2013 All Black team of the year

most positions were easy as to fill, but there was a couple of tough ones like,,,

messam over luatua -
luatua had a stellar season which started with his All Black debut and continued throughout the season.

was difficult picking messam ahead of luatua, but i feel its the right choice as messams performance in 2012 and 2013 on all levels has been world class. and he has a been a massive contributor to the success that both the chiefs and All Blacks have achieved in the last two seasons.
messam was particularly awesome for the All blacks vs ireland. after getting subbed on, he was relentlessly getting the All Blacks forward ball and put his hand up when the All blacks needed him to the most.

luatua over romano -
another tough one, but i couldnt leave luatua out and romano missed one too many games.
ideally luatua will be used as cover for the lossies on the bench and romano covering the locks, which would be tough for sam cane who has been solid for All Blacks.

piutau over barret -
barret is prob the unluckiest player, was prob the All Blacks best bench player in 2013  always having a positive impact for the All Blacks, but it was always going to be tough fitting him in a team which boasts the two best flyhalves in the world in carter and cruden.
Boks might have world class depth with their hookers, but we All Blacks have three of the top four flyhalves in the world, and given barrets 2013 performances, it wouldnt be too far from the truth saying that NZ has the top 3 flyhalves in the world, :o)

but piutau had a great season too, and he has no problem covering the outsidebacks meaning his selection over barret had practical implications too.

the "team of the year" that was lucky to not lose all 3 games in the Northern Hemisphere. 
-Australia took their biggest loss at their Fortress at the hands of the Boks.-Argentina took their biggest loss ever against the Boks.- All Northern Hemisphere teams at no times looked like they could win when playing against the physical boks. -South Africa scored the most points in the 4 Nations, and allmost equal amount of tries to the All Blacks. The Bismaark send off allowed the All Blacks to push the score line further than what it should have been. Some soft defence in the Ellis Park game allowed the All Blacks to win. Bottom line the defence lost the game rather than attack winning. 
The Boks are looking strong to win the 2015 World Cup, which is the 2nd away from home- and 2nd in the Northern Hemishpere.

 You'll undoubtedly end the year with a new front row, ditto flyhalf & possibly no Richie .

@sharkbok,

"the "team of the year" that was lucky to not lose all 3 games in the Northern Hemisphere."
or maybe the NH teams were lucky to even come so close??

All Blacks should have just done what the Boks did in 2013 and filled their fixtrued with easybeat minnows.
Boks had 12 tests in the seasons including 2 tests against scotland and tests against samoa and italy. pumas are a fixed fixtures, but still a lower tier team who struggles to beat tier 2 nations.
the point is, 50% of the Boks fixtrues were against teams not even ranked in the top 8.

on second thought, i dont want the All Blacks to take that piss easy yellow brick road, give us tough fixtures against. he top teams, so we can continue to sharpen the best rugby players/team in the world.

cant wait to play the Boks in the RC/4nats and destroy them again, in SA or NZ it dosent matter, cos their minnow diet will ensure another All Blacks whitewash of all teams in the RC/4nats.

"- All Northern Hemisphere teams at no times looked like they could win when playing against the physical boks. "
vs wales the Boks only looked like not losing when fourie was awarded the lucky try. the match was a lot closer til that point.

"South Africa scored the most points in the 4 Nations, and allmost equal amount of tries to the All Blacks."
good to see my lessons havent been completely wasted on u sharkbok, this a far cry from ur past comments about the Boks scoring more trys then the All blacks in the RC/4nats, comments which u futilely and embarrassingly defended in the past, :oP

"The Boks are looking strong to win the 2015 World Cup, which is the 2nd away from home- and 2nd in the Northern Hemishpere."
Boks winning percentage, IRB rank and trophy cabinet
IRB rank No2
2012 - 58.7%
2013 - 83.3%
2012 & 2013 - 70.8%
2013 mandela cup (between OZ and SA)

All Blacks winning percentage, IRB rank and trophy cabinet
IRB rank No1
2012 - 85.7%
2013 - 100%
2012 & 2013 - 92.9%
2012/2013 Bledsloe cup
2012/2013 freedom cup
2012/2013 RC/4nats
2012/2013 galgher cup
2013 hillary shield

All Blacks are looking stronger and investing in mark zuckerbergs stock would be a wise investment given the south african trends in the past,

Without Pdivvy the Boks are building a team, instead of just relying on the Jake White team that stagnated under the clown pdivvy. 
If anyone is so confident that the ABS will win under any circumstance, then take on Pdivvy as your coach?Look at Hieneke Meyers achievements in the last 2 years, if he had inherited the 2007 Bok world champs at their prime anyone past brain dead will realize the potential of results he would have achieved. 
I never mentioned the easy beats, although typically the Northern Hemisphere are easy beats in the Southern Hemisphere.
You ru n down the pumas, but if I recall the game vs them in Newzealand was close.

@sharkbok.

"Without Pdivvy the Boks are building a team, instead of just relying on the Jake White team that stagnated under the clown pdivvy."
PDV achieved many things that white never did, but the general argument of the Boks during that era is, if the Boks were bad, it was PDVs fault, if the Boks were good, its cos it was whites team.

if only saffas could play rugby the way the saffa fans make excuses, what a formidable team the Boks would be then, but luckily that will neve happen in my lifetime.
now days the best the Boks can hope for is the occasional win against the All Blacks plus a strong run against everyone else, not easy when u consider the wallys havent been playing at full strength the last two seasons, and that the pumas have almost beaten the Boks twice in argentina.

but all in all, the rugby world is a New Zealand world.

"If anyone is so confident that the ABS will win under any circumstance, then take on Pdivvy as your coach?"
thats just stupid and the only shameful thing with that comment is, its not the dumbest thing ive read from u, LMAO,

All Blacks are the best cos we have the best players, best tactics, best administration and last but not least, the best coaches.

bottomline, no Bok coach has ever been good enough to coach the All Blacks.
kitch christie would be one with a ton of potential, but the key exponents of his tactics prob wouldnt have gelled quite so easily.

"Look at Hieneke Meyers achievements in the last 2 years, if he had inherited the 2007 Bok world champs at their prime anyone past brain dead will realize the potential of results he would have achieved."
Bok winning percentage during jake white era
2004 - 69.2%
2005 - 66.7%
2006 - 41.7%
2007 - 82.4%
total - 66.7%

2004-2007 Boks winning percentage  vs
All Blacks - 33.3% (9 tests, 3 wins, 6 losses)
france - 25% (4 tests, 1 win, 3 losses)
wallabies - 54.5% (11 tests, 6 wins, 5 losses)
england - 71.4% (7 tests, 5 wins, 2 losses)

and what meyer has achieved the last two years,,,
2012 - 58.3% (12 tests, 7 wins, 3 losses, 2 draws)
2013 - 83.3% (12 tests, 10 wins*, 2 losses) (*minnows minnows minnows, -_o)
total - 70.8%

draw to argentina is a real standout match, as meyer is the only coach in the RC/4nats history to not win all tests against the pumas, even fatboy mackenzie had no problem defeating the pumas both home and away.

smart money says that meyers transition had he been named coached after white wouldnt have been as easy as some might proclaim.
logic and trend dictates that it would have been the same ol same ol, Boks to win every now and sometimes then, but the All Blacks will win the vast vast majority every day of the week and twice on siunday.

meyer was in a better position then most realise, as he had all of south africas talented youth at his disposal, but luckily for the All Blacks, he wants to play with older players who are well past their use by date, and at the valuable expense of gametime they could have used to bloody the future players.

meyer is overrated, hes trying to compete against the All Blacks using tactics that have been outdated since 2010.

the only real question regarding meyer is who is going to replace him as coach once the All blacks win the 2015 RWC.
dont forget boys, Boks wont be able to fill their RWC fixtures with easy beats they way meyer and SARU did for the Boks in 2013.

Sasuke San: Happy New Year! I hope you had a great time with your family & friends.
Yes, it is good that the "powers that be" made sure the Boks had an easy time of it in 2013 - good for their frustrated & dispirited supporters & for rugby in general. 
There has to be hope even in the middle of despair & playing all those minnows ensured hope is alive. I believe the Boks will be given special treatment again leading up to the RWC. Hopefully the smarter Bok supporters (of which I am glad to say there are many in this forum) will prepare themselves for a reality check - if not it will be a bit brutal on the boks & their worthy fans.
Kiwi supporters looking our for their South African friends 

@dr win,

happy new years to u too dr win, i had a very merry well fed time over the christmas and new year holidays and i hope u did too, :o)

regarding a few of ur comments though,,,

"Yes, it is good that the "powers that be" made sure the Boks had an easy time of it in 2013 - good for their frustrated & dispirited supporters & for rugby in general."
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,

OMG dr win, what were u thinking???
dont u know that reminding the Bok fans about what a sham the Boks 2013 fixtures is in very poor taste???
please ease up on my saffa brothers an sisters, they have enough problems trying to talk up the Boks without looking stupid without u reminding them that the paralympics have much harder fixtures then the Boks,

"There has to be hope even in the middle of despair & playing all those minnows ensured hope is alive."
wtach ur back dr win, some of the locals here will now go all jihad on u for speaking the truth.

"Hopefully the smarter Bok supporters (of which I am glad to say there are many in this forum) will prepare themselves for a reality check - if not it will be a bit brutal on the boks & their worthy fans."
mikey, saffex, rooy, king corn and oimatey dosent constitute 'many' IMO.

Ireland and France now days are hardly top opposition when played at home. Yes better than Samoa, Italy and Scotland but playing these teams at home are all easy beats in 2013. 
France are not the team they were 5 years ago and neither are Ireland. 
In the Northern Hemisphere the best teams now are Wales and England by a long margin, the others are just poor, mere spoilers that just try to limit their opponents from getting their games going.
Steven Hansen must be concerned that with the WorldCup in 2015 how easily his team gets pushed on Northern Hemisphere conditions. 
The All Black pack lacks grunt and the ability to dominate the advantage line with strong ball carriers in the mould of Alberts, Vermuelen, Ezebeth, Bismaark, instead favouring a loose game and having fetcher forwards to recycle rucks then play wide, recycle then play wide, recycle then play wide. 
In the softer conditions of the Northern Hemishpere it is more advantageous to keep the ball tight and dominate the collisions and line of advantage first before going wide. This is something the All Black forwards struggle with and instead just shovel to the ball out to the backs relying on the passing skills of the backline to create space. The All Black forwards are not scrumming very well under the new laws, and the lack of a maul counts against them. The lineouts of the All Blacks are the best they have been in many years, and this is only reason the All Blacks did not lose some or all games in the Northern Hemishpere in 2013

@sharkbok,

"Ireland and France now days are hardly top opposition."
ireland have won three of their last 5 tests against the Boks. beating the Boks is one thing cos thats easy, but zero percent is all that sits in irelands winning percentage column when it comes to the All Blacks (and what a coincidence, zero percent is the chances of the Boks beating the All Blacks with meyer as coach).

but IMO (arrogant as it might be), kiwis have the right to say ireland are hardly top oppoistion, saffas are only allowed say it if a kiwi gives them written consent,

france have consistently been shit in 2013, but despite some crap results, they are still a good team with heaps of class players, yuget, fofana, piccomoles, dussatoir, para, these are all household names of rugby stars.
saffas should have more sympathy for the french, over the years the Boks have had plenty of teams, but the reality is they have achieved sweet F all, a few good patches here and there, but when one looks up consistent success, then one need only look, did i say need only look??? i mean one can only look to the All blacks to find out what that means.

france were ranked 5th at the start of the year, and they were ranked 5th at the end of it and they will always be better then the itallians, scotland and samoa everyday of the week and twice on sunday, regardless of how many lucky results might come those teams ways against les bleu.

france have been unlucky in that they had to play the All Blacks 4 times, maybe they should do what the Boks did and fill their fixtures with easy beat teams, it worked wonder for the confidence of the Bok fans who now beleive they can match it with their rugby betters aka the mighty All Blacks,

"Steven Hansen must be concerned that with the WorldCup in 2015 how easily his team gets pushed on Northern Hemisphere conditions"
steve should be worried, just look at the All Blacks record vs NH teams in the NH for the last 10 years,,,
2013 - 100% 4 from 4
2012 - 75% 3 from 4
2010 - 100% 4 from 4
2009 - 100% 4 from 4
2008 - 100% 4 from 4
2007 - 80% 4 from 5
2006 - 100% 4 from 4
2005 - 100% 4 from 4
2004 - 100% 3 from 3
2003 - 100% 4 from 4

steve hansen was worried at first, but then he remembered hes not the Boks coach, hes the coach of a team that actually knows how to win.
of course im not saying the Boks dont know how to win, cos just look at what they did to samoa, and meyer improving against argentina in 2013 is a feat worth a national holiday, after all, what huge amazing achievements they were,

"The All Black pack lacks grunt and the ability to dominate the advantage line"
what was the All Blacks 2013 record again???

we won everything there was to win, and we did it without having to resort to the shameful SARU act of scheduling easy beats for more then half the fixtures.
only one team can that, and thats,,,,,,,

THE MIGHTY MIGHTY ALL BLACKS!!!

@Sasuke, it is pointless debating with someone that does not use context. 
I talk about Ireland being a good team in the past like when they were ranked number 3 in the world. In recent years the Boks have hardly played Ireland, so quoting some stats from ages ago is irrelevant. I am talking about here and now- that is 2013 to be more explicit. 
Again I am talking about the All Blacks forward pack of 2013 being troubled in the Northern Hemisphere. It is just the backs that save them in the last quarter when space opens up. 
I am sure if the Northern Hemisphere teams that played both the All Blacks & Boks at the EOyT, had the opportunity to play either team again right now they would choose the All blacks.
France are an easy beat team. Ask the Boks who convincingly beat them in France, unlike the All Blacks who struggled, and just relied on the extra space in the last 15 minutes to win the game. 
The All Black forwards were bullied at the EOYT and fortunate to not lose some if not all of the games. It is just relying on the passing skills of the back-line in the last quarter to win the game when it gets loose. 
In a Worldcup however games are more tight as the best squads are selected and player peak for the tournament etc combined with the enormity of the tournament. The wee All Black forwards may beat some of the teams with heavier packs, but this is not going to happen with back to back games. Unlike the Boks who proved they can dominate the best packs in the N.Hemishpere in their own backyard.  

 Aka Pdivvy/Sasuke
"Without Pdivvy the Boks are building a team, instead of just relying on the Jake White team that stagnated under the clown pdivvy."
PDV achieved many things that white never did, but the general argument of the Boks during that era is, if the Boks were bad, it was PDVs fault, if the Boks were good, its cos it was whites team.

Do you see the Brumbies or other teams offering Pdivvy a contract? Pdivvy has been given another token position as Sport director or someone role with no responsibility at a university.

Both Meyer and Jake White would get snapped up by many international or SuperXV team looking for a coach. Pdivvy's only legitimate oppertunity he recieved was to coach at Boswell Circus.
Anyone with even just one braincell could realise that if: 
1. Jake White had continued he would have build on the team that he developed (most were youngsters from the winning under 21 World Champs). 
2. if Meyer had taken over in 2008 he would have built on the team that Jake White created with many of the top players entering their prime.
3. Pdivvy only achieved anything because he inherited a world cup team that was just getting into their prime.
(do not speak shit, if you are going to participate in a conversation- at least be objective. 
If you were a rugby player and had to choose who your coach was between Pdivvy, Meyer, White, the who would you choose? Bottom line is World Rugby got a good deal with the village idiot for 4 years. Otherwise the Boks would have followed the success of the Northern Bulls who were the best regional/club team in the world from 2008-2012.  If you can provide an objective response do so, otherwise shut the * up!

Sasuke, that rather small, insignificant and stupid-looking mullet you have on your hook is Twatbok. Please remember that we have a catch and release policy for the hopelessly stupid posters who wouldn't recognize a lure if it had the words "LURE" flashing in big bright neon lights.

 

All the best for 2014, my friend. I look forward to crossing swords with you in the various Fantasy Comps again. I'm also happy to take a side bet with you that wherever your Hurricanes finish in the S15 table this year, my Sharks will be above them.

 it would be too hard to explain Cloudy on this site  You will only confuse some even further (Beanhead, I am looking at you )