Quite a few surprises in here; pretty disappointed to not see Shooter given a shot at 15 - but I think this give a hint as to who our fullback will be at the RWC.
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I know next to nothing about the club game in New Zealand (largely stick to my own hemisphere, for better or worse!). Who’s to watch, with one eye on the world cup?
Damian McKenzie is probably the first one to keep an eye on. If this selection is anything to go by he’s essentially knocked Beauden Barrett out of the top 2 spots for Flyhalf/First 5/8. He’s a big part of the reason the Chiefs made it to the final against the Crusaders, and even though the latter won with Mounga at pivot, in some ways McKenzie shaded him in the game. Next week will be interesting as Mounga should come in against the 'boks so it could well be that McKenzie / BB are our set in stone 10/15 cover on the bench, ie we’ll have one start, one on the bench and they’ll replace either the other or Mounga depending on how the game pans out.
There’s not a lot of intrigue about most of the other positions, but Emoni Narawa had a hell of a season on the right wing, and depending on how others pull up from injury recovery is a good shot at the RWC, the ABs have loved to take a bolter on the wing. Josh Lord is really just getting game time, he’s more of a next year lock than a RWC option unless Whitelock or Retallick go out of the tournament with injury.
Thank you for this awesome insight. I am trying to follow more rugby outside of the US and Six Nations.
Great to see Emoni get a run!
