In reference to Honey Badger and Juan Barn post 789 and 790 it flabbergasts me that selectors are still relying on size when the pick these teams something which is happening at schoolboy waratah and wallaby level to some extents. Classic case is Will Miller who went to play for the rebels this year got man of the Match and had not read their 100 page playbook after an all night trip from Aus to SA. Only 5'10".
Naturally you have to have some big kids but if they are all big kids where does the team get their electric play from? ie NSW2 last year Rixon and Armstrong both not big but very quick. Players like Pavlakis Turner Freeman from NSW are those that are unlucky not to be picked in say the Baa Baa team
What is even more grating is big kids who are picked who can attack but cannot tackle at all.
Again schoolboy coaches are copying coaches above and just pick size. Look at the Aust boys backrow Moretti Conners Rourke and Tizzano. Firstly all deserve to be all played fantastically well but who is going to get the ball?
We will not beat the NZ with big units - they will lap this up.
FYI : Here are some interesting facts from the recent Lions tour in NZ.
It appears
size does matter with the exception of a half back.
WHO HAS THE SIZE FACTOR?
Lions - weight
Average weight: 105.25kg
All Blacks average weight: 103.82kg
All Blacks - height
Average height: 188.12cm
Lions average height: 186.86cm
The All Blacks are taller and leaner, on this evidence. Hard to read into the weight department too much, with listings varying plenty depending on where you look*.
The backlines are pretty similarly matched, (Lions 94.95kg, All Blacks 95.25kg) with Sonny Bill Williams' 110kg a couple more than George North.
However in the pack the tourists average 114.25kg to New Zealand's 111.88kg, with a similar difference in the front row, where just one All Blacks prop (Charlie Faumuina) is listed as 120kg-plus, compared to six of the Lions' eight.
In the height stakes, however, it's the All Blacks who will look to utilise an advantage at lineout time.
Both Brodie Retallick (204cm) and Sam Whitelock (202cm) pip the Lions' two-metre boys, Courtney Lawes (201cm) and Iain Henderson (200cm), while the visitors don't have a lifting prop taller than 189cm, with the All Blacks' Wyatt Crockett (193cm) and Ofa Tu'ungafasi (192cm) providing some extra reach.
In the loose forwards, the All Blacks also boast Jerome Kaino and Liam Squire at 196cm, while the Lions' tallest is James Haskell, at 193cm.
Also worth a mention is Jordie Barrett's massive 196cm frame out the back, which eclipses the Lions' tallest back, George North, by 3cm.
copied from
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...quads-statistics-ahead-of-the-big-test-series