2025 All Blacks v France series

[Bones]

@ACT-Crusader said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@African-Monkey by the same strawman token, I'm definitely not convinced EB dominated them either. And yeah I'm guessing the rest of the ABs should be crusaders too, since they dominated their opposites. Give them credit man!

I agree.

[Chris]

@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@Chris said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@Chris

He played 6 and 7 though didn't he? Christie came off and Grace came on. Blackadder shuffled to 7.

He's played 6 and 7 last year.

Grace covered 7 as well it was not always a swap to 7.

Ok let's do 6:

Lineouts for Season ( won + steals )
41 (2) Samipeni Finau
39 (2) Cullen Grace
31 (1) Brad Shields
25 (6) TK Howden
23 (5) Anton Segner
17 (3) Brayden Iose
14 (7) Devan Flanders
14 (3) Cam Christie
14 (0) Simon Parker
2 (0) Ethan Blackadder

Dominant Carry %
43.1 TK Howden
39.4 Brayden Iose
39.2 Simon Parker
37.2 Cam Christie
36.1 Samipeni Finau
35.3 Oliver Haig
30.8 Anton Segner
27.1 Cullen Grace
13.8 Ethan Blackadder

Gainline %
71.1 Samipeni Finau
69.6 Simon Parker
68.2 Anton Segner
66.2 TK Howden
64.7 Oliver Haig
55.8 Cam Christie
50.0 Brayden Iose
48.6 Cullen Grace
34.1 Ethan Blackadder

Tackle Evasion %
15.8 Oliver Haig
15.1 Samipeni Finau
14.1 TK Howden
12.2 Simon Parker
9.8 Cam Christie
9.4 Cullen Grace
9.2 Anton Segner
2.5 Ethan Blackadder

TK Howden looks good on the stats page.

[Bones]

@Chris encouragingly, Finau looks very good.

[Chris]

@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@Chris encouragingly, Finau looks very good.

Yes on stats he does I hope it transfers to real impact at test level.

[brodean]

Contact Involvements Per 80 minutes ( Carries + Rucks + Tackles)
72.07 Ethan Blackadder
51.86 Cullen Grace
48.5 Anton Segner
48.33 Brayden Iose
48.05 Cam Christie
45.37 Simon Parker
43.17 TK Howden
42.27 Oliver Haig
40.0 Samipeni Finau

[kiwiinmelb]

@Duluth said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@antipodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

Blackadder could benefit from adding more muscle and strength to his frame. With his undoubted engine, that would enable him to have more impact in the collision.

Sure, but he's is not that small

I think it's something else. Coaches of his and EB himself have joked about how unco he is. Too often he gets himself into weak positions going into contact and crumbles/bounces off etc

Jason Ryan said in an interview ( i think it was the rugby podcast )

They want their 6s to be lineout jumpers going forward ,

Finau was mentioned as being good in this area ...... and i think it was the same interview where it was mentioned a couple of the locks can play 6 ,

I think Jacobson beat him in as the utility

[Bones]

@brodean where do you get your stats ?

[brodean]

@Bones https://theanalyst.com/club-rugby-stats and here https://super.rugby/superrugby/match-centre/match-packs/ and sometimes here https://www.rugbypass.com/fixtures/

[AmberArmy]

@chchfanatic if that’s true then it makes the decision to bring in papali’i even stupider.

[sparky]

@AmberArmy said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@chchfanatic if that’s true then it makes the decision to bring in papali’i even stupider.

I am afraid that it had to happen after there was a United Nations resolution that everyone should move on from "Headbutt-gate".

[brodean]

Choosing Papali'i over Blackadder is the smart choice.

[KiwiMurph]

@Duluth said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@antipodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

Blackadder could benefit from adding more muscle and strength to his frame. With his undoubted engine, that would enable him to have more impact in the collision.

Sure, but he's is not that small

I think it's something else. Coaches of his and EB himself have joked about how unco he is. Too often he gets himself into weak positions going into contact and crumbles/bounces off etc

A lot of this you could actually apply to Rieko as well - he is a more than willing ball carrier but for a big man he goes to ground after initial contact a hell of a lot. Especially since his breakout first couple of years - my sense is that coaches have worked out where to target him as a ball carrier.

[Landers92]

@ACT-Crusader said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@Landers92 said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@Tim said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@Landers92 How about off the bench in game 2, or a start in game 3? Seems that lineout and defense are his best areas.

Wasn’t aware he was talking about game 1. I’m sure they have a plan for these newbies, feels like the days of throwing players to the wolves doesn’t really happen anymore.

But is playing against this French side in a home series really the wolves? I don’t think so. Sure every test match is a ‘test’, but this series presents an ideal opportunity to see some of the less experienced players along side experienced ABs and what they can do.

I would love to see a number of them start.

I never said throwing them to the French was the wolves? I meant in general. I completely agree with your statement.

I want Razor to go away from his comfort/safe picks and start thinking about the 2027 World Cup.

[hikastags]

Ok let's do 6:

Lineouts for Season ( won + steals )
41 (2) Samipeni Finau
39 (2) Cullen Grace
31 (1) Brad Shields
25 (6) TK Howden
23 (5) Anton Segner
17 (3) Brayden Iose
14 (7) Devan Flanders
14 (3) Cam Christie
14 (0) Simon Parker
2 (0) Ethan Blackadder

Dominant Carry %
43.1 TK Howden
39.4 Brayden Iose
39.2 Simon Parker
37.2 Cam Christie
36.1 Samipeni Finau
35.3 Oliver Haig
30.8 Anton Segner
27.1 Cullen Grace
13.8 Ethan Blackadder

Gainline %
71.1 Samipeni Finau
69.6 Simon Parker
68.2 Anton Segner
66.2 TK Howden
64.7 Oliver Haig
55.8 Cam Christie
50.0 Brayden Iose
48.6 Cullen Grace
34.1 Ethan Blackadder

Tackle Evasion %
15.8 Oliver Haig
15.1 Samipeni Finau
14.1 TK Howden
12.2 Simon Parker
9.8 Cam Christie
9.4 Cullen Grace
9.2 Anton Segner
2.5 Ethan Blackadder

Kid's going to be very good.

[ACT Crusader]

A couple of key stat metrics aligning for Parker and what I’d love to see as an impact bench 6.

[gt12]

@ACT-Crusader said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

A couple of key stat metrics aligning for Parker and what I’d love to see as an impact bench 6.

Finau, Parker, Howden all jump out.
If they don’t bring Parker in post injury, it might be a shame that they didn’t look at Howden here.

I really really like the 6 lineout steals, that signifies real ability in the air, maybe a bit of Jono Gibbs’s about him?

[Bones]

@KiwiMurph said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@Duluth said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@antipodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

Blackadder could benefit from adding more muscle and strength to his frame. With his undoubted engine, that would enable him to have more impact in the collision.

Sure, but he's is not that small

I think it's something else. Coaches of his and EB himself have joked about how unco he is. Too often he gets himself into weak positions going into contact and crumbles/bounces off etc

A lot of this you could actually apply to Rieko as well - he is a more than willing ball carrier but for a big man he goes to ground after initial contact a hell of a lot. Especially since his breakout first couple of years - my sense is that coaches have worked out where to target him as a ball carrier.

Doesn't use his feet close to contact, tucks the ball under one arm and also ducks his head so he doesn't even look up/around. I really can't understand why it hasn't been fixed.

[MN5]

@KiwiMurph said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@Duluth said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@antipodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

Blackadder could benefit from adding more muscle and strength to his frame. With his undoubted engine, that would enable him to have more impact in the collision.

Sure, but he's is not that small

I think it's something else. Coaches of his and EB himself have joked about how unco he is. Too often he gets himself into weak positions going into contact and crumbles/bounces off etc

A lot of this you could actually apply to Rieko as well - he is a more than willing ball carrier but for a big man he goes to ground after initial contact a hell of a lot. Especially since his breakout first couple of years - my sense is that coaches have worked out where to target him as a ball carrier.

He's quite tall but not exactly built like a tackle buster.

[Kirwan]

Well that was a methodic dismantling of the Blackadder myth. Confirmed beyond all doubt the "busy but ineffective" label.

[kiwiinmelb]

@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@KiwiMurph said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@Duluth said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

@antipodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:

Blackadder could benefit from adding more muscle and strength to his frame. With his undoubted engine, that would enable him to have more impact in the collision.

Sure, but he's is not that small

I think it's something else. Coaches of his and EB himself have joked about how unco he is. Too often he gets himself into weak positions going into contact and crumbles/bounces off etc

A lot of this you could actually apply to Rieko as well - he is a more than willing ball carrier but for a big man he goes to ground after initial contact a hell of a lot. Especially since his breakout first couple of years - my sense is that coaches have worked out where to target him as a ball carrier.

Doesn't use his feet close to contact, tucks the ball under one arm and also ducks his head so he doesn't even look up/around. I really can't understand why it hasn't been fixed.

I noticed when he first started playing midfield at the higher level , he instinctively used to try and use his pace to find space to run at , whether it was coached out of him out of fear of being isolated? , now he seems more content to run into contact