World starting 15

Folau

Kolbe

Vakatawa

Kerevi

Koroibete

Barrett

De Klerk

....

Beast

Marx

Furlong

Etzebeth

Jaws

Savea

Matera

Vermeulen

Nothing new from Mozart

He has the same list of players he likes and then he leaves out players he hates.   Never mind what positions they play in - he picks players.   Performance is never his evaluation norm.

Both his loosies are in fact blindsiders and his flyhalf had not played in that position for ages - so keep it up Mozart - we really enjoy your contributions.   

Likle Dave;s selection - more in line with reality, 

No problem - I think that one can lay Barrett at flyhalf - Hansen preferred  Crusaders players though,   Both Du Toit and Savea are blindsiders though, but Savea had a few games ta 8 as well.    

Savea has played plenty of games at open side - he is not a blindside too skilful for that. For me his best spot is open side given his attacking skills 

Agreed, Wanker has this wrong....probably  confused by  the 6/7 numbering system. This is actually one of Hansen's major mistakes. He should have entrusted Savea with the open side role from the off, and looked for a power blindsider, who is a natural flank unlike Barrett.

I'm actually thinking my backline is the best attacking backline ever. Defence may be a bit of an issue with Koroibete and supports your Stockdale suggestion, although Stockdale is off the boil since I first saw him at Soldier Field.

Matera in the Bok pack would be magnificent. Kitshoff is not a great scrummager, Beast was better at the WC. Vermeulen is and has always been a better player than Read.

Only you are confused by the numbering system dimness,   Kerevi has even a bigger defense issue than Koroibete - what a lark!!!  LMAO

On Super Rugby level Savea often used to play as an opensider.   During the past year though their were in the NZ media a number of articles pointing out that he is too slow to be really effective as an opensider,   For the AB's Cane was the opensider of the AB's this year and when he did play Savea played as blindsider,    Go an d check the team if you don't believe me,             

Saffex I like your idea of having both Barratt and Pollard in the team and my only change would be the Beast instead of Kitshoff.

The best 8 I have seen has to be Tommy Bedford with Read up their as well.

Nah my backline will blow your's in the weeds Dave.....far, far more firepower

Savea a more natural fullback than Barrett

Vakatawa far more explosive than Goodhue, best 13 since JJ.

Kerevi owns Dud. Last time Kerevi played the  Boks he made 83 metres, 3 clean breaks and beat 8 defenders.

Koroibete vs Stockdale....50/50.

Barrett vs Pollard.....depends on the game plan, but if you want to play an attacking game it has to be Barrett.

Er Dave ....Dud  never played against Kerevi this year ...Esterhozen did. In fact Dud only played against Oz once under Eraser....10 runs/14 metres/  0 clean breaks/ 0 offloads/1 defender beaten.

Best no8's? How dare you leave my bloke Tou tai Kefu out?

But usefully we can compare them against the same opposition....England and Wales...in the WC, in big matches. These are games the Boks won the physical battle, so Allende had the better opportunity.

Defence was even. Allende 16 tackles and missed 3 cumulatively for an 84% success rate. Kerevi made 12 tackles and missed 2 for an 86% success rate

On attack Allende made 23 runs for 110 metres at  4.78 metres a run. Kerevi made 29 runs for 128 metres 4.41 metres a run. Fairly even and run distance in such a small sample can be influenced by one open field run.

Defenders beaten and clean breaks are better stats in a small sample and Dud made no clean breaks and beat only 4 defenders. Whereas Kerevi made 4 clean breaks and beat10 defenders.

Massive advantage Kerevi who beat a defender every 2.9 runs.....vs Dud Allende who beat a defender every 5.75 runs.

It's rare that we can compare two players so decisively against the same opposition in a tight time frame....and in this case the answer is clear, Kerevi is the more potent centre.

Geez Denny .....what about Doug Hopwood?

Didn't see him but your word is good enuff.

On Super Rugby level Savea often used to play as an opensider.   During the past year though their were in the NZ media a number of articles pointing out that he is too slow to be really effective as an opensider,

You really love peddling lies, don't you Mike? Here are some of the comments about Savea in 2019 articles:

Rugbyonslaught.com: Just look at the speed he had for some of these tries. It's actually ridiculous.

Hurricanes.co.nz: He impressed many with a series of electric performances at openside flanker and No. 8 and is blessed with speed and athleticism

Stuff.co.nz: Savea often defends in a wider channel where traffic is quieter and where he can use his speed to close down the likes of Anton Lienert-Brown.

NZherald.co.nz: He can slot in anywhere. He's got that speed at the back of the scrum [..]
He's got that speed as well. If he gets a half gap he's gone.

Rugbyworldcup.com: It's his all-round game - like his speed, his physicality. I can't put it on one thing.

1. Vunipola

2. Horie

3. Hamburger Nyakane

4. Itoje

5. Ryan

6. Savea (openside)

7. Yato

8. Himeno

9. Du Pont

10. Barrett

11. Radradra

12. Laumape

13. Tuilagi

14. Reece

15. Folau

Du Pont should have been a regular starter for the French. He has it all. None better.

Barrett is the best 10 on the planet. Playing him at 10 is a no brainer especially with Folau in the mix.

How Laumape never made the side is beyond me. He walks my starting 15. 

Manu Tuilagi has exactly what I want in a 13. He gets unbelievable go forward and needs 2 to 3 players to stop him.  He's just come off an injury and can only get better. 

Reece is unstoppable and easily the best wing in rugby today. Others that put their hands up are Koroibete and Masushima. Matsushima makes my bench.

Kolbe is a class act but pales in comparison to Radradra, Korobeite, Reece and Matsushima. Too damn small and needs to work on his pace.

Folau is a given at the back. None better.

Read is old and way past his best. Awesome player in his day but those days are long gone.

I enjoy Himeno and his high work rate. I believe he'll shine at the back of a power pack.

Yato is another Fijian monster. Powerful ball carrier and unstoppable. Those tree trunks he has for legs are fearsome and takes some doing bringing this Goliath down.

No Pakie

I said Kerevi has a defense problem and it is due to pace deficiency,    In the SA test in the RC he made 7 tackles and missed two - a missed tackle ratio of   22,22.   In the RC match against Argentina he made 9 tackles and missed 4  - an MTR of 30,77.   In the WB game against England Kerevi made 6 tackles and missed 2 for an MTR of 25.   That kind of Missed Tackle ratio i s way too high and a definite no-no for 12's

Kerevi is a very strong ball carrier - but as to effectiveness in that regard there are serious question marks as to real effectiveness of his carries, because of pace deficiency.  To make him the top center in the world is utterly ridiculous,            

Here is what you said:

On Super Rugby level Savea often used to play as an opensider.   During the past year though their were in the NZ media a number of articles pointing out that he is too slow to be really effective as an opensider

Clearly you were not talking about Kerevi.

Pakie

So why is Savea not the openside loosie in the NZ team?   There was a debate on Savea earlier were the opinion was clearly expressed by some commentators that he should be used at blindside flank where he played this year for the AB's.  From that one can assume that Hansen agreed on the blindside issue,  

Ask yourself a grown-up question for a change - do you know more about rugby than Hansen??

In any event newspaper articles on individual matches is not he issue here - what is decisive remains the selection to play for the AB's.   A dim idiot you always were  - so take a NY resolution and try to improve - but I would not hold my breath on that one.   Too dangerous since you are on par with Mozart and AO when it comes to duplicity and stupidit y,     

Pakie

Go back and see what Mozart wrote initially and asked him that stupid question.   He is going on about Matera - a blindsider - and  Savea another blindsider - in his team of 15.  I was merely referring to Mozart's standard idiocy,   

Savea can play at 6, 7 and at 8 ... but he is most comfortable on the openside.

He plays at 7 (openside) for the Canes and should be picked there at test level as he's a better and far more natural opensider than Cane will ever be.

The only reason he ever plays on the blindside for the All Blacks is when Cane is given the 7 jersey.

UH-DUH!!!!!!

Savea played at 7 (openside) against England in the semis. He was preferred to Cane who was pushed to the bench.

The matchday 23 is as follows (Test caps in brackets):

1. Joe Moody (44)
2. Codie Taylor (49)
3. Nepo Laulala (24)
4. Brodie Retallick (79)
5. Samuel Whitelock (116)
6. Scott Barrett (34)

7. Ardie Savea (43)

8. Kieran Read - captain (125)
9. Aaron Smith (90)
10. Richie Mo’unga (15)
11. George Bridge (8)
12. Anton Lienert-Brown (41)
13. Jack Goodhue (12)
14. Sevu Reece (6)
15. Beauden Barrett (81)

Savea can play both successfully, what's the problem with someone choosing him at either role in a side?

My issue is with you again making up nonsense about "a number of articles" stating something, when in fact no such articles exist. I couldn't find one article calling Savea "slow" or anything to that effect, while articles and comments emphasizing his speed as one of his strengths pop up all over the place.

Mike is a moron ... on par with Stupid Dave.

CC  is just a chronic unstable twit on site,  That selection of Hansen was  complete Fuck up and he admitted it afterwards.   He moved Savea to opensider to make way for Barrett and it did not work out,    Will not happen again - I am su re,         

Read has been off for a few years, but he came back strongly in the RWC, but Thor wasn't half shabby either...I'll go with Thor.

Well the picture in Super Rugby was the same.....Kerevi beat 69 tackles. Allende beat 27, well behind Esterhozen, Odendaal, Am, Mapoe and Dyantyi.

Delightful hype job. It started at the WC where the Boks  got the SA press to talk up Dud. The bait was swallowed by the lazy international press, always happy to run with an easy narrative....the powerful Dud. Never mind he ranks low in tackles beaten per run.

Then Allende got two gifts....Biggar and Ford.....the two weakest defending  10s  in international rugby to run at. Hell Biggar even dusted him off on the way the the try line!

This guy did exactly what he has always done ....trot into the opposing defence and tractor. He never made a pass of consequence, a break of real merit or one great tackle all WC.

But the hype just flows...and rugby fans are buying the KoolAid!

This magical strength, that somehow just doesn't show up in the numbers! Allende finally found a coach who was happy to play a crashball/zero offload game. That suited Allende as crashball is his only ball....and then he got to do it against two weak points Biggar and Ford.