All Blacks Team for Pretoria test

15  Ben Smith, 14  Waisake Naholo, 13  Jack Goodhue, 12  Sonny Bill Williams, 11  Rieko Ioane, 10  Beauden Barrett, 9  Aaron Smith, 8  Kieran Read (c), 7  Sam Cane, 6  Shannon Frizell, 5  Scott Barrett, 4  Sam Whitelock, 3  Owen Franks, 2  Codie Taylor, 1  Karl Tu'inukuafe

Replacements  : 16  Nathan Harris, 17  Tim Perry, 18  Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 19  Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Ardie Savea, 21  TJ Perenara, 22  Richie Mo'unga,  23 Ryan Crotty

It is not clear whether the team is in fact stronger than the team that played in Wellington.   I think it is and wish to comment as follows:

*   Ben Smith is a better full back than Jordie Barrett - plus

*   Naholo and Ioane are to my mind the best wings in world rugby.

*   Goodhue is a vast  improvement on Lienert-Brown

*   SBW is to my mind questionable - I rate Crotty much higher than him

*   Perenara is more aggressive than Smith - but is he as g ood tactically as Smith?

*   Frizell came to the fore as a better flank than Squire

*   Why is Retallick not playing?   Is he still injured?

.

Crotty brings directness to the attack. He is a tremendous player. That said, B Willy is going to enjoy those ankle clasps. Offloading all day. Hell need to be wrapped up. It's such a pity that we don't have André, as we wouldn't need to condense so may defenders at the tackle point. 

Good points ouMaaik ...... Retallick is injured. Imo they've picked their best team .

No McKenzie? Maybe he is still in NZ dealing with his family issue.

Goodhue has the best stats and they also want to see him start a big game.

The bench is very strong. Glad Mo'unga will get more game time. This is a dead rubber game but Hansen will want to win it. He may take more risks because it is a dead rubber game so this may mean more time for Mo'unga.

Owen Franks will be fresh but a bit rusty.

PS. apparently McKenzie is back in Petoria but was not picked. Understandable given the amount of travel he's done and probably didn't get the practice time needed. Anyway, it made the Mo' Unga decision easier.

Moz, I read where the Boks would have to win by more than 16 points to ruin ABs chances of wining the RC.

So lets us look at what happened in the 2018 Stormers game against the Blues to expose the AO BS again:-

SB Williams

Balls passed          =    10

Balls Carried         =    10

Meters gained       =     22

Line Breaks          =       0

Defenders Beaten  =      0

Off-Loads              =      3

Turnovers conceded =   4

Tackles made            =  12

Tackles missed          =   4

Penalties conceded    =   1

De Allende

Balls passed          =      0

Balls Carried         =      8

Meters gained       =     50

Line Breaks          =       1

Defenders Beaten  =      3

Off-Loads              =      0

Turnovers conceded =   0

Tackles made            =   8

Tackles missed          =   0

Penalties conceded    =   0

The above indicates why I am not particularly worried about what SBW brings to the table nowadays,   He still has the ability to off-load balls - but for the rest the performance was not up to standard.  He is already 32 years old and his recent performances showed a decline from what he sued to be.

From a NZ perspective it is to my mind not the bests election at 11 - I would say both Crotty and Luamape would have been better.

BSting Bertie - aka AO - will obviously go off the rails again and claim the stats lie.  And he will have the active support of Mozart.

Glad you are not worried about SBW Clevermike so you can just sit back and enjoy the game

What about the rest of the stats BSter - to be expected from this distorter.   Any more BS to comment on???

I question these stats. I targeted Damian's second England test as that is, to date, his best Bok test according to stats. The film was very revealing, he was very far from effective. Stats can never be taken at face value. Until you give me the film, I won't belive it. I did reviews of his entire 2014 and 2015 Super rugby campaign, and found that the hype was entirely misplaced. The entire body of evidence suggests this is yet another hack job promoting the non-entity.

Its interesting that the self-professed genius amongst us falls flat on his face once film analysis is brought to the table. It happens each and every time. Unbelievable. At least, it should be. 

Mozart

No the fact is that De Allende put the Stormers on the forefront and his pressure on SBW was a major reason for the win.  De Allende was MOM in that game.

AO

Stats can never be taken on face value when it cuts holes into the BS you write on site,   Otherwise when the stats support what you think they should - they are to be used. 

Come now get out of your player hatred syndrome - it is really causing havoc with what you write on this site.  It gets more and more doubtful about what you really know about the game.

I never ever use stats as a definite proof for anything as far as rugby is concerned. It takes someone with particular expertise to make use of them in most cases anyway. Rugby is too context dependant for stats to take such precedence. Where I do use stats, I encourage discussion. That can be seen in any of my posts. I draw attention to Damian's first England test because the stats do not reflect his game at all. Therefore, based on the history of analysing his past games, I question your conclusions. We need to see more evidence before we can say he was as effective as you claim. If it was as you say, you shouldn't have anything to worry about, as game film will invariably prove you are correct.

Which game was this? I'll see if I can acquire a torrent. 

It was the Stormers - Blues game.   

I also do not use stats only.   I look at the game as well and especially the performance of  key players and after watching the game twice I would look at the stats to confirm what I saw.

I do have an open mind about what happens on the field of play and do not have mental handicaps that effect my assessments.   Your analysis is totally without objectiveness and  therefore totally unreliable.   

You in fact make so many farces about player performance evaluations that it is not worth reading repetitive BS you have become known for.    In those you come up with weak players looking like champions and good players being found wanting,   Get your thinking in order and discussions with you will really be n ice. 

...Cloudy i think the strategy is for SBW to soften the Boks centres up before Crotty comes in second half to finish the m off...sounds like a plan..

Brycy 

Bad suggestion - the last time when the Blues played the Stormers the guy that was softened up was SBW.    

...notso clevermike De Allande must be having nightmares about facing SBW....Goodhue has been seen smiling like a Cheshire cat in anticipation of running off Sonny Bill..

I think that after the last game SBW and De Allende faced each other - it would be  SBW who would have the nightmares  

I can assure you of this, in 2050 he will still be talking of Meyer and Alberts. Alzheimers will have set in, so it'll be more coherent to what we are accustomed to. 

You really are an enigma - referring to Alzheimer is a sick statement and I hope you do not wish people to get it.  What you wrote implies that it is indeed the case.   

So you have limits after all, it's most unfortunate that it only concerns you. Broaden your horizons.