All Blacks coach drops selection hints for clash against Italy
The All Blacks are set to welcome back stalwarts Sam Cane and Dane Coles, as well as loose forward Shannon Frizell, for this week’s clash against Italy in Rome.
All three players missed last week’s 54-16 victory over Wales in Cardiff, with Cane and Coles rested following their long-awaited returns to the test arena in New Zealand’s 104-14 drubbing of the USA Eagles in Washington DC a fortnight ago.
Both players made their first appearances for the All Blacks after lengthy injury lay-offs, which, in the case of Cane, had kept him out of action since March.
The 29-year-old flanker, who has been relieved of his captaincy duties for this tour, entered that test from the bench with just one match under his belt since recovering from his injury after he turned out for King Country in a one-off appearance in the Heartland Championship last month.
Coles, meanwhile, hadn’t been sighted in an All Blacks jersey since July when he took to the field against Fiji in New Zealand’s 60-13 win in Hamilton.
The 34-year-old hooker marked his return to test rugby with his side’s penultimate try against the Americans, but All Blacks assistant coach John Plumtree said both players need further international exposure in order to put themselves in contention to play in major tests against Ireland and France in the coming weeks.
“Both of those guys you talked about there are playing on the weekend,” Plumtree told reporters of Cane and Coles’ selection chances against the Azzurri on Wednesday [NZT].
“It’s really important that both those players get up to speed with their games so that they can be in contention for the following two weeks, so there won’t be any surprise there. I’m not going to hold that back from you.
“The whole thing [tour] has been designed around those two being involved this week and there’ll be some younger players amongst them and, from a seniority and leadership point of view, those two are huge for us.”
Those younger players, such as the likes of inexperienced locks Josh Lord and Tupou Vaa’i, will represent a swathe of changes from the All Blacks team that comfortably dispatched the Welsh last Sunday [NZT].
The selections of Lord, who made his test debut against the USA, and Vaa’i are inevitable given the injury status of veteran second rower Brodie Retallick, who damaged his shoulder at Principality Stadium.
Plumtree confirmed Retallick wouldn’t come into the selection frame for Sunday’s [NZT] clash at Stadio Olimpico, but alleviated fears that the 30-year-old’s injury is of any serious nature.
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“Brodie won’t play this weekend, but he’s improving really quickly. He’s got real good movement now in his shoulder,” Plumtree said.
“The contact part of it we’ll leave out this week to make sure his shoulder fully recovers. There’s clearly some damage there, but we’re going to give him the whole week so he can be right for next week.”
While Chiefs teammates Lord and Vaa’i stand as the frontrunners to start in New Zealand’s second row, who supports them on the bench remains to be seen.
With Retallick to be given the week off, the All Blacks have only one other fit and available out-and-out lock in the form of captain Sam Whitelock.
However, given his seniority and importance to the squad, Whitelock may also be rested as part of the sweeping changes in preparation of next week’s clash in Dublin and for the following week’s match in Paris.
If that is the case, it could be Frizell that is given the nod to ride the pine as the back-up lock, a prospect of which All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has previously alluded to since he doesn’t have the services of Scott Barrett or Patrick Tuipulotu on this tour.
Like Coles, Frizell hasn’t played for the All Blacks since their second test against Fiji in July as he encountered visa issues as the All Blacks travelled to Australia for the Rugby Championship due to three assault charges he faced at the time.
Having been cleared of all charges, Frizell has returned to the squad after having turned out for Tasman in the NPC, but he missed the clash against the United States due to injury.
That leaves the 27-year-old blindside flanker due for an appearances against the Italians, although that may come in the less familiar position of lock, especially with Plumtree emphasising the competition he faces for the No 6 jersey.
“He’s looking really good. We’re looking to get him involved in the weekend. He’s been over here since the USA test, but still carrying a slight injury,” Plumtree said.
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“He’s good to go now, so there’s some good competition for Shannon in that position, obviously with Akira [Ioane] and with Ethan [Blackadder], so I’m sure he’s looking forward to getting out on the park and giving us a reminder of what he can do.”
In terms of the opposition the All Blacks are set to face this weekend, Plumtree made special mention of Italian first-five Paolo Garbisi, whose form for Top 14 club Montpellier has kept Springboks playmaker Handre Pollard out of the side’s No 10 jersey.
Instead, Pollard has been shifted to second-five as Montpellier challenge for a play-offs spot in the early stages of France’s premier domestic competition.
Some may view that as a reflection of Garbisi’s quality, but Plumtree maintained he and his colleagues are more focussed on what the All Blacks can produce with tougher fixtures ahead.
“Nice player and pretty experienced, so certainly a player that we have to be very wary about on the weekend,” Plumtree said of Garbisi.
“But, again, I’ll go back to what I said before, where our big focus this weekend has been based around us and making sure that we are going to make some changes and making sure that our team’s ready to go.”
Comments on RugbyPass
It couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to comments