New Zealand vs Australia Oct 11 2020 Bledisloe Cup

[Penguin]

I'd say they'll exempted given they're under their own strict protocols and tested regularly. Maybe only a couple of days isolation. Some of us actually have a flexible, reasonable government.

They won't be playing in the Brisbane test unless they quarantine for 2 weeks first. Some of us have a sensible government that takes a cautious approach to a worldwide pandemic.

 

[KiwiM]

ABs will need to call up another lock. Both teams short on locks at the moment.

Uncapped All Black Quinten Strange has left the All Blacks camp in Hamilton with an ankle injury. The Crusaders lock is understood to be out for six to eight weeks, effectively ruling him out for the upcoming Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Scrafton, or is he already in the squad?

 

[KiwiM]

Scrafton, or is he already in the squad?

He isn't in the squad. There's only 3 locks left in the Bledisloe squad (Whitelock, Tuipulotu, Vaai). Scrafton could be a contender - he's been named to start for Auckland tomorrow night.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^ probably two locks to be added so Scrafton & Dunshea (but not necessarily in that order).

Edit: one to replace Strange, one when the squad increases to 44.

 

[zer0]

Personally I'd go for Scrafton; gets stuck into the trenches and is solid at the set-piece. Am still really miffed he was allowed to leave the Blues. Sure it would be a case of Auckland having to give up yet another All Black, but we're a generous lot up here, constantly lending a helping hand to the rest of the country.

Though, admittedly, I haven't seen too much of Dunshea. But does seem a bit cruel to me to take him away from his struggling province.

Failing that, how is old man Romano?

EDIT: I see Best Barrett is also on the mend and may be available for the RC. I don't know about the seriousness of his injury but he was out for a while. So, like Laumape, it may be better to just let him have the rest of the year off and focus solely on preparing for next season.

 

[KiwiM]

I'm ok with Scrafton as a stop gap but i'm not sold on him as anything more.

His discipline is terrible - he single handedly lost the Blues game v the Reds last year due to his discipline and his discipline in the North/South game was awful too.

 

[KiwiM]

Dunshea has been called up to the squad.

UPDATE #2. Canterbury lock Mitchell Dunshea has been called into the All Blacks squad as a replacement for Quinten Strange who is out with an ankle injury. Dunshea will assemble with the team next week in Wellington ahead of the first Bledisloe Cup Test presented by Steinlager.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^ so Scrafton next cab off the rank then probably Selby-Rickit unless ScoBar gets fit in time: last I saw her was maybe gunna be ready early- to mid-November which they may not want to risk on account of the 14-day quarantine if he breaks down again.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

The Covid clusters that put Auckland back into partial lockdown appear well under control - just ten cases still listed as active, no one in hospital & getting on for a week without any new cases - so remaining restrictions should be lifted as of midnight Wednesday & Bled2 at a jam-packed* Eden Park will be good to go.

*Before the outbreak there was talk of putting in ~5K extra seats, not sure they'll have time to do that.

 

[Up the Guts]

The Covid clusters that put Auckland back into partial lockdown appear well under control - just ten cases still listed as active, no one in hospital & getting on for a week without any new cases - so remaining restrictions should be lifted as of midnight Wednesday & Bled2 at a jam-packed* Eden Park will be good to go.

*Before the outbreak there was talk of putting in ~5K extra seats, not sure they'll have time to do that.

I’d like to see them be extra cautious and not allow any fans at Eden Park.

 

[zer0]

I’d like to see them being extra cautious and not allowing any fans at Eden Park.

 

[TSR]

Okay - I’m willing to give this a crack -

1. Slipper
2. Uelese
3. Tupou
4. Salakaia-Loto
5. Phillip
6. Swinton
7. Hooper
8. Samu
9. McDermott
10. O’Connor
11. Koroibete
12. To'omua
13. Petaia
14. Daugunu
15. DHP

16. Fainga'a
17. Sio
18. Ala'alatoa
19. Hosea
20. Wright
21. Gordon
22. Simone
23. Hodge

I’m guessing there will be a few points of contention and I’ll admit I did struggle a bit with the reserve backs, but I’ll go ahead and assume up front that the selection of Swinton is the one almost everyone will take issue with. I’ll say upfront that while I am not trying to be controversial I’ll acknowledge this one will be out there for most. I’ll go as far as to say I expect there is more chance of being wrong than right, give there are 3 other worthy candidates. But, I will back my rational, which is that Swinton is the best fit for the available candidates for 6. Namely -
- he is a good lineout option. Better than Wilson or Valetini. I think this will be vital if Samu & Hooper are the other two backrowers. Even more so if Wilson (or Valetini - not that I think that is likely) gets picked at 8
- he is heavier in contact than Wright. He carries hard and tackles hard and is a bigger body and he’ll take it up to the All Blacks. I love Liam Wright as a player, but he just isn’t physically capable of that
- he has a better work rate than Valetini
- he can do the grunt work in the middle allowing Hooper & Samu to play wide (although I think all the others could too)

The argument against is his disciplineIf they do pick him I assume Rennie will be confident he can curb his aggression and cut out the shoulder charges. If Rennie isn’t convinced than he won’t be picked (and I’d pick Wright instead). I guess the other is his relative inexperience - but when the competition has a total of 3 tests between them I think that is splitting hairs.

The next most controversial call is probably reserve lock. I reckon Simmons gets a raw deal on here by many, and I think he has value in the squad - but I like Hosea and I think we can throw him in with the benefit of possibly our best balanced pack for any years around him.

 

[Derpus]

Young bench lock is pretty high risk without a huge amount of upside. If Philip goes down the lineout would go with him.

 

[TSR]

Young bench lock is pretty high risk without a huge amount of upside. If Philip goes down the lineout would go with him.

There will always be 4 legitimate targets on the field. The question is whether Salakai-Loto or Swinton can step up to run the lineout. I’ll concede there is some doubt about that - but I don’t think anyone can say conclusively they can’t do it at this stage.

But I get your general point and that might tip things in Simmons favour.

Edit: I disagree about there being no upside though, and I’d point to how well both Rodda & Salakai-Loto progressed after being bought into the Wallaby fold early. I think Hosea is worth the investment and I think there is an imperative about bringing at least one of our young locks along.

 

[Joe Blow]

Swinton???

 

[Up the Guts]

Well, NZ have just called up Dunshea to the squad so it’s not like the bench lock is going to be facing peak Retallick and Whitelock when he comes on. If you wanted to blood a new lock against NZ this is probably the best time to do it in living memory. I also thought Hosea was tremendous in the Rebels semi final loss.

 

[TSR]

Haha - well, I did expect that sort of response.

I’ve tried to justify it. I expect plenty will disagree.

The other thing I should have added is that he needs to be consistent - something I think both Wilson & Wright have over him.

But, yeah - Swinton. I’ve actually given it a lot of thought, and that’s my take.

 

[TSR]

I also thought Hosea was tremendous in the Rebels semi final loss.

Me too. I have no doubt he is up to it. I’m just not sure if it’s the better play to hold him until the RC.

But I don’t think we can just do that across the board if we genuinely want to try and beat NZ - and Rennie will absolutely want to. There has to be some balanced risk somewhere (which is the same reason I’ve left White out).

 

[Joe Blow]

That would mean leaving out two of

Wright, Wilson and Samu

I just don’t see it. Swinton offers a little grunt but lacks accuracy and discipline.......and experience.