@flashdakota,
thats a cute little kid u got there, i told my missus about ur recent ordeal and showed her ur avatar pic and now shes was absoultely gushing and talking about wanting a baby,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,well thats the last time i show her an baby pics, lmao. :P
anway i will answer those questions, they have been discussed at length at one point or another on the NZ forums and here is my opinon.
1. despite what McCaws detractors will say, no one in the world is good enough to replace McCaw and what he brings to the table.
but the guys that look like his immediate successor is obviously sam cane who played brilliantly off the bench and gets his first start this weekend. its still to early to say how he will fare by years end, but hes been solid ofr the chiefs and was great in his AB debut, so hes ticking all the right boxes.
i wasnt sold on cane when he was first picked, i thought that matt todd should have been picked ahead of him as hes been in great form the last two years, he was spXVs form openside last year and has been solid again this year, so his AB snub was surprising, but i stiull think his AB time will come.
2. first off its hore, not whore even if he is a hooker, LMAO, :D
but this is the biggest area of concern for me in particular, i have raised the warning alarms on allblack forums in regards to our depth in the No2, but it dosent seem to be of concern to many.
the answer is simple, its hika elliot from the chiefs, but he gets it virually by default, cos our top 3 AB hookers are hore, mealamu and flynn and flynn is the youngest at age 31. we dont have anyone else anywhere near good enough to play at hooker for the ABs, elliot has experiecne and is young, but at the chiefs, samoa captain mahroni schawlger has been the prefered chiefs incumbent hooker, so elliot isnt getting much game time which is worrying for me.
3. not a big romano fan myslef, but i think hes been selected to give him a decent AB run before 4nats, i would like to see jared hoeata in the ABs, i think he has a lot more to offer as his style is very similar to thorn and bakkies as an enforcer.
if romano dosent work out though, then we still have retallick on the bench and both he and whitelock are the ABs incumbent locks.
very impressed with retallick this year and im looking forward to his lineout battles with ezebeth who he is taller then by an inch.
4. carter still has a good two years at least in him, maybe longer who knows, but i agree, cruden is ready to take over now if need be and im really expecting cruden to push carter for the incumbent flyahlf position.
5. yes read will be the next captain, i have no idea why hansen has made carter vice captain during the irish games, but read has very similar leadership qualities to McCaw.
6. SBW aint overrated, but odriscoll really showed some holes in his defensive game which is good, cos i want them patched up before the 4nats. on attack ive got no problems waht so ever, cos ive never seen anyone get over the advatage line with the ease in which he does it and hes a defensive magnet unlike no other, which against the All Blacks is a suicdial mindset, considering the rest of our backline.
theres still room for nonu, but u havce to remeber that hes been playing rugby nonstop since 2011 spXV. after the RWC he went to japan and played there, thjen he came back had 2 weeks of and was playing for the blues, so his exclusion is more to give him and his body a decent breather.
nonus value to the team is still great and with SBW, nonu tamati ellison and conrad smith, the AB centers is looking healthy and i wouldnt be surprised to see this area get rotated.
7, dagg for sure at 15, hes a lot like lambie for the Boks, if hes fit hes the fullback.
once jane and kahui return from injuries, i wouldnt be surprised to see them both in the ABs during the 4nats, as we will need all the exeprienced top dogs to come out, especially against the boks and wallabies.
if all are fit, im expecting 11 kahui, 14 jane, 15 dagg, 22 ben smith to make up the ABs outside backs.
