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New Zealand v Wales, 2nd Test

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waiopehu oldboy

waiopehu oldboy

George Smith (75)
Early indications are that Naholo will be retained, Whitelock is a 50/50 chance of returning & Kerr-Barlow a better than 50/50 chance of being available. I'm expecting Savea to be dropped, Smith moved to 14 & Naholo to 11. The question then becomes who plays 15? Do you throw DMac in this early in his career, or bring back Dagg? I'd probably back the kid to make a good fist of it, selectors may be a little more conservative.......

Work-ons this week will obviously be giving the Welsh less space out wide, tidying up the midfield D, & getting quicker ball at the breakdown. Very evident that when the AB upped the tempo in the last 20, Welsh couldn't keep up. IF we can get quicker ball & stop them making easy metres up the middle, I think we have another 15-20 points in us whereas Wales were as good last Saturday as they're capable of being.

Wales will be without George North (hamstring) & obviously hoping no one gets injured against the Chiefs Tuesday night.
 
Ulrich

Ulrich

Nev Cottrell (35)
Give the new kid a go and have Dagg on the bench in case. Although we just lost to Ireland so should probably not take advice from a Saffer.
 
S

saulityvi

Syd Malcolm (24)
I reckon Savea has just enough loyaltypoints to warrant a start in the second test, just.
If they drop him I reckon its Dagg or Barret who comes in @15, the wonder kid was just too error prone in soup to be considered starting a test.

Whitelock will slot back in once he is fit, A Savea might get a start in the third test when the series is done and dusted, midfield will get another start, still I expect Ngatai to squeeze in once fit, propably third test, but all in all, a maximum of 3 changes to the next one.
 
zer0

zer0

John Thornett (49)
If they rightfully drop one of Savea or Naholo, then I'd imagine Dagg will come into the starting XV. The question, therefore, is will he play at fullback or wing? Personally I'd reward Smith for his sustained excellence and make Dagg play on the wing. But they'd probably do the opposite.

But they'll probably play the bumbling brothers on the wing, so the point is moot.
 
waiopehu oldboy

waiopehu oldboy

George Smith (75)
They've tried Dagg at wing before & IIRC it didn't go well. I thought Naholo did enough to deserve a second chance, Savea not so much (& the fact it was Savea who got hooked tends to suggest his performance was more worrying to Shag & Co. than Naholo's).
 
Marcelo

Marcelo

Ken Catchpole (46)
ABs starting XV

1. Joe Moody (12)
2. Dane Coles (37)
3. Owen Franks (79)
4. Brodie Retallick (48)
5. Sam Whitelock (73)
6. Jerome Kaino (68)
7. Sam Cane (32)
8. Kieran Read – captain (85)
9. Aaron Smith (48)
10. Aaron Cruden (38)
11. Waisake Naholo(4)
12. Ryan Crotty (16)
13. Malakai Fekitoa (14)
14. Ben Smith (49)
15. Israel Dagg (49)

Reserves

16. Nathan Harris (3)
17. Wyatt Crockett (46)
18. Charlie Faumuina (34)
19. Patrick Tuipulotu (8)
20. Ardie Savea (1)
21. TJ Perenara (17)
22. Beauden Barrett (36)
23. Seta Tamanivalu (1)
 
Ulrich

Ulrich

Nev Cottrell (35)
Doesn't really matter who the All Blacks pick. They win.

Experienced team they have there nonetheless. They have prepared well for the future.
 
Highlander35

Highlander35

Steve Williams (59)
I'd take the ABs at -20.5. They're only going to get better, North is injured, Wales had a demoralising and exhausting loss in Hamilton, and Gatlandball doesn't work in the SH.
 
waiopehu oldboy

waiopehu oldboy

George Smith (75)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Jérôme Garcès (France), Wayne Barnes (England)
TMO: Geogre Ayoub (Australia)

WALES: Rhys Patchell, Liam Williams, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, Hallam Amos, Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb; Taulupe Faletau, Sam Warburton (c), Ross Moriarty, Alun Wyn Jones, Luke Charteris, Samson Lee, Ken Owens, Gethin Jenkins. Reserves: Scott Baldwin, Rob Evans, Tomas Francis, Bradley Davies, Ellis Jenkins, Gareth Davies, Rhys Priestland, Scott Williams.
 
Hugh Jarse

Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
@Waiopehu OB after last weeks performance, Who would you rather have in charge of the Acme Thunderer, Rock, Peyper, Scissors or Lord Barnes of the Forward Pass?

You have to think that NZL will only play better as the series unfolds and that the Boyos may have gone all in on the first test, and there isn't much scope for performance improvement from them.
 
Quick Hands

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
Hugh Jarse said:
You have to think that NZL will only play better as the series unfolds and that the Boyos may have gone all in on the first test, and there isn't much scope for performance improvement from them.
Click to expand...

That's the standard script for NH teams touring NZ for a 3 test series. Run the ABs close in the first one and the the All Blacks dominate tests 2 and 3.
 
waiopehu oldboy

waiopehu oldboy

George Smith (75)
Hugh Jarse said:
@Waiopehu OB after last weeks performance, Who would you rather have in charge of the Acme Thunderer, Rock, Peyper, Scissors or Lord Barnes of the Forward Pass?
Click to expand...

Other than "that" call I thought Barnes was excellent & I'd be more than happy to have him in the middle for the 3rd or any other Test. Poite, who I'm assuming we'll get for T3, is a pedant esp at scrum time but generally only early on: push straight & stay up in the first few & he'll give you some slack later; similarly, do your lineout & breakdown work properly to begin with & you MAY get some leeway later. RPS on the other hand, as the nickname suggests, is unreadable to the point I've also seen him dubbed RPG for Random Penalty Generator.





Hugh Jarse said:
You have to think that NZL will only play better as the series unfolds and that the Boyos may have gone all in on the first test, and there isn't much scope for performance improvement from them.
Click to expand...

Yup, I reckon we've got another 15-20 points in us c.f. Auckland whereas Wales peaked at HT last week: 18-15 in the first 40, 3-24 in the second says it all, really (nek minnit Wales play out've their skins & we sneak home by 3-ish :))
 
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