Wales tour of New Zealand 2016

[Dan54]

Lol 2blues, now you be saving those hope for some other team to get injuries huh?? I like you am really pleased to see Squire there, as I am with Elliot Dixon . there is not much doubt that DMac has been bought in as a project player, and will probably not get a lot of game time against Wales, Hansen has more or less said it is time to get him into camp and work on the things he needs to improve.

 

[Quick Hands]

That's just for the first test. $7 in a two horse race is crazy.

Not when one of the horses is Phar Lap and the other is a provincial class plodder.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Not when one of the horses is Phar Lap and the other is a provincial class plodder.

This Wales team beating NZ in NZ would have to be close to the greatest upset of all time. There's more ranking points between them than between Japan and SA and it's at home.

 

[Dan54]

Nagtai out and Moala on standby apparently, Nagtai still got concussion problems

 

[zer0]

Wales will also be playing for the Raeburn Shield, which the All Blacks picked it up off the Wallabies in the RWC final.

Trivia time: the All Blacks haven't lost a home defence since 2008. Prior to that anomaly, the record stretched back to 1990 when the Wallabies ended the All Blacks record 18 game, 1155 day reign.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Paul James will probably miss the 1st Test & Chiefs, Aaron Jarvis heading to NZ as cover:

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/jarvis-called-up-to-wales-squad/

@ ACT Crusader has done a series preview on the blog:

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/95771/

As @ Lee Grant would say (& I'm surprised he hasn't already), give it a click.

Meanwhile TKB (broken hand taking longer to heal than expected) & Sam Whitelock (dodgy hammy) will sit out Auckland & Charlie Ngatai's been sent home as he's still got concussion issues:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...arlow-likely-to-sit-out-first-all-blacks-test

 

[2bluesfan]

Charlie Ngatai's been sent home as he's still got concussion issues:

I'm starting to get concerned about Charlie - it's been a few weeks now. Hope he recovers completely in a timeframe that allows him the opportunity to continue the wonderful form he was in before being concussed. He is a very fine player.

 

[Dan54]

Agree wholeheartedly 2blues, would hate to see him miss the opportunity because of the injury.
Anyway, I am off to NZ tomorrow to follow the tour through the country, starting to get into full rugby touring mode!!!!

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Teams for 1st Test:

New Zealand: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody. Replacements: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Seta Tamanivalu

Two surprises for mine, first & foremost two non-kicking wingers with a history of issues under the high ball, not sure that's wise against Gatball, secondly & less importantly Harris ahead of Taylor.

Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Taulupe Faletau 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Gethin Jenkins. Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Scott Williams

Match officials:

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Will Houston (Australia)

Barnes getting all the media attention of course (it was 2007 FFS, journos really need to let it go like 99.9% of the rest of us have, even if it's an easy story filler) but I'd be more worried about some of the input he'll be getting from Rock Peyper Scissors. Haven't seen who the TMO is, please don't let it be Ayoub or Veldsman or if so don't let them near anything match-deciding.

@Dan54 enjoy the trip & keep us posted as to how your Welsh mate is doing!

 

[Brumby Runner]

Will be interesting to see Anscombe line up against former U20s team mates, Cane, Retallick, Barrett, Naholo and Perenara. Took a different road but now has the chance to play a test match in NZ.

 

[pdjh]

Wales will play four matches:

June 11 v New Zealand: Eden Park, Auckland
June 14 v Chiefs: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
June 18 v New Zealand: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
June 25 v New Zealand: Forsyth-Barr Stadium, Dunedin

WALES SQUAD:

Forwards: Rob Evans, Tomas Francis, Paul James, Gethin Jenkins, Rhodri Jones, Samson Lee, Scott Baldwin, Kristian Dacey, Ken Owens, Jake Ball, Luke Charteris, Bradley Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau, James King, Dan Lydiate, Ross Moriarty, Josh Turnbull, Sam Warburton (captain). Backs: Gareth Davies, Rhys Webb, Lloyd Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Dan Biggar, Rhys Priestland, Jonathan Davies, Tyler Morgan, Jamie Roberts, Scott Williams, Hallam Amos, Matthew Morgan, Tom James, George North, Eli Walker, Liam Williams.

NEW ZEALAND SQUAD:

To be named.

Hi guys. Does anyone know how to watch these games in Aus?

 

[ACT Crusader]

Two surprises for mine, first & foremost two non-kicking wingers with a history of issues under the high ball, not sure that's wise against Gatball, secondly & less importantly Harris ahead of Taylor.

I don't think this wing combination is any worst under the high ball than what we went in with in the RWC final. It certainly wasn't a strong area of Skudder's game and it showed a few times during the RWC.

I think Naholo will be very good and if he can stay uninjured this could be his breakout test.

 

[boyo]

Hi guys. Does anyone know how to watch these games in Aus?

They should be on Fox Sports (but I don't know about the Chiefs match).

 

[zer0]

Official nicknames for the All Blacks starting XV have been released.

http://www.hauraki.co.nz/images/ran...nick-names-for-the-1st-test-vs-wales/?photo=1

These are the same guys who anointed Ben from Accounts.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Forecast for tonight is 13C with very little wind & 5% chance of rain. 90% humidity could present some handling issues esp if they do get some rain. Should still be near-perfect conditions given it's four seasons in one day Auckland we're talking about..........

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Hi guys. Does anyone know how to watch these games in Aus?

Tonight's games is on Foxtel 502 from 1730 AEST. 502 seems to be Foxtel's rugby channel so I'm guessing Tests 2 & 3 will be on it as well. I can't see anything for the Chiefs game although 507 (the "red button" multi-choice channel) is a possibility, they do sometimes put stuff on there at short notice.

 

[boyo]

Hi guys. Does anyone know how to watch these games in Aus?

And try Foxtel-play.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

NZ have now beaten Wales in 27 consecutive matches which, as I thought, is the most v any opposition. Most consecutive wins against teams we've played at least 20 times are:

27 Wales (played 31) 1964-2016
22 Ireland (28) 1974-2013
20 Argentina (22) 1985-2015
18 Scotland (30) 1987-2014
10 Australia (155) 2008-2010
9 England (40) 2004-2010
8 France (56) 1961-1968
8 South Africa (91) 2001-2004
7 Lions (38) 1977-1993

 

[Antony]

That was a ripper of a match. Fitness and depth won out in the end, but there was a while there when the guys started to look pretty rattled.

And what to do about Naholo...

 

[Lindommer]

That was a ripper of a match.

So was the Oz/Pom match. God forbid we ever see the downgrading of test rugby. This is why the iRB/WR (World Rugby) and the senior unions have to stand up to the selfish interests of the English and French club owners. Otherwise we'll end up like soccer.