maa nonu, best 12 NZ has ever had???

IMO yes, maa nonu is the best 12 ive seen to put on the Black no12 jersey.

statistically speaking thats already true, he has the highest winning percentage as a 12 with 50+ caps than any other 12 in any nation or any era.

but its what he has added to the All Blacks for almost the last decade which makes him the best.

he takes the ball into contact like jamie roberts and consistently gets over the advantage line and securing the ball.
he has a passing game that JDV and umaga would be proud of.
he can offload like SBW and can step like fofana. it might not be better than both of their specialties, but its still All Black level.
and his tactical kicking game is on par with matt giteau.

there is no 12 in the modern game who is as complete a player as nonu.

thanks nonu, after McCaw, its ur presence which is going to be missed the most in the All Blacks for the next RWC cycle.

I'd say yes......pure class that big man.
Cant believe how big he is in person......has such good feet for a big guy....steps like a 90kg player.
When I was watching the boys warming up, I thought SBW was one of the reserve locks!!

 Best sinc e Walter Little

 Best 12/13 combo that NZ ever produced was Tim Horan and Jason little from the West Island of NZ

 Nah, seriously,  Nonu and Smith best NZ combo so far and Nonu best 12 so far

 Nonu started off as a bit of a one dimensional crash and bash player but he added more arrows to his quiver with his offloading and kicking game .I reckon he's left too early and has at least another seaon or 2 at the top ,even Conrad has a few games in him .Nonu is at the height of his powers and anyone who thinks a blokes no good because he has a few crows feet and isnt a pretty young thing should watch Nonu and the other ABs old guard to get a clue .Wish Ma'a and or Conrad was around for another season to keep the centres firing until someone other than the likes of Crotty comes along .

 Nonu is far far better than Little....I'd have SBW ahead of Little 

 Could be wrong but I always thought that Bunce made Little look good. Is it pure coincidence that after Bunce retired Walter Little's game went into decline?Nonu I believe is his own creation, he'd be great no matter who plays alongside of him.

 Nonu is the 12 in our minds now as far as the best AB 12 as he had a fantastic RWC (especially in the knockout games). So yeah I vote for Nonu.He is going out in style as he played some of his best rugby in he last year. He was a little gready in the RWC as not much ball went to SBW or to C Smith but he got results so fair enough.
Like the way he improved over his career & he became a balanced 12 with good overall skills.
Good luck Nonu in the next phase of your career, you will be missed.

 Nonu is a great centre, but I can't remember JdV ever missing him in an open field tackle. His strike rate is 3.3 tests per try....Jean is 4.0 in a less attacking game plan. Poor Allende who everybody is raving about is at 13.0 tests per try, despite the huge boost in strike rate that usually comes from WC pool rugby.
Dave this ironical, I distinctly remember you telling us Nonu wasn't great a few years back.

Nope have always been a huge Nonu fan you have me confused with someone else. Jean was good in his day but at their best Nonu was better....was more of an attacking threat. 

 I said the best SINCE Little, Nonu is the GOAT, but yo can't compare players from different eras, Walter Little played in one half of the most successful All Black midfield's ever, when he left we struggled to find another dominant player in that position for quite a few years, Aaron Mauger and Luke McAllister had a crack but I don't think anyone wouldve predicted Ma'a to hold the spot down like he has, he should've won or a least need nominated for World Player of the Year twice in my opinion

Agreed you can't compare the players from different eras. Reality is the game gets better and better and the players get bigger and bigger. A lock of yesteryear would have been a flank today...a prop a hooker and a flanker a centre....size wise
Raw skills would have been similar but professionalism brings with it a demand for an advanced set of skills.

@warhammer,

spot on bro.

as a hurricanes fan living in the deep south, i was championing maa nonu as the logical replacement for umaga, albeit for 13.

the arguments by many was his one dimensional power/speed attack.

but dammmmmmn he worked his butt off to bring his game to another level all together and the All Blacks have enjoyed the fruits of his labour,

 Nonu has been avery good pplayer but tarnished his reputartion on many an occassion. who will forget that clip of Nonu's fouls while palyinga super 15 season.
Why Conrad carthorse is rated is silly really. Not bad but come on he cant be called great. Leave that accolade to the likes of Danie Gerber!

IMO nonu is the best 12 since umaga retired.

and umaga was the best 12 since carter.

carter maybe the worlds best flyhalf, it was his heroics in the 12 jersey for both the crusaders and All Blacks that made the kiwi peeps go holy moly who dafuq is this???
he played bugger all tests though, as i think carlos was the inc.umbent 10 for the ABs, and mehrtens was still around in the saders camp.

the carter/umaga midfeild pairing was one of my favourite midfeild pairings of all time, but was far to short due to the personal changes of the time.
once carter moved to 10 to rewrite history as world rugbys greatest 10, umaga moved from 13 to 12 where he pretty much stayed til he retired.

I do recall that Nonu was often misunderstood
Nonu's innocence - full explanation

Even Bakkies could be misunderstood on occasion of so Bok fans tell us.

 Jw you dark duck Brian O'Driscoll doesnt misunderstand mother nonu the thug in the slightest. 
Another member of the kiwis hall of infamy!

Look for the beauty in the game Beeno, let go of the bitterness.
There have been plenty of foul plays since 2005 when that incident happened & many of them have been committed by Boks, ABs and all the other teams.

 Aye??  When did Umaga play 12 for NZ, he was playing 13 outside of Alatini and Alama when be first shifted to centre for the All Blacks in 2000 I think, outside mostly Aaron Mauger in 2003, injured in the world cup (Leon McDonald went to centre), outside Luke McAllister and Mauger during the Lions tour not long before he retired....when did he have this massive run for the All Blacks at 2nd 5?

 Aye??  When did Umaga play 12 for NZ, he was playing 13 outside of Alatini and Alama when be first shifted to centre for the All Blacks in 2000 I think, outside mostly Aaron Mauger in 2003, injured in the world cup (Leon McDonald went to centre), outside Luke McAllister and Mauger during the Lions tour not long before he retired....when did he have this massive run for the All Blacks at 2nd 5?

 I thought O Dris coll was mugged by Umugger?

 
What sets him apart from the rest in my opinion is his excellent pass ... that and a great attacking kicking game.

He had many top class attributes ... my favourite ... his pass.

Jean was never really able to get his outside man away ... he lacked the insight and tended to hog the ball most times. He was solid enough but never really one you'd look to include in the worlds best 15  ever.

My favourite 13 ... across the Tasman ... Sterling Mortlock.



 

@poi e,

TBH im a little iffy on the exact dates,,
but the first time i recall umaga playing at 12 was when carter moved to 10 and it was conrad smiths debut as an All Black.
i remember this cos i was thinking at the time soon the hurricanes backline will take over the entire All Blacks backline, lolz,

while snake and umaga would enjoy a number of tests together as the midfeild pairing, i think ted preferred the mauger/umaga pairing and considered it his inc.umbent midfield.
this meant that umaga would of course be playing 13.

the problem with the All Blacks midfeild during this period is that it never enjoyed a consistent run with any midfield pairing stringing together many games in a row.
the only consistent thing about the midfield then was umaga.

my bad in saying umaga played 12 til the end of his AB days. i should have said umaga played 12 for the most part until the end of his AB days,

Um, you're a bit confused here, Dan Carter didn't get the starting first 5 spot until 2004, Tana had been playing 13 since 2000, he played 13 against the Lions in 2005 before he retired.  Conrad Smith didn't debut for the All Blacks until 2004 and didn't hold down the starting 13 spot until 2008 3 years after Umaga retired, in fact the only time I remember Tana playing 12 with Conrad Smith was on his debut against Italy, but that was largely considered an experimental side.  The bulk of Tana's All Black rugby was at Wing/13, I think you're remembering some ITM cup stuff to be honest, Tana played 12 inside Conrad in 2004 for Wellington but not so much for the ABs