happy to see gear back in a starting team had a few things go wrong for him in the ausssi tests which if hadnt occured he would be in for atleast a hattrick gears got finishing power and hes good on defense if he can step up on sunday and get fully involved like hes been promising and gives his best performance much like messam has the 11 jersey will be his. saveas 22 and its great to see him and othwer youngsters like barret perenara retallick tamiafuna taylor (tom + andre) and cane but these guys even at there best right now will not get full international exposure and exp because experience is not gained by getting on the field but by going through it and taking pressure leading the team in their own way and having alot of the teams expectation placed on u u see it alot in just the smallest plays in the biggest situations making a great carry like mealamu in a game were behind in alot of the starting xv can step up to pressure that international rugby offers what these guys need is to play at itm level / super level and get more used ot the great pressure and expectation of leading a team and experiencing tough situations thats the way we will get the best out of these youngstas

from what i have seen cruden could be great wondering if he is an impact player though hisbest game ever in an all blacks jersey was just 20 minutes want to see this guy playing at his best for 80 when he does that he will be one of the best fly halfs in the world oh and south africa lost not because of kicking but because they had lapses eg aaron smiths try wasnt individual brilliance it was this gaping hole in the SA defence being open right in front of him also ur forwards are promising but unlike the all blacks who even on a slow game like in dunedin could cut u opensouth africa hasnt got a chance against us when we have our mind set on running sadly on saturday we werent quite there but hae who cares even that was enough to beat the boks i mean the aussies can beat and the pumas should have im wondering why theirs no pressure on SA coach atm

What did everyone think of cruden I'm a little worried still wrong and promising but haven't seen a full 80 minutes of this guy at his best I know how good his but feel hes faltering and with carter back next week he's gotta take all the chances he can .overall noun w

how did auckland let francis siali go to north harbour!!!???

be promising if there confident these youngstas can play at itm level watched them at under 20 level the likes of pelesuema and proctor didnt set the world on fire they will miss the sopoaga and perenara pairing those guys are getting really confident in thier positins was hoping to see more of the allblacks at provincial level imagine jane savea nonu and smith gear+ vito all waiting to get thier hands on the ball this season would be season changing if possible same story for cantrerbury and manawatu missing the all black star power

Fruen#

Where is oconnor ATM injured I'm guessing but the wallabies look wounded and the season hasn't even started I think it's important crudeness gets a go against oz we will need carter against the boks but over than that cruden looks incredibly capable of handling the rest plus get Sbw outta there let him leave for Japan he may be the best centre in NZ but he's going and theres no point in playing him NZ is lacking depth at centre would have been awesome to see crotty and friend considered they might not be at their best but they have both done enough to be in their and would reassure NZs centre stocks for the future

Great to see the young guns coming through for the lions lots of under 20s NZ representatives in that side

How many years just waiting for a chance where the f### is Ellis ! Weepui is improving but
Whe hav.e such great talent at 9 we don't have to wait there's the quick and the dead and weepu isn't living up to expectations

its fine to say im biased but im not saying the bulls or sharks or stormers are bad teams im saying the competition format favours them because 2 teams are favoured to get in from each country and no matter what u know it will not be the lions or the cheetahs you cant say that about the aussie conference who predicted the brumbies would be finalists if you think about it i think nz would have 3 maybe even 4 teams in the top 6 thats obvious based on the fact that the bulls and the sharks both didnt succed when they got here while im pretty sure the hurricanes lost to the stormers and thats it on thier tour so what if their tours are longer if when they get home and play the cat teams they dont have to play to the best of thier abilities u wouldnt be able to do that if u were a kiwi team in NZ or if you were an aussie team in the aussie conference