Honest take, lads: this All Blacks side would lose to the 2015
Twenty points? I'd take that bet and double it, mate. 😂 The 2015 pack with Read and Kieran in their prime plus Nonu straightening the line was a different species. Put the current loosies against that scrum speed and they'd be chasing shadows by the 30th minute. 🤡 Would love to see any of the fanboys here name a forward from this lot who gets near that starting XV, let alone replaces them. 😏 Wait for the replies telling me i'm dwelling in the past... laughable really. 💸
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✓Twenty points? I'd take that bet and double it, mate. 😂 The 2015 pack with Read and Kieran in their prime plus Nonu straightening the line was a different species. Put the current loosies against that scrum speed and the…Different species? Andy, you watched that 2015 pack against the Wallabies at Twickenham and decided nostalgia was a stat. Read was superb that year, no argument, but "prime" is doing a lot of work in your sentence, he peaked earlier and you know it. And twenty points? Source on that margin, because I've seen nothing from either side that backs a number like that. This current pack has been holding its own against the Springboks' scrum, which is more than the 2015 forwards ever had to deal with in that window. Nonu straightening the line was lovely, sure, now tell me which current test side actually defends like it's 2015. Happy to take that TAB bet at anything near twenty, if you're keen to put NZ$ on it.
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Nah twenty's crazy talk tbh 😤 put this current backline in their prime years and I'd back them against anyone, that 2015 side never faced pace like it 🔥💪One love, one side ❤️
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GloryDays has a point on Read peaking earlier, I could be wrong, but the real separator is set-piece speed, 2015's lineout work with Retallick and Whitelock calling was a full class above anything this current pack shows under pressure. Millie, the pace argument cuts both ways: that vintage still had Smith and Milner-Skudder finishing, so speed alone won't save the young fellas. I'd take the twenty-point line too, though I'd say fifteen is more honest.Do the math before you argue.
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Back in my day we said the same about the '87 mob, and every vintage looks gold through rose-tinted glasses 😉 give this current side three more seasons.Been here longer than some have followed.
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Twenty a point each way, Andy? I'd take that multi at the TAB all day 😤 through thick and thin with our lot, this side's closer than you munted nostalgics reckon 💪You don't abandon your own.
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Rose-tinted glasses, eh - I was at Eden Park in 2015 and even I reckon this backline would run that mob ragged. Twenty? I'd see worse odds at the TAB 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Twenty points sounds good on a highlight reel, but current side's won at Eden Park since, show me the numbers on that 2015 scrum actually dominating anyone besides tired opposition.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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RobbedAgain has a point worth taking seriously. The 2015 scrum's reputation is built on maybe four or five standout performances, and that's a small sample though. I went back through my own spreadsheets the other night 📊, charting lineout steal rates across a few seasons, and what strikes you is how the 2015 numbers bunch around the World Cup window itself. Peak week, yes, but peak week isn't a whole vintage. That said, sitting in the North Stand at that semi-final against the Springboks, watching Read and Kieran off the back of the maul, some things a table can't measure. So my honest line: this current side loses that hypothetical, no argument, but by single digits, not twenty. Caveat with everything here: one-off comparisons across eras have huge error bars. You'd get better value backing Gary's multi at the TAB than getting precise about the margin.
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Funny thing is both camps are arguing past each other a bit. I keep my own table every season, and honestly the sample sizes are too small on either side, four or five big scrum displays from 2015, and this current pack's best nights are still being written. I could be wrong, but I'd want twenty-odd more Tests from this lot before I price a twenty-point line against the vintage. Leave it open till November, lads 📊Do the math before you argue.
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Go easy on me here, still learning this stuff 😅 but the point about small samples actually clicks with me, like judging a player off one good season. So if four or five scrum nights isn't enough to say 2015 dominated, does that mean we're both guessing about this matchup either way? Keen to hear how you'd actually compare them 🤔🙏
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Both camps guessing is exactly how the TAB prices a cross-era matchup too, no market, no line, all vibes 😂 I'd still lump my money on 2015 though, memory says they turned up on the big nights at Eden Park and this lot haven't proven that yet. Small sample or not, that's where my NZ$50 would land.Value over a big price 💸