All Blacks name squad to tour Europe

There's no credible in form 3rd HB option other than him at present. The cartel will be hoping someone else kicks on & puts their hand up in Super Rugby but for now they don't want to have someone rubbish on the bench if TJP or Smith gets injured mid week.

Firstly, I tip my hat to Aumua for his AB selection. I was one who believed it was too early for him to gain selection but then again, I never thought that Hansen and Co, would choose 4 hookers for an EOYT trip....unprecendented. Yes, they will feel the pinch with so many top liners missing through injury, sabbatical and personal leave but, that's what makes new selections even more warranted. These players would've gained selection eventually so being chosen now, just moves the mercury strip up higher and, a lot earlier, from their personal perspective. For me, the importance of these selections will need to eventuate in 2019 and not necessarily now. Whether any of the newbies will be around for RWC selection depends upon how they approach and play, in next year's SR comp. This tour for them, is about finding their feet and embracing the AB environment and also, the cauldron of AB rugby. It will be about learning processes and not trying too hard thus minimising, errors. Of course, Hansen's game team selections will also help to ensure the pressure that most suffer on debut, will be tempered by the amount of experience, that the newbies will have surrounding them, at kick-off. It always helps having that experience around you. I'm looking forward to watching these new players enjoy and express themselves, in this new environment - good luck to all of them irrespective of, the final score.

You're right, losing while playing horrendous rugby as we did in 2016 and June 2017 is a much better strategy from Cheika. That being said, Cheika has got the team playing really exciting attacking rugby, playing well and performing well so hats off to him. Also, I think you can level that charge against Deans, but not against Link. Did you watch the 2013 EOYT? It was the best attacking rugby we had played since 2003, or at least 2010 when Deans was at his most positive. I don't think Cheika has achieved the heights of the 2013 EOYT... Yet. But then again if the team keeps improving perhaps he will have them playing that well by the EOYT this year. I hope so, he's done an amazing job turning them around in the RC.

Hansen says the first goal of the tour is to play attractive rugby they can be proud of. Can you imagine Cheika saying this? He'd be smashed from pillar to post on this site by all the naysayers who still believe in the Deans/ Mckenzie mantra of win at all costs, even the the victory comes at the cost of team identity, love for the game and player engagement. Thankfully Cheika gets it even if The Roar rank and file don't.

Nek minit they win all their games on tour.

Should be a good tour from depth point of view. The heat is going to be on all of the forwards. I don't have concerns about the backilne, because they'll play as well as the foward pack will allow them to. It will be an interesting tour from a building depth perspective, and I think after the last weekend, the French, Welsh and Scots will be quietly backing themselves. Good this is exactly the position I would like to be in as an AB coach, alot of questions will be answered on this tour, because next year, it's dress rehearsal time.

Probably giving him time to recover after losing his rag in the last game vs oz!

You have lots of promising options in the midfield, though. Any team in the world would snap your hand off for at least four of your centres. I think Barrett needs to show that he can steer the team when they're under real pressure, like Cruden, and of course, Carter did. I sometimes get the impression that, for all his brilliance, Barrett can get rattled and lose his grip of the attack. I can't see the backline being an issue at all by 2019, it will be the best in the world by some distance. The question mark is the pack outside of the starting 8. As it stands, for example, I think the second best England pack is better than the second best AB pack. That might be different by 2019, or not matter if there are few injuries, but I think it is having an affect on how some tests are panning out at the moment.

I thought Quade Cooper fell off the tackle a bit too easily, there, in the video clip at the top of the page.

Good squad

cryptic for head knocks i think. or there may be things that are not shared with public. a few Europeans have been banned or "withdrawn" from their clubs for disciplinary reasons. they have not disclosed those either :) at the end of the day its " need to know " basis - we dont need to know the inner workings :P

How has Dane Cole had a heavy workload? He was out for months wasn't he? Same with SBW. I don't know how many games he's played, but I thought he was out injured for a while, the Blues finished early in SR, and, as we know, he was suspended (albeit for a 'confusing' length of time) from 25 minutes into the 2nd Lions match. When was the last time Crockett started a game?

Yes we have the same issue, comes with losing the 800 caps from last time and the fact that while they were the best, they still caused a bottleneck in the depth for those positions getting there. We still havent sorted the midfield so its crucial both Smiths and Barrett are there.

Yep; as I said, the age profile is similar to many other teams. Perhaps, the slight difference with England is that their '30+ year olds' (Brown, Robshaw, Haskell, even Cole) are the ones under pressure for their places, whereas players like Read, Smith and Franks (who'll be 30 soon) are key players. Won't make any difference in 2019. In fact, my main concern is that England will be a little too young given the profile of teams that tend to win the RWC. Still, in Eddie we trust

As a comparison Jones England squad in the 6N had 18 x 25 and under, 3 x 26, 4 x30+ So fairly similar.

maybe Ford but most certainly not Farrell - the simple reason being Both Sopoaga and Farrell played at under 20 world cup in 2011. Young from a caps sense i suppose. out of the 37 , four are uncapped and 19 have less than 20 caps. also the caps per-se is misleading coz many have caps off the bench. i wish there is a stat on minutes played to go with the number of matches. if u take Ardie Savea for eg. - has 26 caps but only 4 starts.

16 are 25 and under, while another 6 are 26. 5 are 30 or over.

Is it a ‘very young team’? In the pack that played on Saturday only one player was below 25. The age profile of the squad as a whole looks about the same as most other countries. I even read some talk about how ‘the kid’ Sopoaga will improve with experience. He’s played against those WB players loads of times in SR, and he’s 26. He’s older than Owen Farrell and George Ford.

Whereas I think thats the beauty of this tour, a chance to restart...regain some form for those who dont have it, start some new blood, take on new challenges. To say it will hurt the brand is too negative for me. This is the All Blacks, they take on the tough stuff, they dont hide from it. With their win rates they need more challenges, they need to be tested. They need to know if they accept the jersey, they need to own it. They represent the best of NZ rugby as it is now, regardless of who's not there. Thats what makes this tour more exciting.

The ABs played poorly at Suncorp. They rarely play poorly two games in a row