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Clueless Fozzie, frantically trying to learnThe most relevant thoughts on the All Blacks from a wide ranging interview of Wayne Smith by Mark Reason.
On the 10/12 selection:
"Yep, you do need continuity once you settle on the right people. I’d like to see someone like Anton Lienert-Brown given a chance for an extended period. What I like about Anton Lienert-Brown is he has a high skill level, high work rate, he off loads really well in the contact, keeps the ball alive. He’s smart in defence. He covers other people".
On ALB's unpredictable running lines:
"The answer is for players to work with him before or after training or on off days. You need to understand the idiosyncrasies. It’s like running off Sonny Bill. As soon as you understand that Sonny Bill’s right-handed – so when he offloads off to his right, it’s out the back and it’s flat; when he offloads to the left-hand side it’s still out of his right hand, but he pulls it back. So you need to be slightly deeper when you support on the inside and flat when you support on the outside. It’s the same with any player. You have to understand their talents and their idiosyncrasies and learn how to create a relationship with them.
I also like David Havili as a player. He’s highly skilled, he’s a good team man. I like the fact he was given some games. They seemed to chop and change there a bit. He was good in those early games. Then, I don’t know if the season was a bit long, but he went off a wee bit".
On Jordie as a long term second-five:
"That’s difficult. One out of the box I reckon they could look at long term is Jordie Barrett as a 12. Particularly if they lower the tackle height which I think they will. It’s going to bring in the offload".
...
And when New Zealand won the World Under-20 Championship with Jordie, that’s where he played. Second-five. He starred with Canterbury and that’s where he played, second-five. I’d really like to see him given a go there. He’s nice and tall, he can get the offload away. He’s strong.
...
He’s one who could change the game a wee bit. His crossfield kicks are good. And the other thing is that at second-five often the decision is made for you when you get the ball. In some ways it’s an easier position to play".
On Mo'unga as a first-five:
"I think in terms of Mo’unga, what I like about him for the Crusaders is that he seems to learn from the plays.
The Crusaders tend to play more on top of teams, so they play closer to the defence with people hitting holes. They tend to try to break the defence like that. So what I mean by Mo’unga learning from his plays is – you watch in the first half and the Crusaders will make a series of plays off setpiece and rucks. They might be up by a small score – and then just after halftime you’ll see them go bang, bang. And they put the game out of touch. I reckon it’s because Mo’unga has noticed frailty. When he’s run the blind side, he’ll pick up if the defence is weak off the side of the scrum and then you’ll see him later in the game run the blindside and give an inside ball to Jordan or someone like that and bang they’ll go through and score."
On Will Jordan:
"Potential superstar. He’s clearly smart. He has huge physical ability. He’s quick. What he hasn’t got yet (as a wing) is the ability to work around the scrumhalf. Those little plays when the nine arcs and he’s an option to the outside or he gets off his wing as a wrong-side runner i.e. he’s an option on the other side of the field. I’d like to see him used more in that role, sort of like Christian Cullen. I never thought I’d see another broken field runner like Christian Cullen but this kid could be.
Christian had five gears. He hardly ever used fifth gear but when he did. I’ve never seen a guy accelerate from top speed like he could."
Stuff
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@Moses cruelly robbed us of the bullet-point option during one of his savage, savage upgrades.Also, how tf does one create bullet points?
Surely he has to cos as well as Jordie went in black last season, Will Jordan at 15, in black, is written in the stars.I'd really like to see Canes play a midfield of Jordie 12 PUJ 13
It's hard as Jordie was brilliant for the Canes at fullback yesterday but PUJ seems to go better at 13 than 12 and Jordie has voiced that he would be keen to give 12 a go.
Agree with all that. Wow, forgot Christie was in the All Blacks.....From an ABs point of view through 3 rounds
Arrow Up
Taukeiaho, Christie, Clarke, Cane, Will Jordan,
Arrow Down
Bridge, Fakatava, Ennor, Ofa T
Fucking genius, that, better than a lot of the recent Hitler Rants.a few timing/editing stuffups here but whateves:
Kapwing — Create more content in less time
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I'm sorry if this might come across as insensitive but you don't need one of the best technical minds in the rugby world in order to tell some fatties to lay off the fucken pringles for 10 minutes.
Actually they have DP. One of most recurring things that has come from the team including the players is they weren't fit enough. Basically said what passes as fit in Farah Palmer Cup is not good enough against pro teams. Just about everything that has come out since tour has said same thing, fitness and speed of international game ws too much for them.I'm sorry if this might come across as insensitive but you don't need one of the best technical minds in the rugby world in order to tell some fatties to lay off the fucken pringles for 10 minutes.
Last season those players were flat out FAT and unfit. Of course, due to political climate, nobody can just come out and say that.