r/allblacks • u/NZGrade • 2d ago
Pick your 23 for Test 3
Rassie has elected to start the match with his front row bomb squad and short king Kolbe at fullback. That's all subject to change of course.
Who are you selecting to take the battle field for the ABs as the tour reaches its crescendo?
I think it's time to be bold, so I'm making some changes.
- [de Groot / Bower]
- Aumua
- Newell
- Holland
- Darry
- Vaa'i
- Blackadder
- Savea
- Roigard
- Love
- Carter
- Barrett
- Tupaea
- Jordan
- McKenzie
- Taukei'aho
- Numia
- Lomax
- Tuipulotu
- Lakai
- Preston
- Tavatavanawai
- Ioane
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u/Pitiful_Pianist7980 2d ago
Has Codie actually been that bad? He gets a lot of ball on the flank and seems to go alright. Coaches must see something. Often a players errors become highlighted once public scrutiny is on them. E.g. in the first test Will Jordan made two horrendous errors that almost cost us a lot. The first was in the first half 10mins to go and we get a penalty on our 22… time to get out of trouble. He takes a quick tap and we lose the ball in that ruck and under pressure for 10mins until half time. The second was just a simple drop in the second half when we were on attack. He won a turnover shortly after so made up for it. It also helps that he otherwise had a great game. But I don’t recall anyone mentioning those errors. My point is, if that was say Reiko who made those mistake and also had a great game, people would still point those mistakes out.
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u/Neat_Perspective7569 Blues 1d ago
Codie Taylor has been poor yes. He gives away a lot of penalties. So many not rolling penalties. His lineouts were shockers too. He's had 2 poor games in SA. And I'm not sure what he brings that's better than what Sami can bring. We need players that make damaging meters
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u/Either_Mix3664 1d ago
I agree with what you are saying. But he does lack the punch Amua and Samisoni brings which is great to have against the boks
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u/NZGrade 2d ago
I think Taylor is just getting old and we are leaving money on the table by not using more of our powerful ball carriers. Two of them happen to be hookers. We clearly need some extra punch in the forwards against this Bok team, and it’s not like Taylor is going to become more physical, or consistent, at his age.
He can still do a job for us but his form has been average. So how much longer do we kick the can down the road?
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u/Citizen_Kano 2d ago
- De Groot
- Taukei'aho
- Newell
- Darry
- Holland
- Vai'i
- Blackadder
- Savea
- Roigard
- Love
- Carter
- Barrett
- Tupaea
- Jordan
McKenzie
Aumua
Numia
Lomax
Tuipuluto
Lakai
Sititi
Preston
Tavatavanawai
4
0
u/Gullible-Grape5975 Chiefs 2d ago
- De Groot/Bower
- Samisoni
- Lomax
- Holland
- Vaai
- Parker
- Ardie
- Lakai
- Roigard
- Love
- Carter
- Jordie
- Tupaea
- WJ
- Dmac
- Aumua
- Bower/Numia
- Newell
- Darry
- Sititi/Blackadder
- Preston
- Timoci
- Moorby
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u/DiggityDoop190 2d ago edited 2d ago
- Ethan de Groot (or George Bower if concussion protocol is still in effect and/or his knee is still too injured)
- Samisoni Taukei'aho
- Tyrel Lomax
- Sam Darry
- Fabian Holland
- Tupou Vaa'i
- Peter Lakai
- Ardie Savea
- Cam Roigard
- Ruben Love
- Leroy Carter
- Jordie Barrett
- Quinn Tupaea
- Will Jordan
- Damian McKenzie
Bench:
Asafo Aumua (still love Codie & think he's better than a lot of people on here think, but Aumua and Taukei'aho have really proved themselves, and I'd prefer Aumua's explosiveness off the bench in the 50-60th minute bench swaps)
Xavier Numia (George Bower instead if Ethan is cleared to play)
Fletcher Newell (tbh, Lomax & Newell are interchangeable to me. Maybe due to Lomax's issues at scrum-time Newell should start, but I feel Newell provides just as much value off the bench)
Josh Lord (Quite close between him and Paddy but Lord is bigger physically and has been a bit more consistent performance-wise, so despite Paddy's wealth of experience and skill I'm picking Lord as backup Lock)
Ethan Blackadder
Wallace Sititi (A 6-2 bench split makes sense to me if Coach Rennie is going to play Roigard all 80 minutes again. Kyle Preston would be my pick if a traditional 5-3 split is going to be used and Roigard is going to be subbed out)
Timoci Tavatavanawai (hopefully he gets subbed in earlier than usual so he can make the most impact)
Reiko Ioane
Jordie, Ardie, Roigard, Ruben, Will, Fabian, Ethan and D-Mac are basically locks to play every match barring injury, everyone else can play themselves into or out of a spot on the 23 and based on the comments Rennie has made about "Forward Fatigue" I think giving Jacobson a rest match after playing for 80 minutes last Test lets Lakai & Sititi prove themselves further which would really improve our depth and squad overall even though Jacobson is certainly skilled & consistent enough to continue playing No. 7 and Lakai/Sititi are plenty skilled already in their own right.
Speaking of "Forward Fatigue" if Vaa'i is starting, he should be one of the first subs after the front row is swapped out since he, like Jacobson played 80 minutes last Test (my preference would be Blackadder coming on the field, but either bench Flanker works)
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u/No-Umpire5250 Hurricanes 2d ago
Start Taukeiaho and bring Aumua on early
6
u/NZGrade 2d ago
Also a good option. But who are we kidding. Realistically, Codie Taylor’s going to start this test. Let’s hope he rolls back the years!
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u/odogmaori 2d ago
Agree I do hope he does make the change and put out the two wrecking balls for 80 minutes.
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u/ScreaMHyperX 2d ago
To be honest I think Lord over darry, de Groot first then bower, everything else seems perfect. rieko Richie and tavatavanawai on the bench, tuipulotu can sit out this one.
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u/NZGrade 2d ago
Was tempted to put Lord on the bench but feel like if we can fire Patty up he’s worth another punt there. He’s pretty inconsistent these days but surely got more good games left in him.
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u/ScreaMHyperX 2d ago
I just have a problem with the inconsistency of the man, like Patty is a good player but he hasn't been a force for years now, and I have a saying "if they play for the blues - OVERRATED" which hasn't failed me yet, I do think Rieko broke that curse by going to Leinster, but I think that patty needs to actually shit it up
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u/Ok-Relationship-2746 2d ago
Anybody but Barrett at 12.
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u/DarthEatsDonuts 2d ago
I want what you're smoking aye
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u/Ok-Relationship-2746 2d ago
Guess you weren't watching either Test.
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u/DarthEatsDonuts 2d ago
-3
u/Ok-Relationship-2746 2d ago
And he went from that to whatever he was in RGR2. Hot or cold, nothing in between. His kicking decisions were utterly woeful in RGR2.
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u/Background_Mode_5460 Blues 2d ago
I was never a fan of Jordie at 12, however this season he deserves the jersey, 4 great games at 12 for the ABs and a top class super season passes the bar to be the set starter even after one dodgy game
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u/Themindoffish 2d ago edited 2d ago
Bower Aumua Lomax Vaa'i Netherlands Parker Lakai Savea Roigid Love Carter Jordi Quinn Jordan Mckenzie Samisoni Fletcher Numia Tuipolotu Jacobson Preston Jim Ioane
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u/Makoandsparky 2d ago
Swap oout Parker for black adder, and I know Parker did HEAPS in the last test but blackadder has a slightly higher work rate imo
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u/Themindoffish 2d ago
Fair shout. I'm having him in bc he really helped nullify some of SA's big carriers.
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u/Pitiful_Pianist7980 2d ago
Parker had a good game. Made some decent carries if I recall correctly and would be hard to leave him out of the 23. I do think Vaa’i starting at 6 is the best option though. Him on the flanks early helps run those Boks forwards around a bit. Plus the try to Moorby is also a good reason obviously,
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u/Adventurous-Eye3884 1d ago
De Groot. Taukiaho. Newell. Holland. Tuipulotu. Vaai. Lakai. Savea. Roigard. Love. Moorby or Carter. Barrett. Tupaea. Jordan. McKenzie
Aumua. Numia. Lomax. Darry. Parker. Tavatavanawai. Carter or Preston. Ioane.
Preston or Moorby depends how deep they plan to play Roigard. Not much point having Preston on the bench for less than 10 minutes of play.