Paul De Wet scores dramatic late try as the Stormers hold off a Bulls fightback

The Aotearoa rugby pod brings well prepared analysis

WR is even jiggling classification to try to get the USA into the next World Cup. They couldn’t beat Uruguay or Chile to get to the last one. Chile!

Tuipolotu for bench grunt with Finau foe the big boys or Kirifi for a faster game

My hope anyway

It’s actually his dominant tackles and open game they will develop but we have seen signs with his offload to Vaai for the try

Yes it’s entirely possible and probable that the Vaai experiment might be shelved for games and they do play lock together

We may unearth another by then

Lord still hasn’t had a proper go yet and Tuipolotu at a similar Barrett age seems back to great form too

The 4 lock is an enforcer who is very physical and carries hard in tight, a very effective nasty ruck cleaner, a very powerful scrummager behind the tighthead, and hard hitting defender. Often the are the second lineout option at the back. This is the spot Scott Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu, Isaiah Walker- Leawere play. Big tough hard men. Think Bakkies Botha and Brodie Retallick.

The 5 lock is almost always taller and leaner as their primary responsibility is winning the ball in the air on lineouts and restarts. Height is essential. They clean a ton of rucks and make a lot of tackles but their carries tend to be out wider in space and which requires more athleticism than tight lock. This is where Holland, Va’ai, and Darry play. Think Victor Matfield and Sam Whitelock.

My point is Holland is way too lean in his body shape at this point, and too inexperienced, and not quite enough mongrel to play 4. Give him time to physically mature and harden up. He is playing great at 5 and Va’ai looks very good at 6.

And if Hamish believes that Tuipulotu has suddenly become a better tight lock at test level over Barrett based on two performances vs France B god bless him but I’ll base my decision over their career test form, which Barrett has clearly been superior. I do like Tuipulotu as a bench lock playing the last 20-25 minutes for Barrett with a 6-2 bench.

I’d be happy to see EDG and Lomax starting and Williams and Newell to smash it around the 45-55 mins mark

Tosi is massive too with such great hands

I think like Finau they can get much more out of EDG for sure

Agree on your comments