All Blacks 2025
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@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Oh. I just thought he was a powerhouse with underrated subtle skills who improved with age.
For all his talents he's no David Havili.
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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:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Zarn Sullivan is the most similar to JB and hes been showing strong form over the last few weeks.
In his (Zarn's) customary fullback role? Or has he changed positions?
A couple of years ago fullback was JB's customary role too.
Sullivan is probably a better crash ball runner, offloader, and exit kicker than JB too.
Sullivan has always been a freakish talent. Just as talented as JB. It's interesting that JB was brought in as a 20 year old and persevered with until he came right despite some brain explosions and crappy kicks. Sullivan hasn't been afforded the same special treatment as a kind of project player. I guess Sititi is the project player we have at the moment.
JB is a very good player but for the red carpet that was rolled out to him he's been a bit of a disappointment for me. He should be close to the best player in the world based on his talent and nurturing but he isn't. He hasn't been pushing for world player of the year and he's not even definitively the best 12 in the world.
Probably difficult to achieve when you have coaches like Foster and Robertson.
Or maybe De Allende, Esterhuizen, Aki etc are just better players ?
I'm not sure the narrative around 'such and such a player being world class if it weren't for those darn coaches' is accurate in a lot of cases.
Aki might not be a good example here because he seems to have thrived with overseas coaches...
He was probably thriving with NZ coaches too but he left too early for us to know, he might have fully thrived in NZ eventually, but maybe his ascension relied on him turning into an Orc and in NZ he would have stayed slim? Either way, it wasn't like he was toiling away in NZ before finally leaving, he left early in his pro career for money.
On JB, he's having one of his best seasons in black (although he had a little dip in the middle tests) but man some posters are ascribing things to him that aren't really true. For a guy that big he's not really physical, he's not a stand out ball contester, and as someone mentioned throughout his career he's been inconsistent with accuracy. He's easily the best Barrett running around these days though.
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@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Zarn Sullivan is the most similar to JB and hes been showing strong form over the last few weeks.
In his (Zarn's) customary fullback role? Or has he changed positions?
A couple of years ago fullback was JB's customary role too.
Sullivan is probably a better crash ball runner, offloader, and exit kicker than JB too.
Sullivan has always been a freakish talent. Just as talented as JB. It's interesting that JB was brought in as a 20 year old and persevered with until he came right despite some brain explosions and crappy kicks. Sullivan hasn't been afforded the same special treatment as a kind of project player. I guess Sititi is the project player we have at the moment.
JB is a very good player but for the red carpet that was rolled out to him he's been a bit of a disappointment for me. He should be close to the best player in the world based on his talent and nurturing but he isn't. He hasn't been pushing for world player of the year and he's not even definitively the best 12 in the world.
Probably difficult to achieve when you have coaches like Foster and Robertson.
Or maybe De Allende, Esterhuizen, Aki etc are just better players ?
I'm not sure the narrative around 'such and such a player being world class if it weren't for those darn coaches' is accurate in a lot of cases.
They're all/were excellent players and are all more powerful to varying degrees but JB has much better play making rugby skills than any of them.
Its no coincidence that JB and Ioane were functioning best as a midfield when Schmidt was on the scene.
Some how we ended up getting the coaching also rans of NZ coaching talent for the start of two cycles.
Probably but JBs supposed point of difference is how big and powerful he is.
Goes without saying he's a more versatile player than any of them but my point still stands.
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@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Zarn Sullivan is the most similar to JB and hes been showing strong form over the last few weeks.
In his (Zarn's) customary fullback role? Or has he changed positions?
A couple of years ago fullback was JB's customary role too.
Sullivan is probably a better crash ball runner, offloader, and exit kicker than JB too.
Sullivan has always been a freakish talent. Just as talented as JB. It's interesting that JB was brought in as a 20 year old and persevered with until he came right despite some brain explosions and crappy kicks. Sullivan hasn't been afforded the same special treatment as a kind of project player. I guess Sititi is the project player we have at the moment.
JB is a very good player but for the red carpet that was rolled out to him he's been a bit of a disappointment for me. He should be close to the best player in the world based on his talent and nurturing but he isn't. He hasn't been pushing for world player of the year and he's not even definitively the best 12 in the world.
Probably difficult to achieve when you have coaches like Foster and Robertson.
Or maybe De Allende, Esterhuizen, Aki etc are just better players ?
I'm not sure the narrative around 'such and such a player being world class if it weren't for those darn coaches' is accurate in a lot of cases.
They're all/were excellent players and are all more powerful to varying degrees but JB has much better play making rugby skills than any of them.
Its no coincidence that JB and Ioane were functioning best as a midfield when Schmidt was on the scene.
Some how we ended up getting the coaching also rans of NZ coaching talent for the start of two cycles.
Probably but JBs supposed point of difference is how big and powerful he is.
Goes without saying he's a more versatile player than any of them but my point still stands.
Well at the time he was more powerful and ran harder than the incumbents, Havili and ALB (IIRC).....
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@canefan said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Zarn Sullivan is the most similar to JB and hes been showing strong form over the last few weeks.
In his (Zarn's) customary fullback role? Or has he changed positions?
A couple of years ago fullback was JB's customary role too.
Sullivan is probably a better crash ball runner, offloader, and exit kicker than JB too.
Sullivan has always been a freakish talent. Just as talented as JB. It's interesting that JB was brought in as a 20 year old and persevered with until he came right despite some brain explosions and crappy kicks. Sullivan hasn't been afforded the same special treatment as a kind of project player. I guess Sititi is the project player we have at the moment.
JB is a very good player but for the red carpet that was rolled out to him he's been a bit of a disappointment for me. He should be close to the best player in the world based on his talent and nurturing but he isn't. He hasn't been pushing for world player of the year and he's not even definitively the best 12 in the world.
Probably difficult to achieve when you have coaches like Foster and Robertson.
Or maybe De Allende, Esterhuizen, Aki etc are just better players ?
I'm not sure the narrative around 'such and such a player being world class if it weren't for those darn coaches' is accurate in a lot of cases.
They're all/were excellent players and are all more powerful to varying degrees but JB has much better play making rugby skills than any of them.
Its no coincidence that JB and Ioane were functioning best as a midfield when Schmidt was on the scene.
Some how we ended up getting the coaching also rans of NZ coaching talent for the start of two cycles.
Probably but JBs supposed point of difference is how big and powerful he is.
Goes without saying he's a more versatile player than any of them but my point still stands.
Well at the time he was more powerful and ran harder than the incumbents, Havili and ALB (IIRC).....
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@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@canefan said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Zarn Sullivan is the most similar to JB and hes been showing strong form over the last few weeks.
In his (Zarn's) customary fullback role? Or has he changed positions?
A couple of years ago fullback was JB's customary role too.
Sullivan is probably a better crash ball runner, offloader, and exit kicker than JB too.
Sullivan has always been a freakish talent. Just as talented as JB. It's interesting that JB was brought in as a 20 year old and persevered with until he came right despite some brain explosions and crappy kicks. Sullivan hasn't been afforded the same special treatment as a kind of project player. I guess Sititi is the project player we have at the moment.
JB is a very good player but for the red carpet that was rolled out to him he's been a bit of a disappointment for me. He should be close to the best player in the world based on his talent and nurturing but he isn't. He hasn't been pushing for world player of the year and he's not even definitively the best 12 in the world.
Probably difficult to achieve when you have coaches like Foster and Robertson.
Or maybe De Allende, Esterhuizen, Aki etc are just better players ?
I'm not sure the narrative around 'such and such a player being world class if it weren't for those darn coaches' is accurate in a lot of cases.
They're all/were excellent players and are all more powerful to varying degrees but JB has much better play making rugby skills than any of them.
Its no coincidence that JB and Ioane were functioning best as a midfield when Schmidt was on the scene.
Some how we ended up getting the coaching also rans of NZ coaching talent for the start of two cycles.
Probably but JBs supposed point of difference is how big and powerful he is.
Goes without saying he's a more versatile player than any of them but my point still stands.
Well at the time he was more powerful and ran harder than the incumbents, Havili and ALB (IIRC).....
It was a point of difference compared to ALB and Havili but not to the other test players you mentioned. JB isn't as powerful as Tavatavanawai or Lam or a few other guys kicking around like TUJ etc.
His point of difference has been size with all round skill set. He could probably do a better job at first five than his brother now days.
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@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@canefan said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Zarn Sullivan is the most similar to JB and hes been showing strong form over the last few weeks.
In his (Zarn's) customary fullback role? Or has he changed positions?
A couple of years ago fullback was JB's customary role too.
Sullivan is probably a better crash ball runner, offloader, and exit kicker than JB too.
Sullivan has always been a freakish talent. Just as talented as JB. It's interesting that JB was brought in as a 20 year old and persevered with until he came right despite some brain explosions and crappy kicks. Sullivan hasn't been afforded the same special treatment as a kind of project player. I guess Sititi is the project player we have at the moment.
JB is a very good player but for the red carpet that was rolled out to him he's been a bit of a disappointment for me. He should be close to the best player in the world based on his talent and nurturing but he isn't. He hasn't been pushing for world player of the year and he's not even definitively the best 12 in the world.
Probably difficult to achieve when you have coaches like Foster and Robertson.
Or maybe De Allende, Esterhuizen, Aki etc are just better players ?
I'm not sure the narrative around 'such and such a player being world class if it weren't for those darn coaches' is accurate in a lot of cases.
They're all/were excellent players and are all more powerful to varying degrees but JB has much better play making rugby skills than any of them.
Its no coincidence that JB and Ioane were functioning best as a midfield when Schmidt was on the scene.
Some how we ended up getting the coaching also rans of NZ coaching talent for the start of two cycles.
Probably but JBs supposed point of difference is how big and powerful he is.
Goes without saying he's a more versatile player than any of them but my point still stands.
Well at the time he was more powerful and ran harder than the incumbents, Havili and ALB (IIRC).....
It was a point of difference compared to ALB and Havili but not to the other test players you mentioned. JB isn't as powerful as Tavatavanawai or Lam or a few other guys kicking around like TUJ etc.
His point of difference has been size with all round skill set. He could probably do a better job at first five than his brother now days.
Or going back a bit the likes of Laumape, Moala and of course the best of the lot Nonu.
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@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Zarn Sullivan is the most similar to JB and hes been showing strong form over the last few weeks.
In his (Zarn's) customary fullback role? Or has he changed positions?
A couple of years ago fullback was JB's customary role too.
Sullivan is probably a better crash ball runner, offloader, and exit kicker than JB too.
Sullivan has always been a freakish talent. Just as talented as JB. It's interesting that JB was brought in as a 20 year old and persevered with until he came right despite some brain explosions and crappy kicks. Sullivan hasn't been afforded the same special treatment as a kind of project player. I guess Sititi is the project player we have at the moment.
JB is a very good player but for the red carpet that was rolled out to him he's been a bit of a disappointment for me. He should be close to the best player in the world based on his talent and nurturing but he isn't. He hasn't been pushing for world player of the year and he's not even definitively the best 12 in the world.
Probably difficult to achieve when you have coaches like Foster and Robertson.
Or maybe De Allende, Esterhuizen, Aki etc are just better players ?
I'm not sure the narrative around 'such and such a player being world class if it weren't for those darn coaches' is accurate in a lot of cases.
They're all/were excellent players and are all more powerful to varying degrees but JB has much better play making rugby skills than any of them.
Its no coincidence that JB and Ioane were functioning best as a midfield when Schmidt was on the scene.
Some how we ended up getting the coaching also rans of NZ coaching talent for the start of two cycles.
this 100%
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Any leaks? @Landers92
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@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Zarn Sullivan is the most similar to JB and hes been showing strong form over the last few weeks.
In his (Zarn's) customary fullback role? Or has he changed positions?
A couple of years ago fullback was JB's customary role too.
Sullivan is probably a better crash ball runner, offloader, and exit kicker than JB too.
Sullivan has always been a freakish talent. Just as talented as JB. It's interesting that JB was brought in as a 20 year old and persevered with until he came right despite some brain explosions and crappy kicks. Sullivan hasn't been afforded the same special treatment as a kind of project player. I guess Sititi is the project player we have at the moment.
JB is a very good player but for the red carpet that was rolled out to him he's been a bit of a disappointment for me. He should be close to the best player in the world based on his talent and nurturing but he isn't. He hasn't been pushing for world player of the year and he's not even definitively the best 12 in the world.
Probably difficult to achieve when you have coaches like Foster and Robertson.
Or maybe De Allende, Esterhuizen, Aki etc are just better players ?
I'm not sure the narrative around 'such and such a player being world class if it weren't for those darn coaches' is accurate in a lot of cases.
do you even keep up to date with test rugby? Aki has been in utterly disastrous form recently, almost singlehandedly lost the 3rd test for the Lions.
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@restofit said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Zarn Sullivan is the most similar to JB and hes been showing strong form over the last few weeks.
In his (Zarn's) customary fullback role? Or has he changed positions?
A couple of years ago fullback was JB's customary role too.
Sullivan is probably a better crash ball runner, offloader, and exit kicker than JB too.
Sullivan has always been a freakish talent. Just as talented as JB. It's interesting that JB was brought in as a 20 year old and persevered with until he came right despite some brain explosions and crappy kicks. Sullivan hasn't been afforded the same special treatment as a kind of project player. I guess Sititi is the project player we have at the moment.
JB is a very good player but for the red carpet that was rolled out to him he's been a bit of a disappointment for me. He should be close to the best player in the world based on his talent and nurturing but he isn't. He hasn't been pushing for world player of the year and he's not even definitively the best 12 in the world.
Probably difficult to achieve when you have coaches like Foster and Robertson.
Or maybe De Allende, Esterhuizen, Aki etc are just better players ?
I'm not sure the narrative around 'such and such a player being world class if it weren't for those darn coaches' is accurate in a lot of cases.
do you even keep up to date with test rugby? Aki has been in utterly disastrous form recently, almost singlehandedly lost the 3rd test for the Lions.
Historically a pretty fine player though.
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@pakman said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
Could Cam Miller be a bolter for the XV?
I know some people think I only have a negative view of Millar.
Having seen a few comments about whether he is a viable option for the ABVX; I have gone and re-watched Otago's tries this year to see what level of involvement he has had.
Out of Otago's 50 tries, Millar has been involved in the last couple of phases three times and scored three tries himself.
It is hard to gauge his full influence as the sample doesn't reflect the impact his kicking has on the flow of the game to get his team into attacking positions.
He is one of the hardest working players in provincial rugby though. The charge down try he scored against Auckland reflects his style. Be accurate and do everything as well as he can. Same with some of his cover work in defence. A few times he has tracked back really well to sniff out an attacking threat. One in particular against Taranaki. Jacomb made a break and Millar got in-between him and the Taranaki players in support.
We have been seeing the best of him this NPC. A deadeye kicker. Who works incredibly hard. He is a quality NPC 10 and one that is a good back up at Super level. He just lacks the attacking abilities to influence parts of the game.
For his skillset he has done very well though.
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Is that because Millar is a facilitator for more attacking threats in any team he plays in but when your only attacking threats are the leftovers no one else wanted that the Highlanders backs have been over the last few seasons and your forward runners gain about as much momentum as the current All Black loose forward trio it is hard to not also below Super Rugby level.
TBH he should leave the Highlanders and go to the Blues or Hurricanes.
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Has the mighty Blues team fallen so low we are desperate for Highlander castoffs?*
*Don't answer this, just transfer them pronto.
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@Jet said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
@pakman said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
It seems 11.30 pm GMT.
today?
32nd of Nevermber
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@pakman said in All Blacks & All Blacks XV EOYT Squads 2025:
It seems 11.30 pm GMT.
It said 1130 am on 13th NZT earlier in thread. Which is 2230 GMT on 12th. NZDT is 13 hours ahead of UTC / GMT.
Which is still not a Thursday and going to upset some people.
