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Familiar sights since 2018. The ABs coming off 2nd best physically in so many areas. Look at Aaron Smith - yes he was always going to lose the contest with POM. But my goodness he is so averse to the physical stuff he didn't even try. The Saffas leaving Super Rugby has led to ripple effects...

That was really placid defense by the ABs. The Irish look so comfortable on attack - easy metres, never troubled at the ruck. The ABs, even 3m from their own line, still didn't have the urgency to go up, meet the Irish, and make dominant tackles. Our lack of physicality is a major problem

BTW, ABs backs will be interesting. First, Havili, Goodhue, and Jordan are out with Covid. In the centres, we therefore realistically have Quinn, Reiko, RTS (Roger Tuivasa-Sheck), Jordie, Leicester, and Braydon. None of these combinations really look good; with no Will Jordan, expect that Jordie will now be a locked...

Pretty expected team, to save their big guns for the ABs. This means that the centre partnership on Saturday will be Henshaw and Ringrose. In this Ireland team, the forwards are workers; the backs are where there are some form players. The centres will be the biggest challenge. Aki and Hume...

The one thing which I really dislike about Foz is, at no point has he put his hand up and firmly said, look we all need to improve and that includes me. Even recently, he was talking about how the team was disrupted by Covid. I mean wtf dude. Covid isn't an NZ phenomenon. Everyone else was...

This is actually a Jap "A" team. The top team, who will feature names like Gunter, Cornelson, Riley, Leitch, Moore etc, is gearing up for bigger matches.

The latest news is that Sam Whitelock's thumb isn't right. According to AFP, he actually played the final even though the thumb was still broken. If so, that's an amazing effort. If Sam, probably our form lock atm isn't ready, then it will prob be Brodie and Scott. Compared to say the front...

Yes I do think Akira's patterns need to be adjusted. Obviously, he's a great runner and on the tramlines he actually does pretty good. But the plan has to be flexible. This seems to be for both the ABs and the Blues, for some reason he's parked out wide way too much. Ditto also for the hooker...

Why did Foster pick Karl T? I disagree with him of course but the reason is obvious. The other looseheads are a debuting Ross and a still fairly new Bower (who has limited experience outside Australia). Neither sounds convincing against the Irish. So what does Foster do? He picks an experienced...

Alot of interesting questions posed for the ABs LH prop: Ross will not start on debut. Karl is pretty shite. So this mean George Bower, not exactly the Tarzan of props, at 1. Would have preferred Ethan De Groot Hooker: I really really really hope we start Samisoni. But it will almost 100% be...

Sam Whitelock won at least 3 turnovers in this game. Old Man Sam showing a thing or 2 tonight, but the international arena will be another step up. I backed both Tamati Williams and Fletcher Newell to be in the ABs. A few shared they are barely into year 1, and they don't even start for the...

What a bloody signing Pablo Matera is. We all know about the passionate part of the game. He is so bloody committed when he carries and tackles. It's always 100%. But he also has a subtlety and finesse which some of the other Argies like Kremer and Bruni don't have. Thanks Pablo!

Not sure why everyone got excited by Ofa's chargedown last week. He's getting pummelled in the scrums. For a guy that big he is not very impactful

TBH, was just waiting for international rugby to start, because Super Rugby has been really low quality in parts. But this match had excellent quality. For the Crusaders, a lot of areas in their game are excellent. We will note the tremendous offensive pressure they have placed, but it is...

If Codie Taylor gets injured, it might finally give us the courage to drop him from the ABs.

Irish Squad in. big squad - 40 players. Basically, everyone significant is in it bar Andrew Conway and maybe Ross Maloney, and the Ulster boys Cooney and McCloestsky. Even Larmour made the squad. So they will have their big guns for the game, in reasonably good nick, though Leinster which is...

On Props - I'm a bit sore Tamati Williams or Fletcher Newell didn't make the cut. Both of em are the future. Karl has been shite all the year, and gets the nod ahead of Hodgman who starts at the Blues. Ireland have massive props. Absolute beasts. But none of them are really scrummaging...

what do folks reckon it takes for Foster to get sacked? How many Tests does he realistically have to lose to get sacked from the job 1 year before the RWC? If this was one month ago, I would think Ireland would be slight favourites coming into the Test, especially after Leinster engulfed...

Tuned in a little late, so I missed the Brumb's best spell. But from the 25 mins or so I watched, the Blues are not going to lose the Brumbs. The game is over. I'm interested in seeing the performance of some players: 1. Excellent half from Robinson; especially pleasing is his work at lineout...

Another position for debateFullback. there are realistically 3 contenders. 1) will jordan, who continues to exhibit cutting edge on attack, but just doesn’t seem to be able to defend. Also, hasnt really been fully tested under the high ball, because super teams don’t kick much. In recent years...