Tonga pack to average over 19 stone a man against England

When fit Williams and Lomax you’d think are first choice starters

Tosi is a tighthead but we can see how destructive Newell has been

So that’s a big choice

One is bigger with perhaps better carries

The other is a savage scrummager

So loose head is still undecided bench wise I guess

the ideal would be cultural hybridity. White children and Maori children are citizens of the same state, go to the same schools, vote in the same elections, read the same newspapers and watch the same TV. Why should geneaology determine identity?

In this instance thankfully it hasn’t had much of an impact - the ABs haven’t climbed up the rankings. They were 2nd, and stay put in 2nd.

Almost every nation once practised slavery. I don’t sing God Save the King because I don’t defer to a family who still live in homes funded by slavery, serfdom, and colonialism, whose status is upheld by the doctrine that some humans are better than others. I do sing Fields of Athenry, because as well as being a good song, its message of Irish unity against the British crown is one I agree with wholeheartedly. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is also a good song, that has nothing to do with ongoing oppression.

2) Cultural appropriation is a good thing - songs belong to no-one.

Maro Itoje sings “God Save the King” and voted for Keir Starmer. His political opinions aren’t worth consulting.

Papali’i has shown in the past he is a strong carrier and has the ability to make line breaks as well as having good top end speed.

He’s on Tamaiti’s side right? Both dynamic players, would love for them to keep working hard on polishing some skills and finding a way to make the most of them. Mostly though I see this impact as coming best in a bomb squad application.

De Groot has had to play long minutes for the Highlanders due to a lack of depth. I’d really like to see him pivot to being able to go all in with workload/workrate for just 40 minutes rather than this sustained approach he appears best at at the moment. Could he be made to up involvements (its a really hard habit thing to change, chasing the ball instead of waiting for play etc) and impact?