My one b**** about the All Blacks though is, Why name someone at 8 if they're not going to play there??.. If Thomson isn't sufficient enough to be playing at the back of the scrum then why take Richie out of his prime focus so he can piggy back Thomson. If that's going to be the case, get rid of Thomson all together and put Vito back into the mix.. I believe [and I could be incorrect] our first infringement came from a silly Thomson penalty??.. He's just too prone to penalites for me.
I agree totally, and my eyes popped out when I read JUSTIN MARSHALL this morning, listen to this crock of crap...
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"Several players, notably Jane, Dan Carter, Adam Thomson and Israel Dagg, all had huge games against the French.
Thomson is becoming the obvious answer to our depth problems at No 8. With a concerted coaching effort I think he could make the position his own. He's big enough. He is a great lineout jumper, is quick off the base of the scrum and is a physical presence at the breakdown.
I have always thought No 8 was his best position and, let's face it, we don't have any depth in that area."
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The one thing from that game is that Neither Thomson or McCaw are the answer to #8 and it was a mistake playing Thomson over Vito, or Messam, or heck even Kaino for that matter.
As far as #8 goes I'd rate Thomson behind Read, Vito, Messam, Manu, Heck maybe even Bourke/Lee/Peter Saili
Thompson does a LOT of work on defense and has great speed around the field, there is no denying it. But his defense isn't powerful (he makes a lot of tackles but more often than many AB defenders he gives away the advantage line unless he rushes) neither is his ball carrying and the ratio of penalties he gives away in comparison to the number of turnovers he wins is bad. in my opinion if I could pick one player I thought was most likely to give away a silly penalty to cost the AB's a game it would be Thomson and we've already seen it this year when he gave away 4 penalties for 0 turnovers against the Springboks in the 2nd tri nations test. Better players have been cut from the AB's for less yet it was Messam who didn't make a single mistake and did some good work in that game who was dropped.
I see physicality is critical and IMO the major area Thomson lacks, people have been bagging Tony Woodcock but watch what happens when he tackles people around the rucks. They stop dead in their tracks then go backwards. he only made about three less tackles than Thomson against France but his overall effect was much greater because when he tackles someone his teammates don't have to retreat to be ready for the next wave and it creates more chances for turnovers. As supporting forwards only need to go forward and not back before going forward to drive over the ball.
I think Thomson is still riding the wave from the one test when the AB's thrashed Australia a few years ago when he was impressive (on a day pretty much every player wearing black had a fantastic game). That and his lineout ability is carrying him IMO.
/rant off
on the other hand Kaino is riding a awesome wave of form so far. I think I said about a year ago that Kaino could end up being a more important player for the AB's than Jerry Collins was (I think I upset a few people with that comment) and I think that's pretty much true right now.
. It was sarcasm.
