Romano, Messam front Wallabies
15 Aug 2012
Luke Romano and Liam Messam are surprise selections for New Zealand ahead of their Rugby Championship opener against Australia in Sydney.
Many had backed Brodie Retallick, who impressed in the June Tests, to start at lock ahead of Romano. But the Crusaders man runs on, as does Messam, who was expected to be used as an impact player for Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup Test.
Elsewhere, Sonny Bill Williams will play the first of two Tests before he departs for Japan, while Hosea Gear gets the nod ahead of Julian Savea at wing. Winger Cory Jane starts his first Test of the year, having been ruled out of the Irish series because of injury.
All Blacks – 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Ma’a Nonu, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Subs: 16 Andrew Hore, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Brodie Retallick, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Ben Smith.
43 Comments
15 Aug 2012, 22:03 pm
great to see Corey Jane back. Decent backline. All-round pretty decent side.
15 Aug 2012, 22:04 pm
Interesting is no Sam Cane in the mix. By the time he is unleashed he will be an angry young man lol
15 Aug 2012, 22:06 pm
@keo-1: Forgot to Dragon boet
..Whatkaain with that 
15 Aug 2012, 22:16 pm
Are they ever a bad side, even when they are a bad side
Springboks evenly matched i think. I think a win at home against is not unrealistic. Can draw comfort in Carter blowing hot n cold of late.
15 Aug 2012, 22:16 pm
Keo usually has cane in his mix.
15 Aug 2012, 22:37 pm
Abs basically picked themselves. Nice to see V.Vito get a chance on the bench pushing aside the enigmatic Thompson.The midfield pairing of Sbw and Nonu will be the main focus of the Ab attack and if Dan can put on those flat passes to these two then Aussies going to have a hard time containing them.
At the end of the day it will come down to the breakdown battle and who wins the collisions and I know the Ab coaches have a plan to eliminate Pocock from that equation, force him to be the first tackler then blow him off the ball,if he comes in as the second man that is where he does most of his damage.
If Abs can win their ball especially from the lineouts then they should be able to take it, but the Aussies are crafty and tough so Abs will need to physically impose their will on the game and beat them into submission, then hopefully the backs will do the rest.
15 Aug 2012, 22:47 pm
Hoping for an absorbing encounter. ABs to take it by virtue of the quality of their players
15 Aug 2012, 23:00 pm
@Te Rangatira-6: the ABs will sure miss the class & dynamism of jerome kaino… lineout option, link man, gets over the advantage line, offload game effortless, can move his bulk like an gazelle, tackles hard & outright a smart player.
messam has big shoes to fill but he MONSTERED the sharks in hamilton in the final dang!
15 Aug 2012, 23:12 pm
Head to head against All Blacks
Front row: Boks
2nd row: even
bac row: Even
halfbacks: All Blacks
midfield: even
wings: All blacks
full back: All Blacks
15 Aug 2012, 23:12 pm
It can be scary when they all click. You could only really pinpoint the second row as a weak point but New Zealand have a good quick throw in set up when **** hits the fan.
15 Aug 2012, 23:15 pm
@Transformation-8:
I think you underestimate Messam, he’s all about momentum. Most of the time someone somewhere is going backwards. I always thought of Kaino as a Kiwi Juan Smith. Great players.
15 Aug 2012, 23:21 pm
@Transformation-8:
True Trans…the Abs feel slightly more comfortable now with Messams form of late but yes Kaino was great for them.But we have to remember it took Kaino a hell of a long time to realise his potential and perhaps Messam is the same.
15 Aug 2012, 23:38 pm
Transie,Te Rang
Absolutely correct Kaino huge blow he was their go to man for momentum carrying to launch attacks. Messam can’t be put in same bracket as he isn’t as destructive in contact.He is a superbly talented player,possibly the best combination of speed,power,agility and explosiveness In any player especially in loosies. But at 29 he has been an abject failure for where he was supposed to have been years ago.
Messam talent wise and physique wise he SHOULD have wiped the floor with likes of Kaino,Read or any other loosies really.
He is on and off,has been for best part of 9 yrs
Awesome player though this year
15 Aug 2012, 23:52 pm
@mshiniwami-13:
That’s a fair assessment of the lad, but I disagree about the “destructive in contact” part.
16 Aug 2012, 01:35 am
Lightie
Beg to differ,Kaino in contact far more effective than Messam who needs space and time to do what he does best.Kaino’s belligerent style isn’t Messam forte.AB strived of Kaino platform.Messam has massive job to fulfill add fact that Thorn has retired loosies have to play a lot tighter and attrictional as Romano/Whitelick ain’t in class of Thorn in tight phases and tight loose.
16 Aug 2012, 02:09 am
Good point but I still think his form this season has shown him mix it up well with a dynamic front row in the tight phases. Time will tell I guess.
16 Aug 2012, 02:10 am
good looking side. personally think Shag is resting Retallick, who has had a big workload this season. Messam deserves the start, has had probably his best season and versus Saffa sides this year has had the requisite physicality. While Kaino is a loss, the ABs are never dependent on one man The centre pairing could be lethal with the quality of ball Smith provides Carter
ABs by 12
16 Aug 2012, 07:05 am
@8 trans
With the right coaching going forward, Kolisi & Coetzee can attain the standard of Jerome Kaino version 2011. Kaino had it all – big @ 112 kg; penalty free; stopped men dead in their tracks; ball carrier; mongrel
16 Aug 2012, 07:14 am
blegh!
16 Aug 2012, 07:50 am
@viewer-18:
Yeah…..Kolisi can attain that level of excellence….. just missing that mongrelism
16 Aug 2012, 08:04 am
Okay KEO/Mark…
Yesterday you pointedly ignored several requests that you address the issue of people using the identities or nics to impersonate other posters to post inflammatory and derogatory comments which not only kick the hornet’s nest but make life on the site pretty uncomfortable for the real owner of the abused identity.
What happened to the old system of posting the original sign-on nic with whatever new nic is used?
Why was it changed?
It seems it was obviously a conscious decision your part.
Your silence and Nikita’s comment the other day about it being a democracy… whatever that means… leaves little room but to accept the conspiracy theorists that this change was a management decision to empower the trouble-makers in an effort to drive up your decreasing monthly hits.
Some have speculated that your staff members are in fact guilty of this ‘crime’. I dismissed this as passing the buck, but perhaps they have a point after all.
There is also the problem of people registering several nics about which I appreciate there is little you can do but that is not half as annoying as people using the current identities of current members to stir up controversy.
This is not right or fair or ‘democratic’. In real life democracies it is illegal to impersonate anyone else. Surely the most basic of your responsibilities is to protect the identities/nics/personas of your members.
What a pity that you have decided to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I have always defended the fact that you have allowed full and robust debate with little censorship but this new low (even for you) low-road approach you seem to have adopted (in the absence of any comment or effort to sort the problem by you) leave me very disappointed in the site in general and you in particular.
This approach may attract hits in the short-term but you are underestimating the ill-feeling it is causing and you will lose hits and members in the long-term.
It seems you do not appreciate that while you created this site and facilitate the discussion on it… it is the many members who participate upon it that MAKE the site what it is.
I signed up with your site when you started it but I am no longer willing to tolerate the implied arrogance your position suggests, or participate any longer in this farce, so will vote with my feet. I will post this comment several times to ensure you can’t say you did not see it and then withdraw from the site. I may reconsider if and when such time as you have addressed the issue and returned the posting protocol to what it used to be with someone’s original identity always being visible to all. I know I am only one person and you may well ridicule my stance but hey… so what.
Cheers to all the decent people on this site, many of whom are very knowledgeable, intelligent, humourous and entertaining. I would suggest that everyone who disagrees with KEO’s low-life approach also leave the site but obviously you must all do what you feel is right for you.
Cheers
ufo…
over and out…
16 Aug 2012, 08:10 am
@ufo-21: Well spoken, bud.
16 Aug 2012, 09:07 am
@ufo-21:
Oh Keo and co don’t give a toss mate about anything other than traffic…
A simple IP ban and anti-fake-proxy software and it would have been all over red rover years ago…
16 Aug 2012, 09:21 am
@ufo-21:
you are so right. will get on to the techies straight away…….:)
16 Aug 2012, 09:24 am
@Keo-24: No, I won’t.
16 Aug 2012, 09:24 am
Techies?
Keo has gone to fetch his old Dunlop Greenflash.
16 Aug 2012, 09:25 am
@bryce_in_oz-23: Things happen slowly in CT
16 Aug 2012, 09:25 am
Strong bench and that is what sets the AB`s apart from its closest rivals.
About Messam, mshiniwami said it all for me.
16 Aug 2012, 09:25 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-26: Northstars sunshine.
16 Aug 2012, 09:54 am
@ufo-21:
I know I haven’t been around much – what did I miss? People misbehaving?
16 Aug 2012, 10:01 am
@PissAnt-30: Just my minions and I
16 Aug 2012, 10:28 am
I hope you punish Nikita severely.
16 Aug 2012, 10:31 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-32: If snorting a line off her ladybits counts as punishment, I’m on it
16 Aug 2012, 10:32 am
@Keo-25: Well, I might
16 Aug 2012, 10:36 am
Will be interesting to see how the kiwi forwards go without thorne.
Also, everyone is falling overthemselves about the backrow….i think it is the poorest in some time.
Correct me if i am wrong but mccaw and messam are “ageing” players. And i personally do not follow the kieren reid is awesome fanclub.
For me, those locks and backrow can be put under pressure.
Frontrow is the business though albeit matfield used to scare the beejeez out of kevin at throw in time….maybe bekker could step up in this regard?
16 Aug 2012, 10:36 am
@Keo-31: My minions and Me.
16 Aug 2012, 10:37 am
@Tarlo-36: Oops… backfiring grammar attack!
16 Aug 2012, 10:40 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-35: I think the danger with this AB backrow is their versatility… They don’t have specialist a specialist fetcher like Brussouw or a specialist ball carrier like Keegan Daniels or a specialist ruck hitter like Elstadt, they’re all big, mobile guys.
I agree about the locks, I don’t rate sam whitelock that highly but romano and retallick together would be potent… not so much in the lineouts necessarily but in open play.
The danger is clearly in the backline, and against the wallabies thats enough because the Aus forwards won’t threaten much. Against us and the Argies… who knows.
16 Aug 2012, 10:40 am
Capo, the methamphetamines making their rounds in Berlin or wherever you are is not good.
Rather stick to the Cape’s Omo and Rattex recipe.
16 Aug 2012, 10:48 am
Personally, if the boks are accurate and technically onsong at the rucks and collisions, we,ll push the kiwis close. All the ozzie sides got drilled by the top saffer sides so really we should expect a handsome win against them in sa this year with possibly a close one in oz?
16 Aug 2012, 11:36 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-40: If only sport was that simple… thing is that the aussies almost always manage to get 15 quality players on the field, even though their Super team suck. This year though, their team looks pretty weak to me, so we SHOULD get 2 from 2 against them and the argies… same goes for NZ though, so if we win against NZ at home and lose away (which will be an achievement for the Boks) it will come down to point sdifference… Should be a great tournament!
16 Aug 2012, 12:08 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-35: “poorest in some time” compared to what, juan, schalk and spies?
you think a green marcell, keegan and 60 minutes alberts are better than mccaw, read and messam?
16 Aug 2012, 12:11 pm
42….good point, when you put it like that we look supershit.
Well, for arguements sake lets call it evens.
Lol
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