new zealand

[jordiev]

although i am glad they won the world cup and think they deserved it the most...
i cant help thinking that there xv wasnt the best they could of played? am i the only one that thinks this.... if not what do you think is new zealands best xv?

 

[Kiwiwomble]

what do you think our best XV is?

 

[jordiev]

im not going to pretedn to be a expert... cuz im not
but i think sbw offers more at centre than nonu...
i dont understand why kahui was played as a winger...
but i dont know was hoping to greaten my knowledge by having some people better informed tell me what was the allblack best xv is

 

[nickdnz]

I do agree in many ways.

My choice would have been:

1. Tony Woodcock
2. Kevin Mealamu
3. Owen Franks
4. Anthony Boric
5. Brad Thorn
6. Jerome Kaino
7. Richie McCaw
8. Kieran Read
9. Piri Weepu
10. Daniel Carter
11. Hosea Gear (I think Kahui is a fantastic player, and a really safe option on the wing, especially defensively, but I think Gear/Rokocoko would have brought the brute power and speed the All Blacks need.
12. Ma'a Nonu
13. Conrad Smith
14. Cory Jane
15. Israel Dagg

16. Andrew Hore
17. John Afoa
18. Sam Whitelock
19. Victor Vito
20. Alby Mathewson
21. Aaron Cruden
22. Richard Kahui

That would have been a great 22. Players like Ali Williams, Sonny Bill Williams, Adam Thomson shouldn't have been near the 22 to be honest. SBW offers no real utility value, Ali Williams form has been mixed and fairly poor to be honest, Adam Thomson at no point looked better than Victor Vito.

The one position that has annoyed me all RWC is the wing position. Someone be it Rokocoko, Sivivatu, Gear or Maitland should have been on the left wing. As I said, Kahui is a classy player and has always been great for the All Blacks (and I'd be much happier having him than SBW) I still think the All Blacks should have had an out and out strike winger. Defensively, Kahui is brilliant and he's safe under the high ball, but I would have thought a proper winger would have been a good option in the squad.

The 22 Jersey was a bad call. Gear, Muliaina (if he was fit, obviously), Isaia Toeava were all more deserving options on the bench.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

im not going to pretedn to be a expert... cuz im not
but i think sbw offers more at centre than nonu...
i dont understand why kahui was played as a winger...
but i dont know was hoping to greaten my knowledge by having some people better informed tell me what was the allblack best xv is

you hear that? he called us experts!

the only chnage i would have made would have been gear instead of sbw, gear comes on and kahui moves to the midfield

As for kahui playing on the wing, i defy anyone to claim he didn't take his chance, too many guys get the shot and fail so when one finally takes it that should be rewarded.

seven weeks ago i was baffled ver his choice...i was wrong

 

[donmcdazzle]

I do agree in many ways.

My choice would have been:

1. Tony Woodcock
2. Kevin Mealamu
3. Owen Franks
4. Anthony Boric
5. Brad Thorn
6. Jerome Kaino
7. Richie McCaw
8. Kieran Read
9. Piri Weepu
10. Daniel Carter
11. Hosea Gear (I think Kahui is a fantastic player, and a really safe option on the wing, especially defensively, but I think Gear/Rokocoko would have brought the brute power and speed the All Blacks need.
12. Ma'a Nonu
13. Conrad Smith
14. Cory Jane
15. Israel Dagg

16. Andrew Hore
17. John Afoa
18. Sam Whitelock
19. Victor Vito
20. Alby Mathewson
21. Aaron Cruden
22. Richard Kahui

That would have been a great 22. Players like Ali Williams, Sonny Bill Williams, Adam Thomson shouldn't have been near the 22 to be honest. SBW offers no real utility value, Ali Williams form has been mixed and fairly poor to be honest, Adam Thomson at no point looked better than Victor Vito.

The one position that has annoyed me all RWC is the wing position. Someone be it Rokocoko, Sivivatu, Gear or Maitland should have been on the left wing. As I said, Kahui is a classy player and has always been great for the All Blacks (and I'd be much happier having him than SBW) I still think the All Blacks should have had an out and out strike winger. Defensively, Kahui is brilliant and he's safe under the high ball, but I would have thought a proper winger would have been a good option in the squad.

The 22 Jersey was a bad call. Gear, Muliaina (if he was fit, obviously), Isaia Toeava were all more deserving options on the bench.

Kahui was one of the players of the tournament, he is not someone you can say shouldn't have been there. Offensively he was pretty good to go with the solid defensive work and low error rate. Rokocoko isn't fit to lace his boots on the left wing these days. Our chances of winning it would've dropped bigtime if we had Roko instead of Kahui. I know you have a man crush on Gear so I won't say anything there other than he would have been lonely out on the left sideline all world cup.

 

[William18]

I do agree in many ways.

My choice would have been:

1. Tony Woodcock
2. Kevin Mealamu
3. Owen Franks
4. Anthony Boric
5. Brad Thorn
6. Jerome Kaino
7. Richie McCaw
8. Kieran Read
9. Piri Weepu
10. Daniel Carter
11. Hosea Gear (I think Kahui is a fantastic player, and a really safe option on the wing, especially defensively, but I think Gear/Rokocoko would have brought the brute power and speed the All Blacks need.
12. Ma'a Nonu
13. Conrad Smith
14. Cory Jane
15. Israel Dagg

16. Andrew Hore
17. John Afoa
18. Sam Whitelock
19. Victor Vito
20. Alby Mathewson
21. Aaron Cruden
22. Richard Kahui

That would have been a great 22. Players like Ali Williams, Sonny Bill Williams, Adam Thomson shouldn't have been near the 22 to be honest. SBW offers no real utility value, Ali Williams form has been mixed and fairly poor to be honest, Adam Thomson at no point looked better than Victor Vito.

The one position that has annoyed me all RWC is the wing position. Someone be it Rokocoko, Sivivatu, Gear or Maitland should have been on the left wing. As I said, Kahui is a classy player and has always been great for the All Blacks (and I'd be much happier having him than SBW) I still think the All Blacks should have had an out and out strike winger. Defensively, Kahui is brilliant and he's safe under the high ball, but I would have thought a proper winger would have been a good option in the squad.

The 22 Jersey was a bad call. Gear, Muliaina (if he was fit, obviously), Isaia Toeava were all more deserving options on the bench.

SBW has no utility value? I completely disagree with that statement. I thought the selectors were wrong to bring him on in both the final and the semi because we were ahead but it we found ourselves behind in a match then SBW is one of the few players with the opportunity to tear the game open. Nonu has proved time and time again that he offers more than SBW. He takes the line on more and provides the crash ball which I think is essential for a second five. I agree with you about Gear but apart from that you have only made one more change to the starting XV. Obviously you are never going to get full agreement but 13/15 is pretty good.

 

[nickdnz]

Kahui was one of the players of the tournament, he is not someone you can say shouldn't have been there. Offensively he was pretty good to go with the solid defensive work and low error rate. Rokocoko isn't fit to lace his boots on the left wing these days. Our chances of winning it would've dropped bigtime if we had Roko instead of Kahui. I know you have a man crush on Gear so I won't say anything there other than he would have been lonely out on the left sideline all world cup.

Hardly. Rokocoko isn't quite the try scorer he once was, but he's certainly a much safer player than ever, defensively and even under the high ball. It's a matter of opinion though, obviously I stated I really like Kahui and I agree he played a important role in the campaign from the wing, it's just something I would have done differently. As for Gear, I think he's just the best pure running wing in the world, I think it was a crime that he didn't get any game time this campaign and that he was left out ofthe original squad.

SBW has no utility value? I completely disagree with that statement. I thought the selectors were wrong to bring him on in both the final and the semi because we were ahead but it we found ourselves behind in a match then SBW is one of the few players with the opportunity to tear the game open. Nonu has proved time and time again that he offers more than SBW. He takes the line on more and provides the crash ball which I think is essential for a second five. I agree with you about Gear but apart from that you have only made one more change to the starting XV. Obviously you are never going to get full agreement but 13/15 is pretty good.

Sure. In honesty I am pretty happy with the team. I didn't say SBW isn't an impact player, I said he's not a utility player. If a wing got injured, I wouldn't be happy with him there. Kahui can cover wing/centre and I'm sure fullback pretty well and Toeava can cover everywhere in the backline other than halfback.

 

[ABs2011]

Apart from injuries the AB XV that took the field for the RWC final 2011 is definitely the best AB team. In terms of the reserves I can see the debate about SBW and Thompson. But Thompson gets the nod over Vito for me b/c of experience and SBW gets the nod over Toeava due to form. They chose their best 22 and it showed RWC2011 WIN!!

 

[ABs2011]

I absolutely agree. Kahui was definitely one of the form players of the tournament. It was clear as day that the AB coaches for a long time have been looking for solid all round wingers as opposed to out and out game breakers who dont have the same defensive and positional capabilities. When Kahui was given his chance he showed he has all the skills the coaching staff were looking for. Jane showed in the semi that defence (particularly in defusing the bomb) can go a long way to winning matches, and if my memory serves me right I cant remember a time in the final where our outside backs made any big mistakes. Kahui for me has cemented a place in that AB team for a while to come ad it's probably just a matter of time before he shifts in to 12 or 13.

 

[nickdnz]

I absolutely agree. Kahui was definitely one of the form players of the tournament. It was clear as day that the AB coaches for a long time have been looking for solid all round wingers as opposed to out and out game breakers who dont have the same defensive and positional capabilities. When Kahui was given his chance he showed he has all the skills the coaching staff were looking for. Jane showed in the semi that defence (particularly in defusing the bomb) can go a long way to winning matches, and if my memory serves me right I cant remember a time in the final where our outside backs made any big mistakes. Kahui for me has cemented a place in that AB team for a while to come ad it's probably just a matter of time before he shifts in to 12 or 13.

Agree with that, and I'll be happy when he does. I think he's a fantastic player. He'll probably be where Conrad Smith is now by next world cup, with him being four years younger than Smith and all.

It's just my choice of wingers are different, partly because my hero's growing up were Lomu, Wilson, Cullen, Umaga and Rokocoko, none of whom were the most all round players (except Jeff Wilson) but were amazing attackers (I guess you could argue that none won a World Cup), but I'll always like that balence.

It was great when the All Blacks had a pure attacker like Lomu on the left win, and a very skilled all rounder like Wilson on the other, or an on fire Joe Rokocoko on the left wing, and a high working Doug Howlett on the other. That's the perfect type of wing combo for me.