r/allblacks

Seems a no-brainer he's locked down the spot, got more 'dominant tackles' in game 1 of the year that Savea got in the entire of 2025 wearing the 7 and was undoubtedly man of the match.

Biggest issues going forward, both Ardie and Codie want that wide channel runner job, you can't accommodate two but it's both their natural game, who plays tighter going forward ?

Darrys work rate was a thing of absolute beauty and with 4 x dominant tackles as a Lock is astounding, he owned his channel.

Ardies miss when on ruck edge defence on our line with the game in the balance is beyond worrying, has always had issues with not coming off his line and Umaga should've had this as a priority fix as it happens often--it's a badge of honour to lock down that channel in the Black jersey, the Reads, Canes, Mcaw, Kainos etc would fight for that spot, for Ardie to not even lay a hand on a runner was a gasp moment. Tired ? Sub him earlier ? Back to tackle school ?

Just looking at the rugby union subreddit & a lot of the chat seems to be that the French were hard done by & the All Blacks got lucky due to the ref.

Apparently, the no try one where the French knocked it on & got called back only happened because it was the All Blacks playing & should have never gone to the tmo.

I dont normally go on the there much, but is that pretty normal when a European team loses to the All Blacks?

Are TAB paying to be included in the Sky coverage before (and at half time) of the games? And if not why are they allowed to promote gambling in the coverage vs paying for an advertising slot?

If you want to bet on sport you can, but it feels off to have TAB officially included in the pre-game coverage. It makes it seem Sky and NZRU are supporting them.

With the damage gambling does in NZ I’d have thought there’d be more pressure to exclude them. Seems they’re getting a lot of exposure.

I’ve been really impressed with Ethan De Groot especially when he had competition with Tamaiti Williams the last few years

It’s made me wonder for those who remember, has Tony Woodcock ever been droppable from the 1 jersey, I can’t ever remember anyone else wearing the 1 jersey when he was fit and healthy.

Was he really that good or did we just have no one else who could compete with him at the loosie position?

I think we ought to get Moorby and Segner capped, try out other alternate combinations and keep having lots of impact of the bench. Taukei'aho needs to start so that for Ireladn all 3 of our hookers willl have played around 100-120 minutes each so we can make an informed decision for the Irish.

1 De Groot

2 Taukei'aho

3 Lomax

4 Vaa'i

5 Darry

6 Segner

7 Savea

8 Sititi

9 Roigard

10 Love

11 Fineanganofo

12 Barrett

13 Proctor

14 Jordan

15 McKenzie

16 Aumua

17 Numia

18 Tosi

19 Tuipulotu

20 Lakai

21 Preston

22 Tupaea

23 Moorby

Last year the French sent out a similar quality side with their domestic players in the final missing.

We won by 4 points, 26 points and 10 points.
And the public and media savaged the All Blacks, especially in that first game.

Last night we won by 2 points after a horrific start and it’s all sunshine and roses. A staggering contrast.

Im not complaining here as I love beating the French and actually enjoyed all 4 games mentioned above, if they can’t their best players in the field that’s on them.

I’m Just surprised by the difference in reaction

WJ - 47 tries in 55 All Blacks Appearances for a strike rate of 0.85 tries per game

LBB - 29 tries in 27 France appearances, 1.07 tries per game
Kolbe - 22 tries in 51 Spring Bok Appearances, 0.43 tries per game

There are some absolute weapons around that finish with incredible consistency but over 50+ international games WJ must have one of the highest strike-rates around.
I wonder if LBB will slow-down in strike rate as he gets deeper into his international career?

1. Love the intent - we’re back to playing brave, attacking rugby and given more time our timing should get better + handling errors reduced.

That being said..

2. We defended cluelessly at times, especially in the wider channels. we looked like Moana Pacifica against the Hurricanes. Go figure..

3. Roigard and Love are very promising - it’s refreshing having a 9 and 10 who are both running threats. At times last year having Ratima and BB felt like opposing defenders didn’t even have to bother looking after the inside channels. Love and Roigard look like they belong at international level and are unfazed by the occasion. We def need more depth at 9 - bringing Ratima on does not inspire confidence. Even if it’s at the 75th minute.

4. International rugby is a different physical beast. Unfortunately our 13 position is still an open debate and while he didn’t have a horrible game, Tupea seems to be more a 12. I also have a sneaking suspicion (hope I’m wrong) that he’s one of those players who loses his edge in international level because everyone is a notch bigger and faster. Oh and Rennie was 100% right about Jacobson.

Top 3 IMO: Roigard, Darry and Luke Jacobson

Savea was obviously very good but I found both Darry and Jacobson abrasive in both attack and defence. Very impressed for them to both stand up in the big moment.

South Africa are looking pretty formidable 😬

All jokes but his defensive screen needs a lot of work, good win and I love this new attack

Did anyone else watch the game? Well done on the ABs but my goodness, we're going to need some better handling skills if we want to be the best.

French side was a B team and we just edged them. But imo, France had what it took to gut the ABs tonight. Too many knock ons. If France punished us for these mistakes, we would have lost.

Source: I was at the stadium (epic btw).

Anyone else agree) disagree?

Agree or disagree?

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Why is he on the panel?

A win is a win! First match for the new coaches and captain!

I noticed two things, I don’t like:

1. players laying on a tackled player, sealing off the chance to jackal. I thought that was deemed illegal, but France did it every tackle.

2. what happened to speeding up scrums. Northern and a SA way - scrum is called and a water break is taken, players wandering about, ref not chasing them to get in position.

Other than that, the ABs looked quite good.

Southern Hemisphere- 1

Northern Hemisphere- nada, zip ,squat

(Thank f$%& you put them away.

Anyone else getting sick of the way rugby is broadcast in this country? The constant camera switch, from wide angle to close up, is so disorientating, and means you can’t see what the players off the ball are doing. Just stick with the wide angle I say. Watching the football world cup has been a breath of fresh air.