All Blacks Training camp for this week

[187]

Messam should start for the all blacks in the world cup, he is a beast and is very skilled and athletic

Nah. He lacks that mongrel you need when you go up against the big guns. And like psychic duck said, Kaino & Read have been doing the hard yards.
I remember one of the games last year when Vito started and he really struggled. Then Kaino came on & you could just see the huge gap between the two of them and how experience really does matter.

 

[Darwin]

Thompson plays like he would be able to cover 7, but he has never had a good game in the 7 jersey. Even the Highlander fans admit to that. At least Braid has shown he is capable of playing 7

I agree entirely with that. People see him stealing a few balls at the breakdown and instantly assume he would be a good 7, but as you say he has never performed in the 7 jersey. Thomson plays a very loose game; rather than hitting every breakdown like a good openside he often stands off and chooses his moment to go to the breakdown and make a steal. It can be very effective, but relies on the team having a quality 7 to cover for the fact that Thomson isn't really pulling his weight....

Like you, I'd prefer if the AB's took a specialist 7 in their squad (Todd or either of the Braids). If they do only take Thomson and Messem I'd much prefer to Messem playing 7 than Thomson. Although openside isn't Messem's best position, he has proven he can perform in the 7 Jersey.

 

[donmcdazzle]

Given the way Todd was dominated by the Sharks loosies last night I don't want him anywhere near the squad. It took a huge game from Read to try gain any parity in the loose foward battle.

 

[Darwin]

Given the way Todd was dominated by the Sharks loosies last night I don't want him anywhere near the squad. It took a huge game from Read to try gain any parity in the loose foward battle.

The whole Canterbury forward pack (Read included) were dominated by the Sharks at the breakdown in the first-half, as they simply weren't getting enough numbers to the ball, allowing the Sharks to drive over the ball. You can't simply put this down to one player (Todd); indeed often Todd was the only Crusaders player getting to the ball, where he was being met by 3-4 Sharks players!

 

[Larksea]

Both of them are horrible 7s.. its one or the other i say, we need a specialist 7 reserve. Todd, Braid, Latimer, Waldrom, even the other Braid or Sam Cane at a gamble would be a better option.

Messam's best game this season was playing 7

It's true doing that at test level is another story but he seems to have improved a huge amount over the last two years. Since he was given his only real chance back in 2008 and was dropped.