Encouraging news for NZ

Mike Kron, after having retired after the World Cup, has been brought back into the coaching frame and will now coach the forwards. That adds a bit of substance to Aussie McLean and Ian Foster (who like the beer seems a bit thin on support) in the assistant coaches to Hansen. It will probably mean though Byrne will no longer be involved full-time in the set up but I'd like to see him involved part-time as his work with the high ball in particular has had a clear influence on team performance. I don't think Dagg or Jane missed a single high ball in the RWC and there were many difficult ones.

NZ had a wobbly lineout and scrum not so long ago. Now they are looking very solid in the set piece. That has a lot to do with players of course but the coaching staff should never be underestimated. Kron will be very useful for providing continuity in the team and no doubt the senior players will be happy to see him return to the fold.

Another encouraging piece of news I read is that Hosea Gear is determined to get his winger spot back. He is now with the Highlanders and it´ll be interesting to see if he can make headlines in a team that has more of reputation in the forwards rather than the backs. But not only that, Jamie Joseph has agreed to release Hosea Gear to play sevens. Although he hasn't made the sevens squad yet, he does have a game at the Mount to prove his selection. But he has not been released from his Highlanders conditioning so he has to train with the Highlanders and then he has to do the notoriously difficult Titch conditioning with the sevens team. That makes me tired and nauseous just thinking about it.

Gear is adamant though that 2010 was a great year for him, when he went to the November internationals and made headlines for his performances on the left wing, because he started the year playing at sevens. I like the idea of players regaining form in sevens where you have a bit more space but have to be in top shape in order to play. Titch is keen to have players of Gear´s quality available to him and is not surprisingly advocating a case by case basis for some players to be allowed to return to sevens to regain form. I like the idea of a specialist left winger being involved again in the AB set up. Kahui is a great player to have but he is more a utility player than a specialist left wing for me. So I hope Gear can regain some confidence as I much prefer him in the squad than Guilford. kia kaha

Gear and guilford are complete opposites in terms of work rate. Gear can go quiet and needs things to go his way. That is a burden to carry into big matches because that is hard to change. But i agree. One on one has the skills of Ioane of 2011.
Guiford has a point to prove so will be more motivated than most if thats possible.

New Zealand doesn't need any encouraging news, they're the bloody world champs! Is there any discouraging news that we can delight in?

Mike Cron is the Worlds best Scrum technician,,,and he will now have a wider role with Hansen himself helping out at lineouts.For the first time in years the All Blacks ,can field two Lineout exponents at Lock.
Brad Thorn was a great GRUNT Lock ,but was not a great Ball winner there,tho excellent defensively there.Whitelock/Donnelly.Boric/Williams are the 4 most likely Locks.
Front Row,Crockett ,Woodcock,plus the Brothers Grimm are an excellent Quartet,Mealamu,Hore,Flynn,plus Hika Elliott is fine.
Back row McCaw,Kaino,Read are as good as any in world Rugby,Thomson is good cover at 6 or 8.Seven is covered by Matt Todd,Sam Cane,the Braid brothers.Not to mention the Whitelock "wunderkinde" Luke,George is`nt to shabby either.
Several young Scrum halves look promising backing up the established ones,Brendon Leonard is still only 26.with the Rep of having the quickest service in NZ Rugby.
A midfield of Carter,Nonu,Conrad Smith.backed up by Fruen,Crotty,Kahui plus a lot of the young guns coming thru,Slade,Anscombe,Barrett,Cruden,Sopanga.
Wings Gear,Rene Ranger,Ben Smith, Guildford ,Maitland,Gear.
Full Backs Cory Jane and Dagg,Guildford fit and on the wagon could be a revelation.His interplay doing the role of Rokococo creating line breaks for others to exploit.
You will notice I do not include SBW,this is because he is unlikely to be in the mix after this season.Pointless developing a player who will be away after a season,NO player is bigger than the team.

Not sure that was the type of bad news pot hale was after alan.

You never know with sbw. I'm no longer a fan of the chameleon either but in a last year with the wcup pressures off he may relax and show his true colours as he still has that x factor thats seldom so far been seen.

Gear impresses me. He's an out and out strike winger. I was relieved, stunned and confused that he was not in the Kiwis world cup squad, but I believe he failed to come back to top form after an injury?

To me, he's like a bigger version of Digby Ioane in style and I certainly think at the peak of his form he's a better option than the converts New Zealand seemed to play in the world cup.

He tore up some of the weaker northern hemisphere sides when he was here and I think scored a brace against England from memory.

I agree with Pot Hale. I'm sorry, but the last thing we need up here is for that guy to come back! You've got the world cup now, could you give us a break?

Being entirely honest I thought the All Black scrum was lucky in the world cup. Woodcock continually puts his hand down on engagement and seems to go in head-low and wasn't pulled up for it consistently.

That discouraging news happened in 91, 95, 99, 03 and 07 Pot Hale. You all seemed to delight in that then and fair enough!

Getting Mike Cron´s services is a big coup for NZ. He's a great coach and the jury is out on the assistant coaches, notably Ian Foster.

I thought it was an interesting tactic for Gear to get back into the squad. Ali Williams went off to Gloucester I think to play some rugby to get back into the ABs before the Super season started and that worked for him. Putting your body through Super conditioning as well as Sevens conditioning seems a gruelling process so respect to Gear. He needs consistency I agree but when he's on hot form, he's a real handful. You want specialists in your team and I think he is a better bet than Kahui. I just thought it was an interesting tactic to use sevens as a springboard to form. It makes a lot of sense in putting in a conditioning base for the season as well as regaining some confidence on attack. A smart move by all involved to let him play.

Still think hes suspect when things dont go his way. His attack abilities should make him an auto choice for wing and late 2010 did the work and got the results- albeit late in the AIs. But he hasnt figured against 3N sides to any great extent and that will test him. GH had reasons not to pick him. Defence and work rate right up there.

Definitely not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination Taylorman. His tag of world´s best winger in 2010 by the NZ media was misguided. He did have a good tour though, there´s no doubt about that.

Which is why I think the move to sevens is a good move. It shows he acknowledges he has things to work on in his game and I think that´s an admirable attitude to adopt. I agree on his shortcomings you mentioned. I´d much rather see him do this though than sulk and say how unfair life is that he´s not selected. He´s taking things into his own hands and I thought that was very encouraging as I think he has a lot to offer the squad.

Yes I simply can't stand people prematurely labelling someone with subjective labels Like "best winger in the world". We all know who that really is

Another reason why Gears move back to sevens is a good one is because he is very good at it.He does have a Commonwealth gold medal for it does he not.
And isnt the best winger in the world that guy Williams...............BG.

Nice one miteyironpaw.

Yeah he´s good Laurie but it also helps him out with his 15s game as well I think. I guess we´ll see how the Highlanders go and if he´s allowed to shine there. The Hurricanes have lost quite a few players. Will be interesting to see how the NZ franchises go after a World Cup win and a few retirements and even more changes to the squads.

Rocokoko did no wrong in an All Black shirt,worked his heart out creating chances for team mates.{Giuldford does it now}.Media pressure to pick him 2010 was overwhelming,IF form was the guide NO hurricanes would have been
picked.
Henry chose utility players onthe wings during the RWC,Guildford if not injured deserved a start.
Gear has a RWC winners medal holding a tackle bag,IF Henry thought he was good enough he would surely have played.
Tietjens is more concerned with an Olympics Gold Medal at 7`s than a All Black
fitness run.Gear is a good 7`s player and adds to an already formidable squad.

It's true that there's nowhere to hide on a 7's field emack.