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All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT 2024

Dan54

David Wilson (68)
They were saying on tv here in Wales just now that this drops Ireland to 3 in WR (World Rugby). Books will go to 1 when/if they beat Scotland and ABs to 2.
 

KiwiM

Arch Winning (36)
NZ to defo lose to France now.

EOYT is over.

Will talk the talk as usual but will have mentally clocked off. 1 loss for EOYT = successful tour.

ABs still have to play Italy after France - at Juventus' home ground which is a bit of a cauldron.

Italy were good value in the Six Nations under their new coach - 2 wins and a draw.

Admittedly Italy almost never match up with the ABs but I'm interested to see how they go
 

Dismal Pillock

Michael Lynagh (62)
ABs still have to play Italy after France - at Juventus' home ground which is a bit of a cauldron.

Italy were good value in the Six Nations under their new coach - 2 wins and a draw.

Admittedly Italy almost never match up with the ABs but I'm interested to see how they go
Shipped 96 pts at RWC? Guessing AB's will wheel out the squaddies who will be keen to impress so expect..... keenness. Ruben Love, Billy Proctor etc to run amok. AJ Lam ffs
 

Italophile

Alfred Walker (16)
ABs still have to play Italy after France - at Juventus' home ground which is a bit of a cauldron.

Italy were good value in the Six Nations under their new coach - 2 wins and a draw.

Admittedly Italy almost never match up with the ABs but I'm interested to see how they go
Quesada's first job was to banish Crowley's run-it-from-anywhere-regardless approach. It was naive, costing them so many unnecessary points. Quesada's policy is structure, to build platforms. Whether they're up to the ABs is another matter but I'm interested to see how things have developed. Rugby barely exists here in Tuscany so Gli Azzurri will have one supporter. Me.
 

waiopehu oldboy

George Smith (75)
Sam Darry returning to NZ with a knee injury picked up at training. To be replaced by one of the AB XV locks of which Walker-Leawere would seem the most likely having spent time in AB camp as injury cover.

Meanwhile Sam Cane has a rather sore head...

 

zer0

John Thornett (49)
Unfortunate for Darry as would've liked to see him start against Italy. Holland must surely be locked in to replace him though as he's clearly head and shoulders above the rest selected in the XV.
 

waiopehu oldboy

George Smith (75)
Razor says Beaugan & Taylor are progressing well & he's hopeful they'll be available for France.

Cane, who has eight stitches in his noggin, will do return-to-play protocols during the week, sounds like a final decision on whether he plays or not won't be made until Friday.

No mention of Blackadder and/ or Papali'i joining the squad & really doesn't seem much point this late in the tour: AB XV have played their matches so any of those guys can be called in for training/ injury cover instead.
 

waiopehu oldboy

George Smith (75)
Will Jordan now eighth equal on the AB all-time Test try scorers list but at a rate much faster than anyone else on the list:

Doug Howlett 49 in 62 Tests
Christian Cullen 46
Joe Rokocoko 46
Julian Savea 46
Jeff Wilson 44
Beauden Barrett 44
Ben Smith 39
Jonah Lomu 37 in 63
Rieko Ioane 37 in 79
Will Jordan 37 in 39

At this rate & assuming he stays fit you'd think he'll overtake Howlett either next year or sometime in 2026.
 
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Dismal Pillock

Michael Lynagh (62)
I hope Beauden doesnt get it. Only needs 5 tries more fffs. Cotton wooling ***** could be #1 Alltime by Xmas.

Could be a BB vs Wee Willie Wonderballz hungusathon vs Italy?

You'd have to think both are poised to supplant Howlett sometime next year.
 

waiopehu oldboy

George Smith (75)
^ statistically it'll take Beaugan 19 Tests to score the six tries he needs to take top spot vs 14 for WJ to get the 13 he needs. Barring something freakish from BB my money's on Jordan to get there first.
 

Wilson

Phil Kearns (64)
^ statistically it'll take Beaugan 19 Tests to score the six tries he needs to take top spot vs 14 for WJ to get the 13 he needs. Barring something freakish from BB my money's on Jordan to get there first.
Not sure you can extrapolate Barrett's stats over his whole ~132 test career like that - he's only scored 2 tries in his last 19 tests. Jordan has been so insanely consistent it does work like that for him.

But even if Barret does somehow beat Jordan to the top, you wouldn't think he'd hold the record for long.
 

waiopehu oldboy

George Smith (75)
Cane has now been ruled out along with Tele'a who has a hand injury. Blackadder & Papali'i won't be going over but DuPlesis Kirifi & Chay Fihaki will be staying on as injury cover.

No word yet on a lock & I wonder if they even need one as Lord is still with them? Surely he & Toops can start v Italy with Vaa’i on the bench?
 
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zer0

John Thornett (49)
Not sure what the fuss about Lord is tbh. He seems undersized for someone near as tall as the Sky Tower and seemingly vies with Blackadder for most unavailable player. Give Holland a starting run as he has some latter day Retallicka about him. Let him go hard at Italy for one half then bring Tuipulotu on as he's going well from the bench.

EDIT: Quick comparison of some locks height (cm) + weight (kg) from Wikipedia. 115kg looks like the absolute bare minimum for a lock.

Lord: 205 + 106
Darry: 203 + 110
Itoje: 198 + 118
Holland: 204 + 118
Tuipulotu: 198 + 120
Whitelock: 202 + 120
Retallick: 204 + 120
Etzebeth: 204 +126
 
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