Former All Black trio James Parsons, Jeff Wilson and Stephen Donald have selected a New Zealand team to win the inaugural Nations Championship, based purely on current form.
Selecting their team on Sky Sports, The Breakdown, there were a couple of noticeable exclusions.
Backs
Wilson discussed his selection in the backs, saying: “If you think about Billy Proctor and what he’s done in a couple of games, he’s looked really, really sharp. Quinn Tupaea was an option at 13, but he’s not playing there for the Chiefs. I really like the two Calebs, Caleb Clarke, Caleb Tangitau, in terms of the way they’ve come back.
“Cam Roigard, obviously an easy one,” Donald added. “And Beaudie Barrett’s last three weeks, we’ve talked on the show about the impact he’s had on the Blues. He’s dictating results now. And Jordie Barrett, you know, he’s been very, very good. Timoci Tavatavanawai, of course, has been outstanding as well. But Jordie Barrett has taken his game to another level. If you watched him closely on Friday night, it was as good as it gets.”
15 Will Jordan:
Age: 28
Caps: 54
Tries: 45
Points: 225
Club: Crusaders
14 Caleb Tangitau:
Age: 23
Caps: 0
Tries: 0
Points: 0
Club: Highlanders
13 Billy Proctor:
Age: 26
Caps: 11
Tries: 3
Points: 15
Club: Hurricanes
12 Jordie Barrett:
Age: 29
Caps: 78
Tries: 26
Points: 306
Club: Hurricanes
11 Caleb Clarke
Age: 27
Caps: 33
Tries: 16
Points: 80
Club: Blues
10 Beauden Barrett:
Age: 34
Caps: 130
Tries: 42
Points: 783
Club: Blues
9 Cam Roigard:
Age: 25
Caps: 17
Tries: 12
Points: 60
Club: Hurricanes
Georgia issue response to doping scandal as ‘serious blow to reputation’ cited
Loose forwards
Donald gave a good account of his back-row selection, saying: “The sole Chief in my outfit was Luke Jacobson at seven. I know he hasn’t always started at seven in a lot of games, but he’s been the best back-row at the Chiefs. Christian Lio-Willie has really been going along very, very nicely, and Devan Flanders. You could have had three or four Hurricanes.”
8 Christian Lio-Willie:
Age: 27
Caps: 4
Tries: 0
Points: 0
Club: Crusaders
7 Luke Jacobson:
Age: 28
Caps: 24
Tries: 5
Points: 25
Club: Chiefs
6 Devan Flanders:
Age: 26
Caps: 0
Tries: 0
Points: 0
Club: Hurricanes
Front five
“Tighthead, I went with Tamaiti Williams,” said former All Black hooker Parsons, who was given the role of selecting the front five.
“Obviously, Ethan de Groot was in the conversation, but Tamaiti got the nod. Hooker was hard, but obviously, with accuracy at the set-piece, Samisoni Taukei’aho is leading that. But with Jack Taylor, George Bell and Codie Taylor, there’s hookers galore, but Samisoni’s got the nod there.
Fletcher Newell, I originally had Angus Ta’avao there for last week’s run, but we had to get Fletcher Neil in there. Tupou Vaa’i and Sam Darry were obviously in the conversation, but Vaa’i has played a lot more and been doing the business. I feel like Josh Lord’s a little bit unmatched. He holds that spot on his own.”
5 Josh Lord:
Age: 25
Caps: 12
Tries: 0
Points: 0
Club: Chiefs
4 Tupou Vaa’i:
Age: 26
Caps: 47
Tries: 5
Points: 25
Club: Chiefs
3 Fletcher Newell:
Age: 26
Caps: 51
Tries: 3
Points: 15
Club: Crusaders
2 Samisoni Taukei’aho:
Age: 28
Caps: 43
Tries: 13
Points: 65
Club: Chiefs
1 Tamaiti Williams:
Age: 25
Caps: 27
Tries: 5
Points: 25
Club: Crusaders
Replacements:
Neither Ardie Savea nor Scott Barrett made the ‘in-form’ starting team, but instead found themselves a bench spot alongside the likes of Leicester Fainga’anuku and Finlay Christie.