Life after rugby - Dan Leo

I think Penny has shown the strategy is working. Kemara is performing very well as a first year starter, with the exception of goal kicking, which will only improve with time in the saddle.

And to his credit, James O’Connor has excepted his role as finisher and is flourishing too to the point he will be included in the Wallabies 40 man roster at camp, if he remains healthy.

If my assumption is correct, my bet is Blackadder and Kirifi will be the selections at 7 with backups 6 Finau and 8 Lakai, although Grace and Willie -Lio are certainly putting pressure on the latter two.

Finau is in competition with Sititi, Grace, and possibly Parker for 6 jersey.

Blackadder is competing with Kirifi, Lakai, Papalii, and possibly Savea for 7 jersey.

Let him play in NPC a few games to make everyone happy and call him up for the Rugby Championship and November tests.

You pick your best midfield combination available for selection. Jordie and Ioane do not compliment each other, they have no chemistry at all. One of them must be dropped and it’s an easy decision who to drop as Jordie is playing outstanding at 12 for Leinster and Ioane is once again underperforming at 13 for the Blues.

Jordie and Quinn Tupaea should be the 12s and Billy Proctor and Anton Lienart-Brown selected as 13s. Timoci Tavatavanawai selected as wing to replace Te’lea.

The only mystery is what to do with AJ Lam, who is also playing outstanding at 12 and is a very good wing and started 13 for All Blacks XV vs Munster and was fantastic.

He cannot even get selected at fullback for the Blues or even the bench in a must-win match vs the Crusaders.

And with Ruben Love now starting at 10 for the Hurricanes, and Love already being the superior fullback, I can’t see Perofeta getting selected for All Blacks in 2025 without some injuries.

Bailyn Sullivan has not really made the most of his opportunity to start the first half of the season at 13 for Hurricanes.

Peter Umaga-Jensen on the other hand has performed very well at 12 and has done more than enough to keep Riley Higgins on the bench.

Grace lacks the X- factor to be a test level 8 but x-factor is not required to be a test level 6. What is required at blindside is a player with a very high work rate who has a hard edge who is physical and loves to smash opponents at rucks and tackles, is not afraid to carry hard up the guts, and is an excellent lineout jumper. Grace is all those things.

Samipeni Finau is also having a very good season at 6 for the Chiefs as competition with Simon Parker for the 6 jersey has seemed to motivate Finau.

Grace and Finau are the two best performing blindsides so far this season for NZ franchises, Parker is best of the rest as Oliver Haig, Brad Shields, Cameron Suafua, Anton Segner, are nowhere near All Black selection while the usual suspects- Blackadder, Jacobson, and Papalii- are better suited at 7 or 8.

AJ Lam is the wild card. He has performed very well for Blues at 12 and he started at 13 for All Black XVs vs Munster. And of course Lam can play wing too. He makes a very handy bench player as does Tavatavanawai.

If Savea is selected to start at 7 or if Wallace Sititi is selected to start at 6, and therefore the All Blacks require a second 8, Willie-Lio has clearly outplayed Peter Lakai and Hoskins Sotutu who neither are performing to the same level as the did last season in SRP.

Clearly Lakai is better suited to 7 than he is 8 but he lost that spot to DuPlessis Kirifi at Hurricanes. Braydon Iose is a better 8 than Lakai and seems to be held back from starting lineup by Laidlaw to the detriment of the Hurricanes. The back row of Shields-Kirifi-Lakai with Iose on bench does not have the ball carrying power as last season’s high performing trio of Shields-Lakai-Iose with Kirifi on bench. The Hurricanes record speaks for itself.

If I was Braydon Iose, I would be giving Jamie Joseph a call.