There is a great balance of skill and experience in this squad. Let's hope that they will do us proud over the next two months; we can't hardly wait!
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Rugby's worst-kept secret will be out at 2pm this afternoon. We say that, because it is apparent that Wyatt Crockett, Liam Messam, Jarred Hoeata and Hosea Gear have not travelled to Brisbane with the rest of the All Black party. The All Blacks flew into Sydney late yesterday, then onto Brisbane minus the abovenamed. Newstalk ZB also reports that there has been no sign in Brisbane of Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Reports from South Africa suggest that the selectors spoke with those who had not been selected prior to the trip back from Port Elizabeth. We feel especially sorry for Wyatt Crockett who has had a stellar season, but it seems that John Afoa's ability to play either tighthead or loosehead has been the pivotal factor.
So it looks as though this will be the All Black RWC line-up:
Backs: Mils Muliaina, Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Zac Guilford, Isaiah Toeava, Conrad Smith, Richard Kahui, Ma'a Nonu, Sonny Bill Williams, Daniel Carter, Colin Slade, Jimmy Cowan, Piri Weepu, Andy Ellis.
Forwards: Kieran Read, Victor Vito, Richie McCaw, Jerome Kaino, Adam Thompson, Brad Thorn, Ali Williams, Sam Whitelock, Anthony Boric, Ben Franks, Owen Franks, Tony Woodcock, John Adoa, Keven Mealamu, Andrew Hore, Corey Flynn
It's a strong squad, and we reckon we'll get a pretty good guide as to the first XV when thew team to play Australia in the Tri-Nations decider is named, Nose permitting, there may be a temptation to give Tony Woodcock another run, and his record against the Australian scrum is stellar. Other than that, we reckon that the team lining up against the Wallabies will be the strongest available.
All will be revealed this afternoon, but feel free to debate the merits or the lack thereof between now and 2pm when we'll have an update. The RWC opener is just 17 days away, and we're starting to get just a little bit excited!
18 comments:
What has Toeava done to warrant selection?
Ciaron, more than the Oz/Frog thug who will be selected to pollute second five but that ain't sayin' anything realy.
Is it me or does Toeava only get picked in world cup years?
Afoa?
Mobile but shown up against the Saffers.
Boric?
Out for too long. Not match fit & therefore ring rusty.
Williams? (Both SB and A)
Look at me! nuff said.
Woodcock?
See comments about Boric above. Been superceded by the Franks brothers and Crockett.
These are the players I have serious questions about.
Maybe Ted is loyal to these guys so I hope the loyalty is repaid, in spades!
I predict that SBW will lose us the world cup when one of his off loads gets intercepted because anyone with half a brain will be expecting it.
@ Ciaron; will Ramadan have finished by the end of RWC?
SHOW ME THE MONEYYYYYYYYYYYY!
Ramadan finishes 29 August, according to Wikipaedia!
I suppose one good outcome of SBW's faith is that there is not likely to be any James O'connor events!
@INV2 "It's hard to describe my feelings about Libya. Freedom is a gift from God. But I'm not sure if most Libyans know how much God hates them." M.Barkman
Is lent over by the world cup?
Christians eh?
Yes Michel; Lent is over, and so is Ramadan, so Sonny Bill will not be malnourished.
Which RWC pool is Libya in?
Three wise men have been charged with the task and their futures will depend on results, won't they?
Oh thats right possibly, possibly not.
Of course as always there will be questions and with Boric and Woodcock valid but Dagg came off a long layoff with one club outing his mum praised, an ITM outing that gave Lofty Wind, then produced a performance that shot him to one of the first names written down.
Crockett agree very unlucky but one ref looking for an excuse, he will provide it.
A Williams, comfortable, B Williams not sure but too late to change now.
Same with Slade, Cruden who like Donald is way above the ITM standard but this is bigger and TTWM see something with regard to Slade.
Toeava is GH's go to as were Craig Green and Bruce Deans for Griz and we were denied a true outcome when the NZRFU sent unwanted help.
History is littered with the lucky and the unlucky but 30 is the magic number and now we can but hope.
Go the ABs.
Over the years there have always been players usually backs who the selectors favour with chance after chance and they seldom deliver. Toeava is the current one. Sivivatu is a great ball player and GEAR has blistering pace an try scoring ability.They could each feel a bit miffed.
as usual, I think Ali is our No1 lock. Brad is a superstar BUT is past his best and Boric is soft. Hoeata is a young Brad and should take that role when Brad goes.
I disagree about Thorn Jabba; he has been well managed this year, and will be at the top of his fitness come RWC time.
Thorn is the rock of the All Black scrum. I remember the S15 match between the Crusaders and Chiefs at Napier. The Crusaders scrum was getting pushes around in the first half. Thorn came on at half-time and the Crusaders scrum was suddenly dominant. He has amazing strength and power at scrum-time.
Putting aside the fact that SBW is to Adidas what Mike Brewer was to Steinlager.. A well balanced team selected from the very best that NZ and the pacific islands can scrape together.
I can confidently predict that this team should finish a couple of places higher than they did at the last disaster.
have finished by the end of RWC
@how to prevent sinus infections, I think you've cleared that up for everyone.
I was watching the Waikato-Wellington game last night.
While not in the 30, it occured to me that if something nasty happened to Richie McCaw then Marty Holah is still playing a quality game and could be whistled up at short notice. He is still a bloody good back-up.
Just a thought!
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