'Brutal and sad': Kevin Gourdon has retired with immediate effect

Grace lacks the X- factor to be a test level 8 but x-factor is not required to be a test level 6. What is required at blindside is a player with a very high work rate who has a hard edge who is physical and loves to smash opponents at rucks and tackles, is not afraid to carry hard up the guts, and is an excellent lineout jumper. Grace is all those things.

Samipeni Finau is also having a very good season at 6 for the Chiefs as competition with Simon Parker for the 6 jersey has seemed to motivate Finau.

Grace and Finau are the two best performing blindsides so far this season for NZ franchises, Parker is best of the rest as Oliver Haig, Brad Shields, Cameron Suafua, Anton Segner, are nowhere near All Black selection while the usual suspect- Blackadder, Jacobson, and Papalii are better suited at 7 or 8.

AJ Lam is the wild card. He has performed very well for Blues and started at 13 for All Black XVs vs Munster. And of course Lam can play wing too. He makes a very handy bench player as does Tavatavanawai.

If Savea is selected to start at 7 or if Wallace Sititi is selected to start at 6, and therefore the All Blacks require a second 8, Willie-Lio has clearly outplayed Peter Lakai and Hoskins Sotutu who neither are performing to the same level as the did last season in SRP.

Clearly Lakai is better suited to 7 than he is 8 but he lost that spot to DuPlessis Kirifi at Hurricanes. Braydon Iose is a better 8 than Lakai and seems to be held back from starting lineup by Laidlaw to the detriment of the Hurricanes. The back row of Shields-Kirifi-Lakai with Iose on bench does not have the ball carrying power as last season’s high performing trio of Shields-Lakai-Iose with Kirifi on bench. The Hurricanes record speaks for itself.

Very well said indeed Richie Murphy. 👏👏👏

I’m not sure any of the aussie sides bar the Brumbies are good enough to be in the running for a playoff spot.

My half a horse is the Hurricanes. The Blues are a full horse for me, and the Highlanders or Moana might even be able to do enough as they have points differential on the Aussie sides.

Hurricanes are practically back to full strength now, I wouldn’t say they were hit quite as bad as the Crusaders last year, but seeing as it’s a reduced finals spot this year, it’s still going to be as tough, and they’ll need to go one better than the Saders effort last year, were there just wasn’t enough games left once they were at full strength.