Your All Blacks team for the first test

Can't see it started yet, and the Irish already have their own thread

1 Woodcock
2 Hore
3 O Franks
4 B Retalick
5 S Whitelock
6 A Thompson
7 The King (c)
8 Read
9 A Smith
10 A Cruden
11 J Savea
12 SBW
13 C Smith
14 Guildford
15 Dagg

16 Elliot
17 B Franks/Crockett
18 A Williams
19 Vito
20 Ellis/Weepu
21 Carter
22 Ellison

I wouldn't be rushing Keven back, and it'll be good for the ABs long term if Hika Elliot gets another game. I've chosen Cruden to start to ease DC back in, and Ellison is in the reserves for his versatility. Smith has been great at halfback and deserves to start. The toughest positions to pick are the locks (Should Ali be there? Should he be in the starting side?) and the wings

I'd go with the mostly the same although I think Mealamu will make it (mainly cos hes from Otahuhu!).

I'd have Gear instead of Guilford. Arent we left with 3 left wings?
Nonu to the bench as he still has value as an impact player.

Agree with Ellison. He'll push for a start by tours end I reckon.

Ali...no way hosee! Doesnt deserve it

Can't argue with the forwards
I think Ellis will start with Smith on the bench
Also I'd have Nonu on the bench not Ellison
Weepu can toil away at the pie shop
Ben Smith on the Right Wing
Savea on the left

I don't think so Savea will start. Is not the AB way to have new squad member starting the game first time. They spending the time in the team environment. I think he will be come in about 60 minutes for "cameo".

Ali Williams should not being at all in the combinator.

I am agree about Nonu on the bench. He is too experience for missing out when Hanson will wanting to start with a top win.

Agree AWoP, the first game has to be a convincing win to set the tone. Maybe even start with Carter and Ellis, good combinator. Maybe Gear over Guildford. Not a big fan of Thompson, but Vito?

all valid points. The wing is hard to pick - Guildford, Gear, Savea and Smith will need to be culled to two. It's gonna be hard for Hansen to pick!

Yeah dallym, few tricky ones to decide. Reckon we're in a pretty good state though. Even with Kaino gone, the options should do the job adequately. If the team looks like the one posted, I'd be happy/confident we'd have the goods. Earlier in the season I was a bit worried, but not now.

1 Woodcock
2 Hore
3 O Franks
4 B Retalick (not sure)
5 S Whitelock
6 Vito
7 McCaw
8 Read
9 Ellis
10 Carter
11 Nonu
12 SBW
13 C Smith
14 B Smith
15 Dagg

16 Elliot
17 B Franks
18 A Williams
19 Thmpson
20 A Smith
21 Cruden
22 Ellison

I like the OP's selections, but two questions.

Is Carter still not able to kick and if not what is the story with that, is a wise to play if you are not 100% and is it likely to impact his position at 10 for the rest of his career.

Then Read, is his back to full fitness?

Ok, one last one, is Jerome Kaino retired now or injured, I can't remember.

I didn't thinking of Nonu on the wing but yes you could be right with it!

My mind is Williams will start with Whitelock and Retalicj impact sub at 60 with Savea.

You named Vito at 6 and 19!

Kanio in Japan Biltonguebek.

Vito plays for the hurricanes and can be in two places at once.

thanks worldofpain, by the way, is it not Reid, instead of Read?

Kanio injured out for season then Japan bound,Woodcock may not be 100% so Crockett may start with the Brothers Grimm.Thomson has been playing out of his skin and pre -injury was THE starting 6.DC is due to play at 10 next Saturday Todd Blackadder is a very shrewd Coach he would`nt start DC at 10 if he can`t kick and has publicly said so.Wing there is no specialist Right wing Savea can play both wings.Ben Smith could start at FB with Dagg on the wing
Lock a hard edged replacement for Thorn is required.Hoerta comes to mind but is not in the squad,Mealamu doubtful.Ellis/Smith plus Cruden is a likely start with DC on the bench.

My team would be:

1-Me
2-Sean Fitzpatrick
3-Clint Newland
4-Ali Williams
5-KiwiRedDevil
6-Kaino
7-GreyGhost
8-Zinzan Brooke
9-Weepu
10-Donald
11-BlackCaneLion
12-Taylorman
13-Umaga
14-Howlett
15-Jane

Whoever turns up on the day can have the bench spots.

Oh, and btw all of these would be on their current form

sean.c wrote:My team would be:

1-Me
2-Sean Fitzpatrick
3-Clint Newland
4-Ali Williams
5-KiwiRedDevil
6-Kaino
7-GreyGhost
8-Zinzan Brooke
9-Weepu
10-Donald
11-BlackCaneLion
12-Taylorman
13-Umaga
14-Howlett
15-Jane

Whoever turns up on the day can have the bench spots.

Oh, and btw all of these would be on their current form

Good afternoon mr Woodcock, good to see you on the forum.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. The good news is I'm in the right weight range, I'm a kiwi and I've played wing. The bad news I fail every other requirement.

I would let Ross/Fitzpatrick do things to me (in the scrum of course)

blackcanelion wrote:Thanks for the vote of confidence. The good news is I'm in the right weight range, I'm a kiwi and I've played wing. The bad news I fail every other requirement.

So why you don't playing for England in the center?

I think largely the team picks itself and agree with the general team laid out by the OP.

To me the combinator bones of contention are locking partner for Whitelock, blindside option, starting halfback and flyhalf and wingers.

So firstly the locking partner. I think Rettalick has been mentioned a lot but there is also the young Crusaders big rig Romano. Williams is similar to Ellis in that he is being mentioned because of his experience. So do you go with a proven AB who looks short of form or go with a new guy that looks to be in better nick. Well to me Romano has at least a proven combinator with Whitelock. The trick is with these decisions is will Hansen go for the conservative or will he be bold?

Next Thomson seems the best option at 6 but not the best long-term bet. Vito for me should be on the bench but cover 7 and 8. Indeed if Read (not Reid Biltong) is still getting over his back then by all means put him in there. But I don't think 6 suits him.

To me it's best to start with Smith and have Ellis as backup if he has a mare of a debut. But Carter could do with a bit of extra space and SBW would benefit greatly from a quick flat pass that misses out Carter (he would then have options to go inside to Carter or flick out a pass to Smith). Carter may well start before and then ideally if NZ is in the lead Hansen could afford to put Cruden on and see how he handles the ship with less pressure on the guy.

Guildford was a liability under the high ball against Australia and that may affect his inclusion. With Corey Jane out who can field the high ball very well it makes sense to have the fullback / wing utility Ben Smith on the right wing and if we have solidity there I think Hansen can afford to be bolder and go with Savea on the left.

I think Nonu could well do with a rest so I wouldn't even put him on the bench. Explain that he will play later in the year, get the fire in his belly and see him come back stronger for the big games against SA and Australia where he has proven reliability and play him at 12 rather than on the wing.

So Elliot (let Mealamu get over the calf muscle injury and also give him a rest to get that hunger back), Ben Franks, and then I'd like to see someone like Hoeata as cover for lock and blindside on the bench, Vito if Read plays or even put McCaw to 6 and Vito at 7 and put Thomson on the bench and change Richie back to 7 when he comes on. Cruden and then someone like Gear as utility back as Ben Smith can cover fullback or Dagg wing if need be.

The ABs will juggle a few combinations thru 3 Test Ireland Series.
Cruden to start one game. As will Ellison, B+A Smith, Savea etc.
Ireland lucky that the mighty Hoeata aint bein unleashed.
Savin him for 4Nations!

Intersting about Nonu Kia. I tend to agree now. He's not as likely to be able to fire up for another level witrh this non stop rugby since the world cup.

Hansen said the same for TJ Perenara. Hes played every sxv match and thats why he's not been considered for the squad at this moment. he's definitely one for later.

Looking at the key Irish injuries I reckon they're in for a tough time with these new guys. Hansen will look to empty the bench if the score is high at half time, and i think they will be now.

I still fear the Hansen factor.
Thank goodness he won't have had much time to stuff it up.

Read is another who has had a very heavy workload in the SXV and so I'd be inclined to rotate him with Vito who also has a heavy workload but not much of a carry over from last year. Hansen must use the bench wisely and must read the game well to know when fresh legs are needed or when someone is struggling.

Tony V on radio sport this morning was adamanent that we'll have two half backs in the squad, one experienced and one new comer, and that the experienced half back will be weepu. He was fairly adamant. You should have heard some of the feedback he recieved. Then again, Vietch is a league fan at heart, so maybe he was stirring the pot.

In the Herald this morning Wynn Gray says that the new Three Wise Men have selected/will select Weepu and Ellis. No quotes though to back it up

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10810179

I'd prefer Veitchy's one old guy, one new guy scenario

The trouble I find with wynn Gray is that he has built a reputation as a rugby Journalist purely by trying to pre-empt the selectors and often he is wrong, and you never hear mention of his predictions again.

We all can see why Hansen might go with a Weepu/Ellis combination but Wynn knows nothing more than anyone else and wont do until tomorrow.

Question: I wonder who gets the job of informing Ellis if he isnt picked?... now that would be an interesting phone call.

Good call, similar with the Vietch thing, how'd he know. Just speculation to rark a few listeners up and it worked. He'll get called out on Monday if he's wrong.

Thought Ellis had a good game last night. Looking good for us that the crusaders are firing up. Thought Dagg ran a bit more to.

some articles this morning suggesting that it'll be weepu and smith. the squad should be being named shortly

the 30 man squad is named:


Barrett
Cane
Carter
Crockett
Cruden
Dagg
Ellison
B Franks
O Franks
Gear
Guildford
Hore
McCaw (c)
Mealamu
Nonu
Read
Rettalick
Romano
Savea
A Smith
B Smith
C Smith
Tamefuna
Thompson
Vito
Weepu
Whitelock
Ali Williams
SBW
Woodcock

with Hika Elliot as injury cover.


So no Andy Ellis

My main concern in selecting Weepu over Ellis, is the combination with carter is lost.
I would prefer to see Smith start next week rather than Weepu, smith will bring distribution to an All Black backline that no one will have seen before for a long time.

On another note good on Hansen for having a look at Tamiefuna, although he was good in the under 20s I didnt think he would develop into an 80 minute prop at this level this quickly.

Guys remember what we were saying yesterday about Wynn Gray and the half backs?

Yeah, good one Wynn Actually Vietch got it right, he said weepu and smith. Think it was Jim Kays he got that from.

You know, I'm not outraged that Weepu got in over Ellis. Actually just stoked Smith got in at the expense of one of them. Guess weepu does have that utility factor with first five and kicking. Just hope he now pays the selectors' faith back.

EBOP
Dont worry, from the way Hansen was talking this morning, I got the feeling that this is Weepu's last chance, theres more than enough around capable of replacing him if need be.

Well I guess the feeling behind selecting Weepu is getting an extra goal kicker? But surely Cruden fills that criteria. Ellis had a blinder against Smith, albeit behind a superior pack. He looked to be in good nick and showed a good all-round display. Nonu has also been retained and Williams. Experience has been chosen over form in a few key positions. But really apart from Williams who may make the starting team, we're talking about players on the bench. I think Mealamu is another case where a rest would probably do him good. Personally I'd have liked to have seen Mealamu, Nonu, Williams and Weepu told we haven't discounted you yet but prefer to see some younger players come in and then bring them in for the 4N. But maybe this is a last chance saloon for these players and the cull will happen for the 4N. It'll be interesting to see the change in the team. Not sure how many in the squad for the 4N but I imagine it's the same.

Is all about manage the players mood by miss out in the combinator. So many option for the coach and foxes in all blacks. They cant picking everyone. And some experience must miss out and some form must miss out.

Is about now keep those players and letting them know about they will get a chance and is about new era and trying different combinators slowly for fit the game style.

The NZRU need to find a way for keeping the edging players in the positivity and not going off to Japan or Europe with a pen and a bank account details.