RWC: New Zealand - Tonga (09-09-2011, 20:30)

[Sneaki]

I don't really see it as an experimental side. It's arguably the first XV apart from SBW and maybe Cowan. The back three were always going to be switched around a bit to find the best combo, since I don't really think there's a definite best combination yet (I like the Dagg, Muliaina and Jane combo personally, the 'triple-fullback' I like to call it ). As long as the core of the team remains the same I'm not too bothered, keep DC and Richie in there as much as possible, if they're going to rest them then Canada would be the only team for it I think, even then they should be on the bench.

Also expecting some early subs with Boric and Slade given a bit more game time, maybe around the 50th minute if everything's going according to plan. It's especially important for Boric to get some gametime I think, he should start against Japan next week.

 

[TRF_woosaah]

Having Kahui on the wing is a bit experimental as well, i know he has played a few internationals there, but not many. He is really a centre, and would be better to have there with his defensive skills he has. other than that i am looking forward to SBW and Nonu combination. Forwards are strong as and shoudlnt have any problems in the scrums.

 

[Whitewolf]

SBW-Nonu in midfield, good idea?? Ma'a Nonu didn't play at 13 for a long time, while Williams seems to be good only with the "B teams".
Toeava-Kahui....Not a great combo from my point of view. Isaia Toeava can be talented and...disastrous. He isn't steady at all. Richard Kahui is not a wing!!! A centre, but not a wing. Why does Graham Henry want to switch players out of their positions?! Give another chance to Guildford.
Glad to see Dagg at fullback.

Victor Vito, logical choice, and I think interesting. He was one of the best tacklers in Brisbane, it's very hopeful.
2nd row, no problem, but I hope Ali Williams will be more involved at the breakdowns.

 

[Darwin]

I really don't think that AB's selectors know who their first choice outside backs are yet - I expect Guildford, Jane, and Muliaina will all start vs Japan. Basically I think they will give all the outside backs one chance before selecting their first choice lineup vs France.

 

[Larksea]

SBW-Nonu in midfield, good idea?? Ma'a Nonu didn't play at 13 for a long time, while Williams seems to be good only with the "B teams".
Toeava-Kahui....Not a great combo from my point of view. Isaia Toeava can be talented and...disastrous. He isn't steady at all. Richard Kahui is not a wing!!! A centre, but not a wing. Why does Graham Henry want to switch players out of their positions?! Give another chance to Guildford.
Glad to see Dagg at fullback.

Victor Vito, logical choice, and I think interesting. He was one of the best tacklers in Brisbane, it's very hopeful.
2nd row, no problem, but I hope Ali Williams will be more involved at the breakdowns.

Kahui has more test caps as a winger than he does as a midfielder. Personally I think Kahui is too good a player to have sitting in the stands, so is Conrad smith and Between them Kahui can play anywhere 11-15 in a pinch Conrad just 13. Which is why kahui is used on the wing so much.

Dagg is an awesome runner and no doubt he's deadly and can break the line more than Mills. But mills is a safer option, Dagg is prone to losing the ball in contact and running away from his support where Mills I believe is better at putting his wingers into space and maintaining possession. Look at the boks game, as brilliant as daggs running was none of his runs resulted in anything and he lost the ball as many as 5-6 times in contact turning over possession.

I'd like to see dagg used as the 22 man who can come off the bench and add genuine impact running off mills, Carter and Nonu late in the game. He has proven in big games that he can punish tired defenders and score points late in a game.

Toeava's hands can be suspect but he is without a doubt one of the most deadly runners in the game. Needs to do his best to hold the ball in the big games though, should be a goal of his to get through this game with few or no handling errors. Big games are won by not making mistakes.

I'm looking forward to seeing Boric back, he works very hard on his fitness so I don't think that will be an issue. Honestly I'd like to see him leapfrog Williams and Whitelock in the pecking order. I just can't see boric letting the team down where Williams can with his hands sometimes and whitelock lacks a physical edge to his game.

 

[james5000]

Dagg is an awesome runner and no doubt he's deadly and can break the line more than Mills. But mills is a safer option, Dagg is prone to losing the ball in contact and running away from his support where Mills I believe is better at putting his wingers into space and maintaining possession. Look at the boks game, as brilliant as daggs running was none of his runs resulted in anything and he lost the ball as many as 5-6 times in contact turning over possession.

I don't think that you can use that Bok game to prove anything other than Dagg is superior to Mills.
Dagg made a number breaks which we can safely say Mills would not have made.
The team was experimental and had no game time together hence the combination's weren't quite polished enough to finish things off.
Dagg was also coming back from injury and had minimal game time and he was still the best player on the field from either side.

I personally think Henry need's to find his Number 1 team A.S.A.P they need time together to get their combination's and confidence up. TBH i don't care what the hell he does, as long as the Cup is in NZ after the World Cup.

Henry's rotation/selection policy doesn't inspire me with confidence though. We all know what happened last time. This is pretty much Henry's time for redemption.

 

[DJRonStar]

I like the look of the back line. Very Potent on defence and attack. Will be a physical game and the ABs will love it as much as the Tongans. You can't go in to a game worried about players getting injured as you never know when an injury can occur.

Kahui and Toeava are faster than people think and we all know what Dagg can produce from the back. Interesting to play SBW at 12 and Nonu at 13 but when you think about it might be a good ploy. You know SBW will attract more than one tackler and with Nonu running off him and the talent on the outside I think the AB coaches have done the right thing.

All Blacks by 20 - 25 points.

 

[Sneaki]

Henry's rotation/selection policy doesn't inspire me with confidence though. We all know what happened last time. This is pretty much Henry's time for redemption.

It's not a rotation policy and it isn't comparable to 2007 at all. If it were like 2007 then there would be 10+ players that aren't part of the A team, not three or four like there are now.

 

[james5000]

It's not a rotation policy and it isn't comparable to 2007 at all. If it were like 2007 then there would be 10+ players that aren't part of the A team, not three or four like there are now.

Maybe but Henry doesn't know himself what the A team is yet he has already stated that. This is the 1st game and we already have probably 4 or 5 players that wouldn't be considered starters in the A team at the moment. Who know's how much rotation is going to happen in the next few games.

 

[187]

Maybe but Henry doesn't know himself what the A team is yet he has already stated that. This is the 1st game and we already have probably 4 or 5 players that wouldn't be considered starters in the A team at the moment. Who know's how much rotation is going to happen in the next few games.

Rubbish, I'm sure he knows. He just doesn't want us to know he knows or we'll demand he plays them. I may be wrong but he does know who the backbone of the team are which is good. He said in a story on stuff.co.nz today that he wanted the backbone of the team to get time together which I'm assuming is McCaw, Carter, Woodcock, Franks, Hore, Thorn & Kaino?

I'm quite excited about the midfield pairing of SBW & Nonu. Looking forward to see how they go together. I imagine they'll be like SBW & Fruean's crusaders pairing.

 

[james5000]

Rubbish, I'm sure he knows. He just doesn't want us to know he knows or we'll demand he plays them. I may be wrong but he does know who the backbone of the team are which is good. He said in a story on stuff.co.nz today that he wanted the backbone of the team to get time together which I'm assuming is McCaw, Carter, Woodcock, Franks, Hore, Thorn & Kaino?

I'm quite excited about the midfield pairing of SBW & Nonu. Looking forward to see how they go together. I imagine they'll be like SBW & Fruean's crusaders pairing.

I'd bet a good amount of money that Hore is behind Mealamu in the pecking order. Henry may or may not know his preferred team but he has never settled on an A team, he changes the team every weekend. Haha he is still experimenting now. I just think the time for experimenting is over. Our best players haven't had two games together in a row this year.

Australia is looking very settled and they have some form behind them, that's very worrying.

I hope the AB's can go all the way, just would like to see more consistency in selection.

 

[Tau tahi]

Tonga Team to Play All Blacks

1.Soane Tonga'uiha
2.Aleki Lutui
3.Taufa'ao Filise
4.Paino Hehea
5.Joe Tuineau
6.Sione Kalamafoni
7.Finau Maka
8.Viliami Ma'afu
9.Taniela Moa
10.Kurt Morath
11.Siale Piutau
12.Andrew Mailei
13.Suka Hufanga
14.Viliame Iongi
15.Vunga Lilo
Reserves
16.Ephraim Taukafa
17.Sona Taumalolo
18.Kisi Pulu
19.Sione Timani
20.Samiu Vahafolau
21.Samsoni Fisilau
22.Alipate Fatafehi

Interesting backline playing 3 centres Tonga have opted for the more Defence Reliable centres
in Mailei and Hufanga rather then more attacking combination in Piutau and Fatafehi.
Foward Pack looks top notch though
Good Luck

 

[Bail]

Bad choice from Isitolo Maka at centres. Opting for defensive minded players is a mistake. He already put his players in a defensive spirit, but the must try to keep the ball at destroy NZers.
The forwards are those I said earlier except for Filise and Hehea. The 9-10 Taniela Moa Kurth Morath will worth the look. I'm very surprised to not see Fetu'u Vainikolo in the 22. The bench is really strong. Tonga won't fall before the end of the game.
The head to head Morath-Carter will be really important to see another Samoa-Australia as well as the capacity of the referee to be impartial.

Soane Tonga'uiha will humble Owen Franks. I think the Tongan back row is better than NZ one.

 

[IKALETAHI]

Not sure if this is Tongas top side. Im liking the 5-2 split always thought this was Tongas best option as we have 4 awesome props. The front row is the same front row that started against the ALL BLACKS for the Pacific Islands side, so some good experience there. Interesting to see how Hufanga and Mailei go against Nonu and SBW.

 

[Bail]

If Hufanga regained his 2007 shape, I'm really worried for Ma'a Nonu. Mailei and Williams demonstrate the same level in France.

 

[nickdnz]

I'm really depressed by the wing situation in the All Blacks. This is the kind of match I think Gear would have been amazing in, but looking at the back three options, it seems that Henry has chosen only one player who has played most of his rugby on the wing...and he's my least favourite wing. You have Toeava, Dagg, Jane and Muliaina who play most of their rugby usually at fullback and Kahui who has played most of his rugby at centre. It seems like Gear's best chance of being in the RWC squad is to play any other position than the one he tried out for.

I wish Guildford was playing in this match. Tongan's can be pretty physical, so it would have been Gear's best shot.

 

[smartcooky]

Having Kahui on the wing is a bit experimental as well, i know he has played a few internationals there, but not many. He is really a centre, and would be better to have there with his defensive skills he has. other than that i am looking forward to SBW and Nonu combination. Forwards are strong as and shoudlnt have any problems in the scrums.

In fact he has played only six of his twelve International matches at centre. The remaining six have were;

Four on the right wing.
One on the left wing.
One at fullback.

He also subbed on against Munster and played on the right wing.

 

[Icemn]

here we go again

i was so happy in the week when i read on my iphone AB app that henry has learned from his prev WC and that he needs to stick to 1 team.... there he goes and change the backline again i'm sure this wont be the backline through the whole WC

just play ....

9. weepu
10. carter
11. SBW
12. Nonu
13. Smith
14. Jane
15. Mills

and stick to this team!!!

make 2-3 changes maybe for the next game (for the whole team) cuz once the AB build momentum no-one will stop them!!!

now Henry goes and change the team again

the AB strength are their downfall... their depth

eish....

 

[Icemn]

I wish Guildford was playing in this match. Tongan's can be pretty physical, so it would have been Gear's best shot.

that is not a nice to wish for and too see Guildford get hammered

Ya i Miss Gear as well!!! my buddies still tease me cuz i told them Gear is the best winger in the world and now the Best winger is not even picked for the WC
Guilford work rate is higher and Gear is off form i still feel that gear can run through someone...where guildford needs a hole... gear can make a hole

 

[Tau tahi]

Not sure if this is Tongas top side. Im liking the 5-2 split always thought this was Tongas best option as we have 4 awesome props. The front row is the same front row that started against the ALL BLACKS for the Pacific Islands side, so some good experience there. Interesting to see how Hufanga and Mailei go against Nonu and SBW.

Well Isitolo Maka has stated he trusts this backline and that they are more capable of expansive game.
He also said the 5-2 spilt is more for the muscle, starting Moa over Samisoni Fisilau will allow Fisilau to play like another froward from the back.