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Just five All Blacks could make Ireland team - Mehrtens
By Ian Cameron
Just five of the current All Blacks side could break into the current Ireland team, according to former New Zealand stand-off Andrew Mehrtens.
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Mehrtens and former All Blacks halfback Andy Ellis were tasked with putting together a combined 15 made up of players of both sides on RugbyPass TV Live, and it truly illustrates how the tables have turned in recent years.
There’s no room for Sam Whitelock or Brodie Retallick, nor is there space for the likes of Richie Mo’unga or Beauden Barrett.
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According to the former halfbacks only Scott Barrett, Ardie Savea, Aaron Smith, Rieko Ioane and Will Jordan could crack the team, with Ireland taking the other ten spots.
The All Blacks could potentially face Ireland in the quarter-final, depending on the result of Ireland’s game with Scotland next weekend, which will put Pool B – aka The Pool of Death – to bed.
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1708069602146529777
For now, All Blacks’ thoughts will not be on Ireland, but rather on putting in another statement win against Pool A minnows Uruguay, after they drubbed Italy 96-17 in Lyon.
“Really satisfied, really good performance,” said head coach Ian Foster. “It felt a little bit strange having the gap after the Namibia game. We did a lot of hard work and this was the game we prepared well for. World Cups are full of games where there’s a bit of an edge to them and we certainly had an edge to that performance.
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“It was a performance we wanted this week. People create a lot of panic about your chances and all that sort of stuff, particularly after we lost the first one (against France).
“The critical game for us in this pool was always going to be Italy. There was enough evidence to show that if we didn’t perform well and they played as well as they have been performing this year, it was going to be a heck of a tough game. We were good enough to take that away from them.
“We have to do the same next week as the same applies. Do the maths and next week’s also equally important. We put ourselves in control of our own destiny and that’s where we want to be and put some pressure on some other teams who have still got some tough games coming up. Look at Ireland. If Scotland win two games then Ireland can miss out. It’s a tough World Cup.”
Opened the article to read and possibly comment. Then read comments, saw Nige has commented. Will now close article and find another proper article to read.
Tired of being owned and shown up as a rugby dunce. Shame, little boy, go and cry in mommy's shoulder. Pathetic loser.
Andrew don't lower yourself to Stuart Barnes retarded level of journalism...Ireland are a good side but their players suit their game....if you want to create scenarios then maybe only 5 Irish players might get a look in with ABs the Irish have never in history spanked their 6 nation Italy by as much as we have.. maybe a little less beersies for you huh.
Six nations 2022 Ireland put more than 50 points on Italy at the aviva look it up.
5 is optimistic. Ringrose over Ioane (he defends and distributes better) and Doris over Savea at 8, but Savea over De Flier at 7. Doris is a proper number 8. Savea is best at 7. No diss on Savea who has been a standout despite having to play out of position.
I’m a long time Kiwi fan but Ireland are much better drilled and coached. As a unit they are hard to find fault with and I don’t think this AB team can play at their level - not for 80.
I see another many learnings speech from Foster in our near future.
These combined 15s are a waste of everybody's time.
I think that no 5 All Black's would improve the Irish team, but equally no 5 Irish players would improve the All Black's. The players suit the team and suit the system.
Sensationalistic headlines play on our patriotic bias. As a kiwi your thinking yeah right? Maybe I should read this drivel. But its just another speculative fluff piece. In now for some real headlines former England coach Clive Woodward, reckons Adolph Hitler would have made a better first five than Dan Carter.
As many as 5?
Based on an annihilation of...Italy?
🤣
Dont listen to Mehrtens its pure BS mind games same as Israel Dagg holding an Irish jersey green pen in his hand - they dont want NZ to win - they have written /penned in Ireland to win
We shouldnt need to be afraid of Ireland there are more than 5 who could crack their team Easy and Im not going to name them because its junk speculation - we can also say the reverse how many Irish would make our second 15 and and number One 7s team - not so many we are superior NZ are back in spades and the Irish are getting skittery at the thought of the All Blacks knocking them out and preventing them from taking our 19 straight wins record shared with England
They are going to lose - why not we have the players fitness and game plan to finish them off if they play like they did against Italy - just improve their defense on the outside - if thats going to be a our bench going forward Ireland are toast and so are others - ABs are building nicely for the quarters we NZ are 3 times world Champs actually it should be 4 times SA should have been stripped of their 95 Title for the govt deep state pys op they did on poisoning NZ BRING IT ON TIME TO AVENGE THE SERIES LOSS WHICH WASNT A WHITEWASH happened during kovid plandemic we lost our coaches and a player to a stupid Red card in the second test we also had player vax sickness to deal with - yes we have been up and down but so has this world in the last 4 years now I see some serious form and focus
In my professional opinion, I think you should have a lie down
Probably a reasonable assessment by Merts, though you could argue the toss about quite a few - like Ringrose/Ioane, Barrett/Beirne, Savea/Doris, Frizzell/O'Mahoney, etc, but I wonder after the quarter final whether the choice between the old and new guard might be a lot more contentious - Furlong/Lomax, Porter/De Groot, Sexton/Mounga, Bundee/Jordie, Hansen/Telea and even De Flier/Papallii (if he gets a start). Depending on the result, Merts' 5 could become 10, and Razor might be feeling pretty good about the material he's got to work with next year.
I don't know about Rieko over Ringrose...
Both Ire 9's are better than Smith.
That's probably right. Also, Ireland are better organised, and make far fewer mistakes. ABs to fall apart under the pressure. In their pale green shirts, Ireland look rather bland, concealing an abundance of serious ability.
If there's one team that have history of gaming apart under wc pressure its ireland
NZ have plenty of individuals who would make the Ireland team. Just look at Aki and Gibson-Park, left NZ because they knew they would never be All Blacks. Ireland however are much better than the sum of their parts and are probably a better team than NZ.
Very good point. I think that the AB’s have better athletes but Ireland are a very good team.
If the AB’s play to their potential they should win but Ireland are a very good side.
This should be one of the great test matches and be a very special game.
Of course I think that when Razor takes charge we are in for one of the great dynasties.
5 NZ players would waltz into Ireland's 7's team. As far as RU goes, Mo'unga is streets ahead of Sexton and Ioane will runs circles around Ringrose. Barrett v Aki is interesting but I fancy a fully fit Barrett is the better player. Retallick, Whitlock and Barrett are better than Ireland's silent assassins when it comes to overall game play and the likes of Jordan, McKenzie, Telea and possibly Clarke are on a level at least 2 or 3 rungs above Ireland's best. Smith and Roigard are about as good as it gets in 9 jumper with Dupont less than 100%. Time will tell.
This is truly delusional. You may still think it's 2015 but hierarchy in world rugby has profoundly changed. You might want to avoid watching the quarter finals as I think you may struggle to deal with the aftermath.
Bang on Nigel, seriously, Mert's was a great player and as we have all seen a bit of a comedian...Kinda hit and miss... Taylor, Whitelock and Retallick, would walk into any team in the world as would J. Barrett, Mo'unga, and McKenzie along with 'just' about all the others named by Mert's. ( Sorry at 13 Reiko does not shine, he has had his moments but needs to put in an 80m shift...Put him on the wing as he was and is still an outstanding winger).
Sorry, mate. Jordie over Aki at 12 only in your dreams. Jordie is the more universal player, but Aki is so much better a 12, that it's not even funny.
When was the he last time Reiko ran rings around anyone? When last seen, he dropped off a vital tackle.
Expect New Zealand 🇳🇿 to thump Ireland 🇮🇪 in a classical game of rugby 🏉. South Africa 🇿🇦 to beat France 🇫🇷. A final between the two Southern Hemisphere powerhouses. I know Northern Hemisphere supporters will disagree but when it’s showtime expect NZ and RSA to be on stage.
SA are gone yet again after the quarters. Not even the head clowns antics can save them. They simply aren't good enough.
Dream on Mehrtens - you need to replace the glass eye you have. Obviously trying to keep your Australian media gig going to get attention and talk rubbish. The space ship to Mars takes off next week.
Ok Mehrtens- Mo’unga is the the best 10 in the world. The Irish 10 is pedestrian. The Allblack locks are superior than Irish. Jordie is better than any one Irish.
Sexton might be a senior citizen, but he puts people through gaps like no one else in the world, except for Finn Russell.
Mo’unga just runs faster. And I’m a Crusaders’ fan, for the record.
Sexton and the Fr 10 are better than Mounga.
Haha he isnt even the best 10 in NZ. His game v Italy was very average with 4 runs for 14 mtrs. Great kicking from the tee tho.
Mo’Uanga best 10 in the world?
There is a world outside of Canterbury you know…
There are more 5 players sorry. Frizzel lomax Samisoni … and even on the bench . Ireland has not McKenzie Roigard fainganuuku…
We’ll see if they still feel the same way after they meet, assuming they do of course. Perceptions are fickle.
They overrate much Ireland. All blacks have better squad in quality than Ireland.
We will see the reality in 1/4.
No chance Reiko is there over Ringrose - Zero chance. Jordan and Telea over Hansen.