All Blacks 2003

Ive had a gutsful seeing nothing but war stories on the CA boards,as much as its a very important issue and deserves to be discussed theres something else thats happening this year thats pretty important IMO.....

THE RUGBY WORLD CUP 2003

does our super 12 form mean anything in a WC year or as the Australian and S/A media would have you believe,it doesnt mean a thing once you put on the National jersey and represent your country......pffftttttt WHATEVER !

seeing as the National sides of these countrys are selected on S12 form I would say its pretty darn important!!

Im predicting the AB's to win it all this year,weve got sooo much depth its not funny

my team so far

1.Meuwes
2.Oliver
3.Hewitt
4.Jack
5.Williams
6.Jerry Collins
7.Holah
8.Soialo
9.Kelleher
10.Spencer
11. ??????
12.Umaga
13.Nonu
14.Howlett
15.Cullen

Im not 100 % on the front row or no'7 and left wing is bare but thats a pretty good team imo.

we could have 2 if not 3 national teams at the moment and they ALL would be competitive at the WC.

My changes to your team would be mccaw for holah, mehrtens for spencer (even if he has yet to play) and I think mailing is still a little bit ahead of williams. Agree with youabout number 11, but ralph looks like he could get the nod. I just hope Mitchell doesn't stick to last years team.

I am worried about the world cup because of Mitchell. I think we will lack the flair to win it, I hope I'm wrong. There are 4 superb coaches in the super12 and thats why we're doing so well, cooper, deans, mains and henry.

Richy why have you picked Byron Kelleher when he has hardly played all season? Just curious.

If he were fit and had played a few more rounds and then the lead up test matches he would be my no'1.
on s12 form ALONE there is probably 3 or 4 others that are ahead of him.

jah. Holah/McCaw I couldnt decide,there both awesome players.

Sommerville
Meeuws
Oliver
Mailing
Jack
Collins (Jerry)
Holah
So'oialo

Gibson
Spencer
Tuitupu
Umaga
Howlett
Rokocoko
Cullen

that will be the starting 15 in the first all black test.

DATE HOME v AWAY VENUE START

2003 PHILIPS INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Jun 14 New Zealand v England Wellington 7.00pm
Jun 21 New Zealand v Wales Hamilton 7.00pm
Jun 28 New Zealand v France Christchurch 7.35pm

2003 TRI NATIONS
Jul 12 South Africa v Australia Cape Town TBC
Jul 19 South Africa v New Zealand Pretoria TBC
Jul 26 Australia v New Zealand Sydney TBC
Aug 2 Australia v South Africa Perth TBC
Aug 9 New Zealand v South Africa Dunedin 7.35pm
Aug 16 New Zealand v Australia Auckland 7.35pm
Note: New Zealand v Australia matches double as Bledisloe Cup Fixtures


the first test against England is a MUST win imo............

Whats up with you guys picking Holah? Sure he is an awesome player but McCaw is in a league of his own!

McCaw has been made to look ordinary, and I would pick Daniel Braid ahead of him....only thing against Braid is his size, which is why I would put him on the bench for the first test, esp against the bigger pack of England

I would rate McCaw with jack, umaga, howlett and oliver as the first players picked for the team. McCaw is close to the best in the world in his position. I'm not worried about players not peaking at the moment. Hopefully the AB selectors told those players they are certainities so they don't put too much into the super 12 and risk injury.

McCaw IS in a league of his own,the reason I put Holah in is that I wouldnt see it as a weakness to have him and NOT McCaw in the team.
I also like Holahs work rate.

I think this goes to show the depth we have in the loose fowards.

McCaw
Holah
Braid
Harding
Heering
Vanisi

all number 7's !!!

Don't care about rugby - where are the girls?

you must have misunderstood 'All Blacks 2003' eh ?

agreed McCaw is a leading flanker...but his form has been average of late(in the games I have seen)..this may have something to do with Reuben thorne and Scott Robertson playing like cunts. (I should rephrase that and say, nothing amazing I have seen by the "incumbent' all blacks.)

Mitchell has said he will pick on form.

I think the reserves, add these to my list up top, for the game Vs England will be as follows

Tony Penn
Hewitt
Williams
Braid/McCaw
Taine Randell

Devine
Merhtens
and possibly Caleb Ralph

but cos of the depth of players all playing really well in all positions, fucking glad I dont have to pick the team.

I will lose all respect for Mitchell if Reuben Thorne makes
the ABs team. As Damien wrote, he is playing like a cunt!
(

Which i assume means really bad!

Ruben thorne is all CAKE

Jerry collins is playing sooo well it would be a crime NOT to select him first.

John Mitchell IMHO is NOT the right person for the All Blacks.

Look at the style of rugby being played at the moment,lots of attacking flair.

I have a concern that he is going to try and play 10 man rugby and if thats what happens I hope he gets the sack !

Look at the warriors. They started winning when they got a coach who understood the way the polynesian players played and worked with that. Mitchell tries to coach the flair out of them. I'm concerned we'll have a team where the emphasis is on defence and solidity, not attack and flair. If we do that england will beat us.

Damien how could you possibly pick Braid? Richie McCaw has proven himself at the highest of levels. You can't pick an inexperienced player on s12 form alone and expect them to be able to perform in front of 100,000 plus fans in Australia under maximum pressure.

Steve Devine is a pretty average player at test level and I'm surprised he ever made the all blacks.

Justin Marshall is super experienced and is a good decision maker. jhe's been there done that and is one of the best defenders we have.

Danny Lee deserves to get a look in ahead of devine and although Ali Williams is playing well he's no Chris Jack and certainly not as good as Norm Maxwell.

mitchell is the man for the world cup.

one of the problems with the all blacks in the recent past is that they haven't been playing intelligent rugby. crash, bash, pass it to the big islander etc. rugby in nz is suffering because of it. we need players who can do the basics right, as well as possessing a lil bit of flair. i'm hoping regan king will make it big sometime as i think someone of his style is what the all black needs (plus he's from my hometown heh).

i will also be VERY pissed off if keith lowen doesnt make the all blacks. he consistently breaks the line.

test match rugby is another level up from super 12, so you have to make sure you have a good defence. why have the all blacks stuttered in the last couple of world cups? crap fucking defence if you ask me.

also holah's workrate is amazing and i think mccaw is quite overrated. josh kronfeld is the best openside new zealand has EVER had in my opinion. michael jones was overrated as well.

3 words for you: Graham Henry.

If I had to pick a team right now it would be:

1. Greg Sommerville
2. Anton Oliver
3. Kase Meeuws
4. Chris Jack
5. Simon Maling (although injured)
6. Jerry Collins
7. Richie McCaw
8. Taine Randell (c)
9. Steve Devine
10. Carlos Spencer
11. Tana Umaga
12. Sam Tuitupo
13. Mils Muliana
14. Doug Howlett
15. Christian Cullen

Rerserves:

Andrew Merhtons
David Gibson
Fa'a Nonu
Daniel Braid
Xavier Rush
Kevin Meleamu
Carl Hayman

Gibson looks to be a class player who is quick around the fringes, has a great pass and excellent decision maker. From what little I've seen of him so far and based on the Blues picking him over Robinson and Devine when the squad was selected, he must be pretty talented player. So he could edge out Devine for a starting birth for the ABs.

The 2 best centre pairings are Tuitupo/Muliana and Umaga/Nonu. It should be interesting how they match up when the Blues play the Hurricanes in the last round. Both pairings I think are worthy of All Black status...It just depends on what kind of game-plan Mitchell wants to implement.

After spending all Weekend only watching rugby, these are my observations:

Canterbury are like a rudderless ship without Marshall and Mehrtens.

The Hurricanes are in Outstanding form.

The Blues are going from strength to strength.

The defensive tactics of 2 years ago are already out of date - the Blues and the Hurricanes are showing the importance of getting the ball wide to score tries.

Anton Oliver is the best hooker.

No one in their right mind would pick Reuben Thorne ahead of Jerry Collins - and Taine Randell is past his best now.

Its impossible to go past Gibson/Spencer in the 1/2 back 1st 5/8th role, especially as Mehrtens hasn't played all Season.

Umaga and Nonu are simply fantastic.

Howlett is our best winger by about a million miles.

Cullen is getting back to his best.

Paul Honiss is an officious little puffed up traffic cop, if a player ever hauls off and biffs him one he'll richly deserve it.

Rugby is a game with a rules crisis. No one, least of all the players, knows what the rules are at scrum and ruck and maul time. The referee is the most important person on the paddock, and he's just making it up as he goes along as well. The whole thing is a huge mess and a massive joke.

My form team:

Cullen
Howlett
Left wing??? No idea.
Nonu
Umaga
Spencer
Gibson
Robertson
McCaw
Collins
Malling
Jack
Sommerville
Oliver
Other prop??? No idea.

Just to piss you all off, have a read of this lovely gem from stuff:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2415019a1823,00.html

Fucking hell - if he's not going to pick players on CURRENT FORM, then HOW THE HELL are they going to get into the All Blacks?



THERES THE PROBLEM RIGHT THERE.

hithere is obviousley from the Waikato

I think in the last few games Wellington and Auckland need to make some postitional changes for the sake of the AB's. Umaga to centre, Nonu to the wing and howlett to the wing. They need to playing in their AB positions as that is more important than a good seeding for the super12 semis. I think Mitchell will go mostly for crusaders and that will cost us the world cup.

i think mitchell is more onto it then most recent all black coaches. heck what about thwe laurie mains bashers that existed prior to 95 world cup??
worst thing that ever happened to all blacks was john hart and his bullshit.

i dont think mitchell will go for mostly crusaders. thing is we have to remember the international game is different to super 12. south african super 12 teams have NEVER been a reflection of south africa's ability as a nation. once some of those boers from the high veldte put on the green, tears well up, and passions get inflamed. they'd die for their country on the rugby field if it came to it. (they even have nutters who run onto the field and tackle the ref!!).

Somehow I don't think they will justahalf, as the super 12 coaches are not obligated to accomodate the wishes of the All Black coaching staff. There are conflicting reports on whether Mitchell will pick on form or not. One source reported that he had already chosen 21 of the 26 players for the world cup squad already. Based on that, it seems likely that the core of players will be the cantabrians that have played for the All Blacks in the last few seasons. I hope this is not the case, as some attacking flair needs to be integrated from some different players if we are to win the world cup. Too much emphasis is based on defence these days. At the end of the day, if you score more points than the opposition, you win. I think in the herald today, there was an article by Wynn Gray suggesting that Mitchell will pick on form. I reckon it should be a mixture of form players and experience which will win us the world cup and not the Crusaders team of old.

I'm getting sick of hearing that about SA hithere, its bullshit. SA are not the team they used to be. They perform the worst in the super12 and the worst in the tri nations usually although do reasonably well at home. The money available overseas is so much better SA will not be a force in international rugby until they pick overseas players for their test team. Even then they will struggle. They are not in the favoured 4 teams this time.

Mitchells problem is that he has more experience coaching in the england setup than here and is trying to play their type of game. Unfortunately they are better than us at that.

yeah what did SA do last year???

lost to NZ twice
Aus
France
Scotland
& England by about 50 points

I have them ranked behind

Nz
Eng
Aus
Fran
Ire

to win the cup