The best referee in the world won't be in charge of a match this weekend - but what does that mean for the World Cup final?

Would be interesting to see similar stats of the 6’s, and what roles those 8’s have, like kick returning etc. From where I sit I really don’t think you should have anyone other than bobby V at the pack, and I’ve liked what I’ve seen from a bunch of the 6 options to make that happen. None set though. Wilson gets one start for sure at the back but I’m not picking it’s first up/

Far too many occassions where he passed instead of running, and run instead of passing. His indecision/wrong option taking sees him getting lined up like Dre did on the weekend, very easily, or cover having plenty of time to shift wide if he passed. Yep, Rieko certainly learned to be a better defender.

Happy to keep Rieko as the center though, as long as Proctor or anyone else isn’t demanding the position, as primarily, the exact qualities he’s missing at center are what would be required on the wing. Maybe some time on the wing would allow him to regain those qualities though? I just hope others are given the chance to outplay him, and in terms of being a liability, it might actually matter if we had some wingers that need space. Currently Clarke and Tele’a don’t ask to be put away/into space by their insides, but players like Caleb Tangitau or .. Nawara.. play for speed.

Part of the issue is that defenses in Super Rugby aren’t quite as good and aggressive as the northern/Springbok style rush defenses. The pressure test isn’t the same. Players can flourish in Super Rugby, but get suffocated in internationals as they are not used to northern/Springbok style rush defenses.

The All Black backline hasn’t been consistently good since 2015. They’ve had some great games e.g. the RWC 2019 quarter final. But they’ve lacked the penetration and distribution to unlock the back three and/or getting the offloading game going consistently. As good as Sonny Bill Williams was, after he did his Achilles he didn’t have the explosive pace Nonu had.

The All Blacks need a Ma’a Nonu 2.0 player at 12. They need a 12 who can: break through defenses, is fast enough that they can beat the cover over 40-50 meters, and can offload. They also need a 13 that can pass.

The player who has that at 12, who is also eligible for the All Blacks, is Tavatavanawai. He has the aggression and pace of a Nonu 2.0 type player, but is a bit raw at 12 - worth a shot though.

I suggested that Fainga'anuku could be awesome at 12 as he was mentioned in the comment I was replying to.

But I’d give Tavatavanawai a shot at 12 and put J Barrett at 13. J Barrett has all the skills of a 13, and he can distribute - which the biggest missing piece in the All Blacks backline (R Ioane on the bench, covering 11, 13, and 14).

Instead with Jordie having played 7 straight ALB got another game I think against Aussie, which is also where you could have seen Proctor play instead (if Jordie was rested for that 2nd game). His relatively poor game against Fiji didn’t help him but the coach needs to show some foresight/good intuition too.

But no doubt Havili and Rieko will be selected again regardless of form, but with three of your names likely out of the equation it’s going to still be interesting (hopefully lol).