Well isn't it great to finally be able to say the All Black coach & selectors are picking their team on FORM and are picking players that will do this country proud!
It is no secret that we here at RugbyHeads have been singing the praises of a certain Todd Blackadder for longer than its taken Mark Carter to have plastic surgery on that bum he calls a face. TODDY IS A LEGEND! He will be one of our greatest AB captains of all time because he leads from the front, provides inspiration, and has the grassroots approach SOOOOO fundamentally opposed to that heretic John Harts bullshit nancy-girl "corporate Auckland" All Blacks. Thank god!
We will finally see an All Black side willing to die for their country. And that is something that should strike fear in all our opponents. The Crusaders inspirational performances are based on fundamentally the pride of the red 'n' black jersey. The pride of being a Cantabrian. The All Black legacy is one of intimidation, winning and pride. Much more so than ANY other provincial entity in this country. Think about that...an AB team showing Crusader like qualities based on the All Black legend. The REAL All Black legend..not the crap the advertising wankers have been ramming down the worlds throats the last couple of years. The TRADITIONAL All Black heritage. Look out world!
From the side that RugbyHeads picked before the weekend, there where only 2 surprises. We thought that O'Halloran would get the nod ahead of Alatini. I guess Alatini fits into the AB management teams thoughts a lot better as to what style of game they want the midfield to play. Robinson is an inspired choice here. Big, fast, strong and skillfull. Another Frank Bunce but with brains. He could be a superstar! The unlucky Daryl Gibson seemingly has missed out through his own inability to find a regular spot in the Crusader backline. We didn't even consider MacDonald but again he's an inspired choice. He's been great at fullback, can cover 2nd five or 1st five, can kick goals and is a wonderful defender. What more could you want?
The forwards basically picked themselves. You would hope that by the time the internationals come around they'd found ways to secure ball and retain it a bit better than the Crusaders managed on the weekend tho!!! You've got the Otago front row who will be very heavily pushed to retain their spots by Somerville (another great selection), Hammett and the experienced Dowd. Somerville has to be the best tackling prop in the world. Some of the hits that man does are bone-shattering! You've got the workaholic Blackadder, the nutter Maxwell, dynamic Flavell, an awesome backrow whoever you have in place. Think about that....Kronfeld, Randall, Cribb, Thorne, Robertson. Just brilliant! One thing is for certain. This pack won't take a backward step to anyone! None of that French shit at the world cup last year thats for sure!
I think Kelleher should have the inside running for the first choice halfback. Having a nice flat pass for Mehrts will be great. Everybody saw how young Ben Hurst and his impressive pass gave Mehrts loads of time to display his magic in the last 2 Crusader games of the season. Being able to set alight the Hurricanes back three should be the goal of this AB team. Lomu, Umaga and Cullen are a frightening prospect and we simply haven't been getting the right ball to them enough times the last couple of years. I think this new regime will do that.
We at RugbyHeads are mightily impressed at this All Black selection. It has the potential to be the best team we've had since Mr Potato Head took over the team that Laurie built in 1996. Nothing but our best wishes and support go out to Wayne Smith, Tony Gilbert, Todd Blackadder and their boys!
GO THE AB'S!!!
