I guess week 1 was really NZ v Japan last week, but somehow I don’t think that really counts.
Ran out of puff at the end of the NPC so haven’t been posting much, but lets have a thread to discuss this weekend’s matches.
I guess week 1 was really NZ v Japan last week, but somehow I don’t think that really counts.
Ran out of puff at the end of the NPC so haven’t been posting much, but lets have a thread to discuss this weekend’s matches.
A few uncapped here, are they awarding caps for taking on Munster? With Ireland not playing this weekend, Munster will be after a scalp!
It’s just a first class equivalent cap I think, not a full All Blacks cap - when the ABs XV replaced the Junior All Blacks as our second team there was much consternation that it might count against eligibility, but (at least back in 2020) it didn’t. Given the cynics though Hoskins Sotutu was withdrawing to protect his coming eligibility for other nations maybe that changed - or maybe they just don’t know what they’re talking about.
Of the uncapped players, the ones to watch are the two starting locks, especially Fabian Holland, Kirifi & Flanders (Haig is a bit more of a journeyman but is still a prospect). AJ Lam was a revelation for the Blues moving into the midfield (he wasn’t pushing Telea or Clarke off their wings) and on the bench, Numia was very close to an ABs call-up and Ah Kuoi is almost the perfect bench lock/6 who’s had a great NPC.