All Blacks 2025
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I'd Take Nareki for All Blacks XV. for the sale reason that on his day hes world class, could easily were it not for injuries been an all black. and were we to have an injury crisis in the rugby world cup year, he's a stable hand with a high workrate and x factor.
Would love to see Fakatava in the mix but we may not see it. Haig probably competing with Howden, while Will Stodart a Smoky for the tour.
In my mind real concern is hooker, and I think moving on from BM is the right move. Bell for now - but young Jack Taylor could be one to watch.
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Would like to have a closer look at Beehre or Shalfoon
I like Beehre
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I think one of Lasaqa and Casey will make it. JJ dropped a him around Casey saying it would be a toss up between the likes of him and someone established like Blackadder.
With the midfield. The mix of Lam, MacLeod, Havili and Ennor are guys who have a been investigated and tried without a lot of success.
Cooper Roberts is playing his way into a team like this. Higgins should be there if available. Just looks at the balance between who is ready and who has prospects worth checking out.
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@reprobate said in All Blacks 2025:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:
For a head coach who is a former loose forward, and a forward coach who appears to highly rated...
How can they not be concerned by the way our loose forwards got absolutely bitched last night? And thats with the best Wallaby loosie half fit coming off the bench?
Wilson made yards at will, and had starch on D. Mcreight was a menace at the breakdown. They were highly visible and highly effective.And this is a theme over a period of time. Remember what the effectively reserve French #8 did to us?
Waaay too negative there mate: this week was a major improvement from last week when the 4 best loosies on the park were all Aussies. This time it was only the 3 best, because Hooper missed QT really badly for the try.
Lol fair.
Lucky we have the best player in the world though aye?
Proving good PR and tiktok moments beats actual output.
Lakai being our stand-up despite being little more than adequate is damning. -
What i hate about the last couple of posts is we are happy with our winger based on tackles and pick-and-go tries.
What I wouldn't give to see him in space. You know, like we get to see the Aussie outside backs.
And the African outside backs.
And the Argie outside backs.
And the French outside backs.The way we played we may as well load up 11, 13 and 14 with extra loose forwards.
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Sititi being out of form definitely doesn't help. What I can't quite understand is why they totally removed Lio-Willie from the squad, when he was very polished in his two test appearances. Feel like those are the two best back to back performances we've seen from an ABs eight this season.
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One of the problems with the loosies that I feel would be relatively easy to remedy is reducing Ardies minutes.
I think part of the reason he doesn't give a good 80 minute performance is because he is burned out from over playing. When you play every minute of every match of course your batteries are low.
He needs to be rotated out of the team sometimes he also needs to be subbed. We need less minutes from him but higher quality minutes.
I can guarantee if he was South African he would not be playing as much for Rassie.
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@frugby said in All Blacks 2025:
Sititi being out of form definitely doesn't help. What I can't quite understand is why they totally removed Lio-Willie from the squad, when he was very polished in his two test appearances. Feel like those are the two best back to back performances we've seen from an ABs eight this season.
Yeah I would agree that Lio Willie looked the best out of all the 8s this year. Involved and accurate. For whatever reason they preferred focusing more on Kirifi.
Kirifi also has that flex and scream/grunt that Ardie does. Its the ultimate body language and maybe that's what appeals to the guys in the coaching box.
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@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2025:
One of the problems with the loosies that I feel would be relatively easy to remedy is reducing Ardies minutes.
I think part of the reason he doesn't give a good 80 minute performance is because he is burned out from over playing. When you play every minute of every match of course your batteries are low.
He needs to be rotated out of the team sometimes he also needs to be subbed. We need less minutes from him but higher quality minutes.
I can guarantee if he was South African he would not be playing as much for Rassie.
This is a great point. Kolisi playing 80 minute games or every game hasn't been a feature for years now.
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@mariner4life we could move him to centre and get him to cart the ball up rather than utilise his pace
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i'd say that happens because all those teams you mention are probably edging us in the loose-forward physicality contest, which is sucking our D in a bit, and creating a bit of space for their outsides
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@SouthernMann said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
I think one of Lasaqa and Casey will make it. JJ dropped a him around Casey saying it would be a toss up between the likes of him and someone established like Blackadder.
With the midfield. The mix of Lam, MacLeod, Havili and Ennor are guys who have a been investigated and tried without a lot of success.
Cooper Roberts is playing his way into a team like this. Higgins should be there if available. Just looks at the balance between who is ready and who has prospects worth checking out.
Reaching myth and legend levels…..
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@SouthernMann said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
I think one of Lasaqa and Casey will make it. JJ dropped a him around Casey saying it would be a toss up between the likes of him and someone established like Blackadder.
With the midfield. The mix of Lam, MacLeod, Havili and Ennor are guys who have a been investigated and tried without a lot of success.
Cooper Roberts is playing his way into a team like this. Higgins should be there if available. Just looks at the balance between who is ready and who has prospects worth checking out.
Lam is worth persevering with, has only played one match for the AB XV.
Couldn't agree more about the other three. The fact any of them are mentioned as AB options is various degrees of laughable.
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@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@SouthernMann said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
I think one of Lasaqa and Casey will make it. JJ dropped a him around Casey saying it would be a toss up between the likes of him and someone established like Blackadder.
With the midfield. The mix of Lam, MacLeod, Havili and Ennor are guys who have a been investigated and tried without a lot of success.
Cooper Roberts is playing his way into a team like this. Higgins should be there if available. Just looks at the balance between who is ready and who has prospects worth checking out.
Lam is worth persevering with, has only played one match for the AB XV.
Couldn't agree more about the other three. The fact any of them are mentioned as AB options is various degrees of laughable.
I thought Lam played well for AB XV?
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If you use the 2024 AB XV squad as a starting point you would expect Chay Fihaki to be one of the outside backs. Bailyn Sullivan has been the best of the Waikato backs and should be one of the midfielders. He can play on the wing too.
I wouldn't be selecting Eklund due to his age. Another player from the 2024 squad not mentioned is Caleb Delaney.
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@SouthernMann said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
I think one of Lasaqa and Casey will make it. JJ dropped a him around Casey saying it would be a toss up between the likes of him and someone established like Blackadder.
With the midfield. The mix of Lam, MacLeod, Havili and Ennor are guys who have a been investigated and tried without a lot of success.
Cooper Roberts is playing his way into a team like this. Higgins should be there if available. Just looks at the balance between who is ready and who has prospects worth checking out.
Lam is worth persevering with, has only played one match for the AB XV.
Couldn't agree more about the other three. The fact any of them are mentioned as AB options is various degrees of laughable.
I thought Lam played well for AB XV?
Didn't see him but my point is the other three have all been found wanting.
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CLW is a workhorse. Does the small stuff. Cares about the detail. Support play excellent. He’s Rodders without the dreads.
In terms of squad makeup I guess they saw him as a backup #8 that starts or not in the 23. And given they see Sititi in that role they set him aside once Wallace was back.
CLW started as a 7 but we have so many examples in recent years at Super and NPC levels of 7s being moved to 6 or 8 to fit in another player, which result in undersized loose trios.
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I think Ennor should be there. I think he should be being viewed as a genuine option at centre for the All Blacks. May lack power, but is an excellent defender and distributor.
McLeod has had a good NPC.
Happy to move past Havili, but remember this is not just a development team, part of it is rewarding the next best players to keep them in the country.
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@frugby said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
All Blacks
Halfbacks:
Cam Roigard
Cortez Ratima
Finlay ChristieAll Blacks XV
Halfbacks:
Dylan Pledger
Kyle Preston
Xavier RoeNot Available: Noah Hotham
Notes: Probably the position with the most intrigue given the emergence of Pledger? I think they resist the urge to rush him as the number three, so the ginger will be retained, but hard to see him playing outside of the Wales test. I would not be surprised if he links up with the ABs top squad after the two XV games. Fakatava deserves to be here on form, and given Joseph is coach, he may sneak in, but otherwise expecting them in the same order they were called up.With Roigard and Ratima fit, I would take Preston on tour with the ABs and have Christie with the AB XV.
Christie can be on emergency call similar to the RC.
