conrad smith to miss first two tests,,,,

conrad smith has just had eye surgery and it has been reported that he will miss the first two tests against the wallabies.

with SBW heading to japan, this ,makes nonu a shoe in for the No12 and IMO ben smith will now step in at 13 and carry on the smith tradition at 13.

this is a great opportunity to test the All Blacks out for life after conrad and i mentioned a while back that i see ben smith as the long term successor.

my backline for the All Blacks vs wallabies,,,

9 a smith, 10 d carter, 11 h gear, 12 m nonu, 13 b smith, 14 c jane, 15 i dagg
20 p weepu, 21 a cruden. 22 t ellison.
 

 Nonu has been out of form with the Blues- or the Blues have been out of form with him. He caused allot of trouble last year at the Hurricanes and now him and Weepu thought it was holiday time with lots of Burger Kings and Mcdonalds. 

If we choose the right backline this team is beatable

@sharkbok,

nonu has been playing non stop rugby since 2011 spXV, so player fatigue was IMO what played a heavy part on his below average performance and during the june test when he was rested, he came back a lot more refreshed and played his best footy for the year, so he will be right once hes in the mix with the All Blacks.
there are plenty of other halfbacks i would rather see then weepu, but i think hansen will stick by him again, i would prefer andy ellis to back up our new kid on the block aaron smith, his passes are the best ive seen in a long long time, which is bad new for anyone lining up against the All Blacks backline.

also conrad should be back for the tests against the Boks and pumas so the backlines bound to change and based on what i saw during the unimpressive england tests.
the only way i can see the Boks beat the All Blacks in dunedin or joburg is if hansen fields a servely weakend team like the one henry sent to port elizabeth last year, as long as we field the strongest team possible at the time, a loss to the Boks would be a huge upset in my eyes.

 @sasuke- 

If the boks get rid of Bulls players and replace with the best in each position- I think we shall see a bok backline that can take the All blacks.

9. Ruan Piennar  at scrum half- I think he is better than what New Zealand have to offer.

10- Pieter Grant- His Pole kicking is the best in S15. His defence is strong. Good runner, and ok distributor.

Carter is a better player than Peter grant, so Carter has the edge at 10. 

12. Frans Steyn- I think he will take Nonu. more allround player. 

13. Jean De villier, or Dejong. ( Conrad Smith is better than both these players. Would like to put some pressure on b.smith and welcome to more physical rugby)

14. JP Pieterson. I think on current form he can match of beat any All Black wing. Although Gear is exceptional as well. So it will be interesting. I think it is pretty even with these two.

15. Pat Lambie vs Dagg. Dagg is a better runner than Lambie, but Lambie is probably a more complete player in passing, kicking. 

 11. Habana- It is close between him and Jane. Jane has all the skills of a fullback- and true pace of a wing. habana is back in form and lethal, so this will be another exceptional battle

--------------

However the boks forwards at full strength- especially under this years rules are stronger than the All Blacks. (Fetchers and ruckers and being penalized more for playing the ball on the floor)

William Alberts- is the strongest Ball carrier in the game- I would like to see him at full speed and the All blacks trying to pull him down, with bok players running off him. 

I think it will be a good tournament this year- I just do not want most of the Bulls players in the team. Rather Sharks and Stormers. 

I do admit that the last 10 years the All blacks have had their best spell ever in World Rugby and are allways the team to beat. The All blacks stats over the last 10 years- is their best- or any teams best since rugby began. 

So hopefully the boks under our new coach- and increasing depth can take it to you guys this year. I do think under the current laws our forwards will get the better of you. With Frans Steyn at inside center and a decent flyhalf we can get our backs more into the game and play a more Sharks game.

@sharkbok,

peter grant isnt as solid a defender as u might think, hes 2nd on most missed tackles tied with francois hougaard and if i remember correctly, grant missed the first stormers game cos of japanese commitments and was subbed on halfway through the 2nd, hardly a ringing endorsemnet on defense.

i know wilhelm alberts is a good player, i said meyer should pick him for the Boks and many laughed at the idea, but his performances against england were spot on, but that was england, All Blacks and wallabies are a whole different kettle of fish.
alberts like many of his other Bok tests will be left wanting IMO, i wouldnt put money where my mouth is though, cos i rate him, i just think if he and Bok fans think he will asert his dominance on the All Blacks like he did the against england, he will be in for a rude awekening.

i think franocis styen is a more all round player then nonu too, hes actually my favourite Bok, but i think nonu works better with the All Blacks, then francois does with the Springboks and they both effectively cancal each other out.

i think theres a big underestimation of aaron smith at the moment, hes our All Black incumbent halfback and has the best passing game in all of spXV, no one comes close IMO.
im also surprised at how much love u guys dont show hougaard, cos hes always talked about with great admiration in NZ, probably due to his attacking prowess which is highly rated in NZ.
admittedly pienaar had the better game then hougaard against the neglish, but ur forwards were hardly giving hougaard the platform to make his job easier and given pienaars performacnes in the past, i sincerely hope that he is picked over hougaard.

the one thing i love about the stars of NZ rugby, is that it lets other stars go about their business unnoticed. ben smith really fits into this category, ben smith stats for 2012 spXV,,,
2nd most meters made
13th for most runs with ball
6th for most linebreaks
3rd for most offloads

and he did this while playing 5 games at 13. hes still behind the 8ball against the tougher Bok assumed midfield pairing, but dont forget conrad will be back by then, hes only expected to miss the first two games which are against the wallabies.

lambie has a more educated boot, given the number of times hes been the go to guy, but daggs got franocis styen like power in his boot and hes a know goal kicker as well, obviously when u play in a team with daniel carter, theres going to be bugger all chances to test that boot out.
daggs pasing game is better then lambies as well, 4th on try assists, 6th on linebreak assists, 7th for offloads and that goes on top of his already potent attacking game where hes 5th for line breaks, 6th for tries, 14th for most meters made, all of which lambie dosent feature in.
lambies still soild though, another one of my favourite saffa players with francois styen and hougaard, but IMHO but kiwi opinion, dagg is a more complete player player, especially in regards to the pro attacking mindset of the All Blacks.

im a big fan of jane, but habana is the form winger by quits a distance in the world at the moment and only hosea gear comes close.
but habanas form is close to being near his best and theres no one who can score from absoloutely nothing the way he does. it will be up to crater and dagg to limit his time with the ball and im expecting the Boks to help us in this regard to, with their tendencies to keep the ball tight or kick it away. haban is a real danger and many teams can count themselves lucky that both the stormers and Boks have failed miserably to captalise on his x-factor.

i think that there is an illusion as to how much ball the All Blacks actually pilfer, both the wallabies and the Boks have out pilfered the All Blacks since 2009 TriNats.
McCaw has been an inspiration in this regard, where he plays a more roving type role, enhancing the attacks and strengthing the defense.
the All Blacks dont target players for pilfering, we target the breakdowns and compete and force the opposition to commiot numbers, this limits the oppositions options on both attack and defnece.

ur right though bro, it will be one cracker of a match and i hope the Boks do employ are more exciting brand of rugby like the sharks have done, but after the england test, i wouldnt hold my breath, if u didnt start the changes against england, would u really start it against the wallabies ranked No2 in the world and the All blacks ranked No1 and current RWC champs??? food for thought ,,,,