France team named - Bastareaud to captain

Of course the nature of a sabbatical is that you don’t need to worry about your form, you will get some sort of leeway (months) to get back upto speed. Jordie is not really a normal example of that, as in his case he is young and it was probably more about his aspect of development than a reward, so we’ll have to see where the balance may lay.

Also no new Super Rugby newbie will be able to replace the experience Barrett has at the international level

That is also the exact reason why now would be the time to pick those players. You have to remember, these sorts of changes all have a mind around the Rugby World Cup for a country that does have to cycle out their old players while they’re still performing.

I would already rank several in New Zealand better than Jordie, but I don’t think that implies you are wrong about there being readymade replacements or not. It is more likely an issue with your perception of Jordies abillity.

As for the Sharks, there's maybe a light at the end of the tunnel however, if they just follow my advice. I haven't watched their recent games but now I see where their problems lie. Three of them in fact. Firstly, get rid of Plumtree for - at the minimum - selecting reasons (2) and (3). Secondly and thirdly, get rid of the Hendrikse brothers. Who on earth thinks that those two are top quality rugby players needs to be in an asylum, or they'll likely send a lot of the Sharks supporters there instead, if they haven't already. They are useless - I mean, FFS, the so-called flyhalf can't even select boots that don't slip when he's taking multiple placekicks (to say stuffall about trying to put penalty kicks from 60 metres over - and failing - when a freaking lineout might have produced a try, even if he missed the conversion) - and I can now see why the team of ‘real’ Boks are doing so badly, having two idiots at scrumhalf and flyhalf. If they stay in the squad, Sharks supporters should rather cash in their season tickets and go watch the best English-speaking (and sixth all-round overall) SA rugby team, Westville Boys High, than suffer so much pain at King's Park.

That transition through NPC is the really important one. Rookies in SR simple aren’t upto the elite standards set by the international-quality-franchise/state-makeup. You need to perform at a good level before SR before you can get a contract.

The other big gap is how good players fill NPC. U18/20 yo’s are too young, as NPC is full of SR players, I really like the idea of kids around 21/22 coming out of a university system. Their could be a Super Rugby draft, and the kids go into the SR teams provinces (so a SR club has 50+ players registered etc, but half aren’t with the squad). And again, a club comp that competes with NPC for recognition.

For whetever reason, and by his own admission, he just didn’t nail down the spot soon enough to show he was really worth the big money.

I like a good blowtorch though, however I want Beauden nowhere near the 10 jersey. He should continue on for as long as he can as the bench option for fullback behind Jordan. Love is ready to be in the squad (Beauden only gets used at 10 if Dmac gets injured in game, otherwise Love starts and maybe replaces Beaduen for easy games). Dmac is a very particular 10 option, mainly because he’s so new at it, they need to get the setup right to best cover his weaknesses imo (like not being able to take it to the line like Mo’unga can in these examples).

He pulled it off in the WC final too, and then the TMO pulls him back. If you caught that other quarter, picture Love as looking much better as a 10. Reihana is more like a Merthens!

They kept chopping and changing Ben Smith as well, he just didn’t seem to be finding his grove, so they affected who was playing 10.

But I was one that just couldn’t see Barrett ever being, developing the skills to, the answer to a rush defence, so I was calling for them to switch to Moung’a a year before they did. Which is not to say they should have, but I think there was a chance to manage him better. Surely they saw him as the future.

Who knows why it took him so long to blossom otherwise, probably a mixture of things.

Yep Reihana in 2026, and Love in 2025! I don’t think Richie had anything to prove, this whole number 1 thing is bogus.

So I would find it concerning to see these guys paired with Savea against the likes of France or South Africa as some have suggested.

Papali’i was instrumental in the Blues win by dominating the breakdown when the Blues were on attack. When the Blues needed to retain the ball for long periods in the last quarter he made sure it happened. None of Kirifi, Lakai, Sititi, or Savea can be relied on in that facet against the top teams.

Also Sotutu was better than both Parker and Sititi at 8 last night.