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New Zealand Rugby Team Watch

Dan54

Tim Horan (67)
I pretty happy with that squad. Feel a little for Josh Ioane with only 2 x 10s, but there a few more a bit unlucky. Pleased they having a look at Vai'i and Grace. Be nice if they were to get a run this year, but c'est la vie !
 

Gillys_ghost

Dave Cowper (27)
Is there anywhere i could find an injury list for the nz players? I know Laumape is out with a fracture, and Retallick is enjoying his sabbatical but other than that i have no idea whos available and who isnt
 

waiopehu oldboy

Stirling Mortlock (74)
^ Of those who would likely have been picked Scott Barrett is out for some time with a foot injury & Atu Moli has had surgery on both hips to correct what I think was described as a congenital condition. Laumape is likely to be back in M10 Cup shortly.
 

Dan54

Tim Horan (67)
Is there anywhere i could find an injury list for the nz players? I know Laumape is out with a fracture, and Retallick is enjoying his sabbatical but other than that i have no idea whos available and who isnt

As above plus Pari Pari Parkinson, who I think was a real real strong chance.
 

Gillys_ghost

Dave Cowper (27)
Thanks guys, forgot about scott. What do the all blacks do for the back 3? Is barrett going to stay at 15 with Mo'unga at 10 or do you put a goalkicker at 15?
 

waiopehu oldboy

Stirling Mortlock (74)
^ yeah, I'd have:

15. JBar
14. Jordan
11. Clarke

But as we all know Fozzie's a huge DMac fan so he probably starts with one of JBar & Jordan on the wing & the other in 23.
 

zer0

Jim Lenehan (48)
I've got plenty of reservations about Foster, but Plumtree is one guy I'm confident will do a good job.

“These [forwards] are all big and physical, and these are the type of guys we're going to need against the bigger teams [such as] England and South Africa. We need guys who can create momentum just through brutality. They can make space for us by taking a man on. We need that. It's been identified.”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby...-of-ian-fosters-new-all-blacks-squad-for-2020

Hansen was always a bit of a soft forwards coach, as far back as when he was Henry's assistant. So it's good to hear Plumtree talking about this; even better if he can put it into practice, which I'm sure he will do.
 

Dan54

Tim Horan (67)
I've got plenty of reservations about Foster, but Plumtree is one guy I'm confident will do a good job.



https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby...-of-ian-fosters-new-all-blacks-squad-for-2020

Hansen was always a bit of a soft forwards coach, as far back as when he was Henry's assistant. So it's good to hear Plumtree talking about this; even better if he can put it into practice, which I'm sure he will do.

Actually what Fozzie more or less said early in year, we were bullied in forwards , and have to fix it.
 

zer0

Jim Lenehan (48)
Hopefully Ennor can prove to be an exception, but ruptured ACL's and outside backs don't tend to go together.
 

zer0

Jim Lenehan (48)
Another pumping weekend evening here in Onehunga has led to a quick comparison of the All Blacks and Wallabies squads by test caps.

Summary stats for the forwards, backs, and entire squads:
  • Forwards
    • All Blacks: 475 caps from 20 players == 23.75 caps @ 26 years old
    • Wallabies: 495 caps from 24 players == 20.63 caps @ 24 years old
  • Backs
    • All Blacks: 405 caps from 15 players == 27.00 caps @ 25 years old
    • Wallabies: 258 caps from 20 players == 12.90 caps @ 25 years old
  • Squad
    • All Blacks: 880 caps from 35 players == 25.14 caps @ 26 years old
    • Wallabies: 753 caps from 44 players == 17.11 caps @ 25 years old
Statistically the AB forwards are, on average, a little bit older and little bit more experienced, but it's fairly negligible I'd say. In the backs, however, it's a different story; the two groups are basically the same age, though the AB's backs have a lot more experience. The discrepancy is clear when looking at the average caps by unit.

BNm8Ynr.png


Here we can see that the midfield and, more importantly, the halves is where the greatest differences lay.

Some other observations that are not immediately obvious from the stats, but probably already picked up by most on here by, you know, simply knowing a bit about the teams and players.

The locking selection for both sides are dominated by their respective centurions of Whitelock (117 caps) and Simmons (100); the second most experienced locks are Tuipulotu and Salakaia-Loto, with 21 apiece. Though, from the AB's perspective, that will even up a good deal when Retallick (82 caps @ 28) and Best Barrett (36 caps @ 26) return.

Similarly, the loose-forwards in both squads are a bunch of children with a supervising adult -- or two in the case of the AB's. Hooper (99) is responsible for 99% of all the Wallabies test caps within their unit, while Cane (68) and Savea (35) have 89% of the AB's caps. Between them, all of the remaining 11 loosies have 22 caps total. Clearly there will be a lot of player development for both sides at lock and among the loose-forwards.

With 64 caps to his name, Perenara has near double the caps of all four of the selected Wallaby halfbacks (36 in total). This is before we even get onto the Sex Pest himself..... First-five is a bit muddy. I've only included Mo'unga as the AB first-five, with B.Barrett with the outside backs. Meanwhile, based on Qwerty's post on the Wallabies thread, both O'Connor and To'omua are being selected as first-fives. Meaning that the Wallabies have 104 caps at first-five against the AB's 17, and a distinct advantage. Though you can move Barrett back into first-five to bring the total up to a more equitable 101 caps. Equally, the Wallabies could shift O'Connor and/or To'omua into the midfield to significantly boost their limited test experience there (a total of 3 caps!).

Also worth mentioning that Australia has a large squad named with ~2/3rd's having fewer than five caps (versus NZ's ~1/3rd). Thus, their values on the chart may change noticeably in some units depending on who is, or isn't, cut. For instance, cutting their two most inexperienced props and a hooker -- giving them the same number of front rowers as NZ -- would nudge them ahead on the front rowers experience. They also potentially have two players coming in from overseas, and I'm not sure what their injury situation is like.

Of course caps aren't the be all and end all, but it's a mildly interesting look at the quantifiable differences in experience across both squads.
 
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