothing out of it. The way the game is going there are going to be sprinters all over the paddock.

 

[Ground We Won]

I'm still not over this McKenzie snub, as I've said before, Sopoaga should NOT be there.

 

[GoTheNaki]

I'm still not over this McKenzie snub, as I've said before, Sopoaga should NOT be there.

Hey now. Thats fake news there..

McKenzie is not that tall...

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Neither Cane nor Todd stack up to Savea.. It certainly shouldnt be Todd replacing Cane. Its just Hansen doing that whole "he was here first" malarkey again, like he did with Dagg who was terrible for years, and was clearly not the best fullback we had in NZ rugby. Anyway, Savea passed Cane last season and got nothing out of it. The way the game is going there are going to be sprinters all over the paddock.

I'm surprised this train of thought still exists, to be honest. Spend 20 minutes only watching Sam Cane in tonight's game then spend 20 minutes only watching Ardie Savea. You'll see why Cane is #1.

 

[mania]

I'm surprised this train of thought still exists, to be honest. Spend 20 minutes only watching Sam Cane in tonights game then spend 20 minutes only watching Ardie Savea. You'll see why Cane is #1.

agree. cane may not be #1 in most peoples books but teams cant function without these types of players. the grafters, the workhorses, the darArtsMasters that do the dirty work so that others can entertain and do the flashy stuff. cane helps set the attacking platform .

 

[GoTheNaki]

agree. cane may not be #1 in most peoples books but teams cant function without these types of players. the grafters, the workhorses, the darArtsMasters that do the dirty work so that others can entertain and do the flashy stuff. cane helps set the attacking platform .

This is like the Aaron Smith vs Perenara stuff too.

But the only thing Cane beat Savea in last season was what? Offloads? Just offloads for NZ's "#1" openside? The game is going the way that Savea already fills, a winger-paced openside.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

This is like the Aaron Smith vs Perenara stuff too.

But the only thing Cane beat Savea in last season was what? Offloads? Just offloads for NZ's "#1" openside? The game is going the way that Savea already fills, a winger-paced openside.

Well he also made more tackles per minute played.

But what about breakdowns attended? Who organises the defence? General decision making?

Get me the stats for those and then we can do a comparison?

 

[Ground We Won]

This is like the Aaron Smith vs Perenara stuff too.

But the only thing Cane beat Savea in last season was what? Offloads? Just offloads for NZ's "#1" openside? The game is going the way that Savea already fills, a winger-paced openside.

And what about Richie McCaw? Do you think he was the stats leader every season?

Sam Canes value goes far beyond stats and how many line breaks he makes a game.

 

[Penne Rara]

Stats are the enemy of common sense. People look at the stats and think they know it all, but sometimes you can't measure a player's talent.