If NZ don't want Hosea Gear.....

Can Scotland have him instead??

Can't believe he's missed out - that man is electric!

No you can't have him
He's being added to the England squad so we don't have to pick between Cueto and Bananaman on the opposite wing to Ashton.

I worry that NZ needed Gear. Not in the form he's in now, but in the form he was in prior to his injury.

There is a lot of variety in class outside backs in NZ at the moment, but Gear brought electric pace, power, strength and balance.

I don't think any of the wings selected quite have quite the same direct path finishing ability that he has at his peak. When the next closest option is Zac Guildford, you know that you've lost an edge.

We've always had one winger in this mould, Lomu, Siti, Joe, the other Gear...probably dating all the way back to Kirwan. It's an odd time to change something that works.

He's surely got to be the most high profile ommision from any squad - on a par with Giteau at least.

he would walk into the back 3 of most counties and he's not even in the squad??

I agree - the NZ wingers look a bit less spectacular with Sivi and Gear missing.

Maybe they are just trying to give the other teams a fighting chance?

The most essential thing was a plethora of wingers who could be ill-advisedly moved to full back, so we can have a reserve full back play center in the semi-finals.

I think we've got that nailed now. We'll move Toeava to center and play Kahui and Dagg on the wings and move Guildford to full back.

I agree with GG on this. Guildford will finish moves nicely and make few mistakes, but he won't score you unbelievable tries from nothing. If we face NZ in the QF we will lose whatever the composition of the ABs side, but I'd genuinely be terrified of what Gear may do to us (just thinking back to the AIs fills me with horror), whereas I think Guildford is merely a solid no-mistakes type of player.

RDW - you'd take Gear over Danielli?? Seriously??

FES -

Guys I think we may well see Dagg at 11. I agree with GG in that Sivi and Gear have the X factor attack wise while Guildford is more workmanlike, but Dagg very much has the same X factor as he showed on the weekend. Not only that, but since he is also a fullback NZ will have three guys with fullback experience (either Jane or Toeava on the other) and that spells trouble for anyone wishing to kick the ball back.

I think Dagg will be the impact sub off the bench, while Toeava (Graham Henry does seem to rate him more than anyone else in NZ) will start with either Jane or Guildford on the other wing - but I'd really rather have Gear at 11.

From the squad I'd like Dagg, Mils and Jane. They're game breakers who also are high percentage which is great. So many options though-especially for the bench spots.

Weepu can cover Cowan and Carter, SBW can cover 12 and 13, Kahui can cover 12 13 and 14, Dagg can cover the back 3 as can Jane and Toeava who plays 12 and 13, I mean jeepers.

I think Jane's best position is 14 and one he's truly world class, while I don't think Toeava is world class in any position yet.

Think most Kiwis would have Gear over Guildford here...

Fact is, for the all the cover we have, we have no specialist left wing. No specialist backup at 7. No specialist back up and 8. Slade backing up 10 or Weepu is backing up 10 and being starting/impact 9.

Barnes-gate aside, we'd have got past France in 2007 if we hadn't lost both McCaw and both 10s.

So previous world cups have surely taught us that there's really little point in having guys who are very good in 5 different positions.

What you need is 5 guys who are the best in the world in their specialist position.

To a certain extent, if you get key injuries you have to accept that maybe it's not going to be your year and move on.

If there was a world cup for the most versatile team in the world I'm sure this side would win it. But...

On the plus-side guys, at least you have centre cover this time?

Lets be honest you could stick a 70's throwback NH prop on the wing for NZ and he'd still score lots of tries due to all the dummy runners causing obstructions etc...

not to mention the forward passes

BATH_BTGOG wrote:Lets be honest you could stick a 70's throwback NH prop on the wing for NZ and he'd still score lots of tries due to all the dummy runners causing obstructions etc...

Nah, he woudn't manage to catch any passes

The point with gear is other than his matches for nz maori vs england and the AIs last year he has not repeated anywhere near that form.
He has gone awol for long periods- something gh noted last year when not picking him. Stats will show he is back to that form and last week he needed to show he was better than the rest.

He didnt. Personally I think guilford is a better choice. He will work all day and knows no limits.
Very impressed with his form this year and in a team of stars you need players like guilford who will never rest on his laurels.
The weepus and guilfords of this team offer the smart cunning options the stars dont always possess.

True Comfort. Smith, then Kahui, then in an emergency Toeava.

I'd rather have specialists and proven 'best in world' guys like GG. The options are almost a curse because they can mean tinkering and an unsettled team/unsettled combos. Didn't mean to imply that it was a wholly positive thing to have.

If Weepu can cover 9 and 10, then there's a possibility of Slade not making the 22. Anyone else think that's a viable option?

I don't think Weepu would've missed that sitter of a penalty 31 meters out on Saturday.

The problem with Slade now, is that he has essentially replicated Stephen Donald's international form.

Henry says he'll "be better for it". But we kept hearing that about Donald too.

Yea agree gg although after that gh will probably have slade more on water duty as result of last week and may not figure knockout time until a non d duck scenario has been avoided.
Weepu (bless his athletic looking prowess) just offers so much cover at 9, 10 and goal kicking so we are lucky to have him.

Yup. My feeling is that the ROTW's belief that we rely heavily on McCaw and Carter is slightly mis-placed.

If not replace - I'd add to that list Read and Weepu.

The ABs look a bit like frantic chooks at time with Cowan at the helm. And Read brings some kind of stability on the front foot that evaporates when he's missing.