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'It's just ridiculous': The All Blacks left-wing picture becoming a logjam as fans can't separate options
Blues wing Caleb Clarke had a memorable 2020 season with the All Blacks, but his departure to the All Blacks Sevens team for the Olympics has opened the door for a new face to quickly take his place.
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As Super Rugby Trans-Tasman rolls on with more dominant performances against the Australian names, the candidates for Clarke’s vacant All Black jersey keep delivering impressive performances.
Former Sevens player Salesi Rayasi was at it again for the Hurricanes against the Force, scoring two tries including a long-range effort that showed off some silky football skills as a chip-kicked a loose pass up into his grasp.
We knew he had pace, but how about that footwork?
?: @skysportnz ?????: Salesi Rayasi / @Hurricanesrugby pic.twitter.com/iaIAWXPTJo
— Super Rugby NZ (@SuperRugbyNZ) May 28, 2021
The Hurricanes left wing has been in top form in 2021, bringing an offloading game to the table that no other left wing in New Zealand has. His 12 offloads in Super Rugby Aotearoa were the most of any left wing.
After starting the season on the bench behind Julian Savea, Rayasi has pushed himself into the starting line-up and been near on unstoppable at times on the Hurricanes’ edge.
https://twitter.com/NZedAUS/status/1398195465758253058
Salesi Rayasi is built different man!
— Nug. (@anomoyikwa) May 28, 2021
Salesi Rayasi has such a good skill set, pace, power, offloading, good left boot and reads the game very well ?????? #HURvHIG
— The Rick Sanchez of Rugby ?? (@RugbyRickSZ) April 30, 2021
https://twitter.com/NtaleJoshua/status/1388054380650409984
Salesi Rayasi All Black?
— HoF Bucket Boy (@Ahell0) May 8, 2021
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Crusaders wing-transformed-centre Leicester Fainga’anuku again demonstrated his power game against the Waratahs, with strong running helping set-up a handful of Crusader tries.
Having scored a stunning try against the Chiefs earlier in the season, Fainga’anuku was called on to fill the void in the midfield left by Jack Goodhue’s injury and has furthered his cause with impressive showings.
His blockbusting running in Super Rugby Aotearoa busted through 23 tackles, the most of any player while he also added seven line breaks to his name which was top five in the competition.
As a versatile option that can cover 11 and 13, his value to Ian Foster and the All Blacks is clear.
This is it 11 should be Leicester Fainga’anuku the beast Caleb hasn’t showed the form he was in last year he has really struggled to impress this season
— Karl?? (@jameskalima6) May 24, 2021
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Imagine, the next AB squad will (should) likely include two of the best new wingers in Jona Nareki and Leicester Fainga'anuku. Take your pick at 15 and it's just ridiculous. https://t.co/Nzm9zHV87l
— Éanna (@eanna_jpg) May 29, 2021
Leicester Fainga'anuku immense tonight
— Frog the Keeper (@Frogthekeeper) May 8, 2021
Leicester Fainga’anuku https://t.co/YPeN5LiQcw
— Fazriq Aris (@eriiiiqqq) April 26, 2021
Highlanders wing Jona Nareki has also thrown his hat in the ring in 2021, scoring five tries in Super Rugby Aotearoa as one of the most dynamic attacking threats in the country.
He has continued that form in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, combining with Aaron Smith to score a well-worked set-piece try against the Force.
jona nareki is seriously special #FORvHIG
— kirst ? (@fornairobi) May 21, 2021
Jona Nareki is deceptively strong ?? New Zealand have so many great left-wingers at the moment 1??1?? ?Clarke, Bridge, Rayasi, Nareki, Nanai-Seturo & Fainga’anuku.
With Clarke at the 7s I think there’s space for a new face, Rayasi for me but I think Fainga’anuku will get the nod
— Aaron Smith’s Pass ?? (@Doc_Torio) May 14, 2021
Crusader George Bridge who was injured last year is also in the frame to return to the left wing, and Blues centre Rieko Ioane is always a consideration.
With a proposed series against Fiji and Tonga, the All Blacks could use those tests to blood some new talent before playing the Wallabies, Pumas and Springboks in The Rugby Championship.
There are no shortage of options for Foster to choose from as the international season approaches, giving the All Blacks an enviable level of depth.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments