Warm Up Match 5: Maori All Blacks v British & Irish Lions (Rotorua)

[GoTheNaki]

Is Aso eligible?

Pretty sure hes part of their squad..

Also......

Who knew that Vince Aso, Akira Ioane, and Rieko Ioane were cousins :/ lol.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

TKB and Rieko Ioane are both available for the Maoris too. Presumably both will start.

Would love to see Mckenzie get a run at 10 but fairly sure that won't be happening.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Pretty sure hes part of their squad..

Also......

Who knew that Vince Aso, Akira Ioane, and Rieko Ioane were cousins :/ lol.

Not currently in the squad, no.

 

[Penne Rara]

Has Aso done anything wrong to miss this team? Why would Proctor start... Id go:

Triple T
Black
Lowe
Ngatai
Aso
NMS
McKenzie

Jesus... Thats filthy. You could mistake that for the ABs backline after 2019. Obviously Lowe is leaving.... But still. Couple of injuries and it would almost look like that.

Proctor is one of the most solid defenders among NZ centers, and he usually proves to be more of a glue player than a guy who does everything by himself. Aso is one of the best attacking centers but if he doesn't see any ball, he becomes useless. And don't expect the MABs to enjoy a lot of possession on Saturday.

Also, this squad is already stacked with attacking weapons, there has to be a very reliable midfield partnership with a complete set of skills. I think Proctor and Ngatai will work very well together.

 

[mania]

Should be a relatively comfortable win for the Lions.

gotta disagree here big time. this is an awesome forward pack. they might not have played together but they are all professionals and amongst the best of the best . only weakness i see in the forwards is benMay but he's as strong as an ox.
tight5 are proven hard workers, messam and pryor are proven ball fetchers and messam and dixon can muscle up with the best of the brutes. key here is pryor. he's a genuine fetcher and theres no one in the lions forward pack to counter him.
this is going to be a real test match.
win or lose, lions will learn heaps from this match.
good luck to both teams. i hope y'all play with pride and honour and that there are no major injuries.

 

[mania]

Aso is one of the best attacking centers

i dont think aso is maori. Aso is a samoan word. he must related to akira and reiko thru the ioane side

 

[SomeOke]

gotta disagree here big time. this is an awesome forward pack. they might not have played together but they are all professionals and amongst the best of the best . only weakness i see in the forwards is benMay but he's as strong as an ox.
tight5 are proven hard workers, messam and pryor are proven ball fetchers and messam and dixon can muscle up with the best of the brutes. key here is pryor. he's a genuine fetcher and theres no one in the lions forward pack to counter him.
this is going to be a real test match.
win or lose, lions will learn heaps from this match.
good luck to both teams. i hope y'all play with pride and honour and that there are no major injuries.

I'm not disputing the strength of the team at all, if this was a Super Rugby side it would be up there with the best, if not the best.

They aren't a super rugby side though, they are just a group of players who got together a couple weeks ago (less?) and have been told to play some rugby. Team chemistry, tactics and composition play a huge role which is why most barbarians sides tend to under perform.

Please don't think I'm being disparaging of any of the players as individuals.

 

[GoTheNaki]

TKB and Rieko Ioane are both available for the Maoris too. Presumably both will start.

Would love to see Mckenzie get a run at 10 but fairly sure that won't be happening.

Wow. If they have TKB at half-back... Maybe Ioane at centre then..

TKB
Black
Lowe
Ngatai
Ioane
NMS
McKenzie

...lol........

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

I'm not disputing the strength of the team at all, if this was a Super Rugby side it would be up there with the best, if not the best.

They aren't a super rugby side though, they are just a group of players who got together a couple weeks ago (less?) and have been told to play some rugby. Team chemistry, tactics and composition play a huge role which is why most barbarians sides tend to under perform.

Please don't think I'm being disparaging of any of the players as individuals.

I suppose the difference between the Barbarians and the Maoris is that the Maoris do get a few games every year, so they're not completely unfamiliar with one another. Potentially not as familiar as international teams, but they are a very special side which may well make up for that.

 

[mania]

Please don't think I'm being disparaging of any of the players as individuals.

not at all Oke. i know your not disrespecting MABs. we're just having a robust discussion

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Lions team named.

SOB in for Warburton, POM to captain, Sexton starts at 10 with Te'o at 12.

Lions team to play New Zealand Maori:
15. Leigh Halfpenny – Toulon, Wales, #775
14. Anthony Watson – Bath Rugby, England, #816
13. Jonathan Davies – Scarlets, Wales, #778
12. Ben Te'o – Worcester Warriors, England, #815
11. George North – Northampton Saints, England, #792
10. Johnny Sexton – Leinster, Ireland, #791
9. Conor Murray – Munster, Ireland, #790
1. Mako Vunipola – Saracens, England, #787
2. Jamie George – Saracens, England, #818
3. Tadhg Furlong – Leinster, Ireland, #817
4. Maro Itoje – Saracens, England, #825
5. George Kruis – Saracens, England, #819
6. Peter O'Mahony (capt) – Munster, Ireland, #833
7. Sean O'Brien – Leinster, Ireland, #796
8. Taulupe Faletau – Bath Rugby, Wales, #779

Replacements

16. Ken Owens – Scarlets, Wales, #829
17. Jack McGrath – Leinster, Ireland, #827
18. Kyle Sinckler – Harlequins, England, #814
19. Iain Henderson – Ulster, Ireland, #808
20. Sam Warburton – Cardiff Blues, Wales, #800
21. Greig Laidlaw – Gloucester Rugby, Scotland, #810
22. Owen Farrell – Saracens, England, #780
23. Elliot Daly – Wasps, England, #822

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

Has Aso done anything wrong to miss this team?

Yea, he ain't a Maori lol. I'd prefer Proctor anyway... much better defender, distributor and organizer, and also more than capable on attack. Plus with all the firepower in that backline, a Proctor type player becomes even more valuable.
For me Aso is a bit one-dimensional... a very good finisher, but not the all round game to be a truly effective center. Having watched him quite closely this year, I've noticed a few fairly prominent flaws in his game, especially on defence.

1.Kane Hames
2.Ash Dixon
3.Ben May
4.Joe Wheeler
5.Tom Franklin
6.Elliot Dixon
7.Kara Pryor
8.Liam Messam

9.Bryn Hall
10.Ihaia West
11.James Lowe
12.Charlie Ngatai
13.Matt Proctor
14.NMS
15.D.McKenzie

16.Chris Eves 17.Hika Elliot 18 Marcel Renata 19.Leighton Price 20.A.Ioane 21.Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi 22.Otere Black 23.Robbie Thompson

A.Ioane would be massive off the bench I think. Can easily start him over Dixon though. The Maori's seem to have plenty of guys who can play 6 and 8 but not so many opensides.

Don't forget that Rieko and TKB are playing this match too, so they'll surely start. I'm also pretty confident Akira will start, especially given he has been released by the ABs...
So, this is the side I think we'll see:
1. Hames
2. Dixon
3. May
4. Wheeler
5. Franklin
6. Messam
7. Pryor
8. Ioane
9. TKB
10. Black
11. Lowe
12. Ngatai
13. Ioane
14. NMS
15. Dmac

Subs: Elliot, Eves, Renata, Price, Dixon, Hall, West, Proctor

Though personally, I'd mcuh rather see this backline:
9. TKB
10. DMac
11. Lowe
12. Ngatai
13. Proctor
14. Ioane
15. NMS
Subs: Hall, West, Bateman/Thompson

Either way... the backline will be absolute dynamite, and the forward pack is very strong. If this team gels
then the Lions will have one helluva mountain to climb!

 

[Ground We Won]

I saw Marko Vunipola out on Tuesday night, I hope he slept it off and took good care of Greg Coopers daughter

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Like that side a lot, very close to what my test side would be.

 

[mania]

with all the firepower in that backline, a Proctor type player becomes even more valuable.

agree. proctors the kinda player that makes others around him look good. i like the idea of proctor taking a leadership role and enabling his strike players.
big toss up between dMac and otere. they compliment each other but have very contrasting styles. either one will serve MABs well whilst theyre on.

and the forward pack is very strong. If this team gels
then the Lions will have one helluva mountain to climb!

imo its the forwards lions need to look out for. backs wont be able to do bupkiss until the platform gets set, but with this forward pack they will set the platform then score some tries.
either way this should be the best lions game to date of this tour. lions are developing nicely but now they come up to a shadow test side.
must say that i'm enjoying this tour heaps more than i thought i would.
i honestly believed that lions were gonna get hammered when they got here. glad i was wrong and hope the lions cause some more upsets. nothing like a few upsets to teach some humility and introspection.

 

[daveypnz]

Tight 5 is always a weakness for Maori. With the Lions top front row back in action they should obliterate the Maori scrum.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Strongest MAB team I've seen in quite a while.

That backline...

 

[mania]

wow i wouldve started pryor as 7.
dixon isnt a 7. he's a hard nosed 6.
messam would make a better 7 and akira a better 8

but this is still an awesome team. i reckon they will take the lions to the wire

 

[Ground We Won]

Tight 5 is always a weakness for Maori. With the Lions top front row back in action they should obliterate the Maori scrum.

The Maori tight 5 looks good and the Lions haven't managed to obliterate anything yet.

Dixon at 7, I've seen it all now! I was going to suggest that, but thought it was silly and that there was no way they'd actually do it.

Lowe at fullback will be interesting.

Really hoping McKenzie plays well at 10.