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All Blacks defence coach says No. 10 jersey 'should be' fair game

Beauden Barrett (L) and Damian McKenzie look on during a New Zealand All Blacks training session at NZCIS on September 24, 2024 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Ahead of the All Blacks‘ Northern Tour, one of the biggest selection debates is who should play in the No. 10 jersey as incumbent Damian McKenzie races to iron out crinkles in his game.

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All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson himself reflected on McKenzie’s performances over the team’s opening nine Tests and acknowledged there were some rocks and diamonds, saying eight out of 10 plays the 29-year-old made would be “unbelievable” while the other two would leave you asking “what’s happened?”

Alternatively, Beauden Barrett can be seen as more of a steady hand. With over 130 Test matches in the black jersey to his name, the 33-year-old offers something different in the way he leads the team around the park.

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Also to factor in is the team’s poor record in the final quarters of games throughout The Rugby Championship, applying extra pressure to the bench selections and asking the question of how the team should distribute their best talent across the matchday 23.

All Blacks defence coach Scott Hansen also looks after the halves partnership in the team and assessed the selection battle between the two playmakers following the final game of the Rugby Championship campaign.

“Well, the beauty there is that they’ve obviously got their different skill sets around how they lead us around the field,” he told Jason Pine on Newstalk ZB.

“You saw when Damian came on last night, just his intent to get to the line, his ability to hit the short pass. Whereas Beaudy with his experience and game management, just getting us into locations that allow us to apply pressure.

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“The gift and the beauty that we have with both of these outstanding players is they have different subtleties in their game which we need. And then you add Will Jordan and the likes around that, and now we’ve got game managers across the field.

“I thought Beaudy coming in last night, and through the week, gave us great experience. And again, DMac has been leading us really well also.”

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Despite McKenzie owning selection up until the most recent Test, Hansen said there’s no doubt the jersey was up for grabs, as all jerseys in the All Blacks effectively are.

“It should be. It should be because when you’re picking an All Black team it should be a hard one to pick,” he explained.

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“What we’re focussed on is giving DMac a chance to steer this team and lead it and he’s done that really well. He’s only had a number of starts really, consistently, in the 10 role and this year he’s done really well building that.

“What we have to do also is build depth around that, and Beaudy was given that opportunity to lead the team around the field from 10. The main thing for us is just building that depth around our 10.

“We have a lot of confidence in whoever is out there leading the team, putting the ball in front of the team, getting us in the right areas of the field. It’ll be a work-on for us right through.

“Really happy where DMac’s at, Beaudy came in last night and established his presence on the team, so, we’re definitely heading in the right direction.”

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Comments

11 Comments
E
Easy_Duzz-it 179 days ago

No one is better then mounga … only 10 worthy of the black jersey…

J
JW 179 days ago

“You saw when Damian came on last night, just his intent to get to the line, his ability to hit the short pass. Whereas Beaudy with his experience and game management, just getting us into locations that allow us to apply pressure.

Lol that is not what happened at all. Beaudy only kicked like 16 times and a lot where his mixed bag 'contestables'. Dmac is the guy that gets you around the field into better locations with his boot. He did it constantly for the Chiefs in their sleeper season.


NZ were only behind SA in how often they kicked (thanks to Sacha's injury and with how often they hoof it up in the air) and Dmac lead the whole competition. We need some high quality coaches in their ASAP to help these guys out. Perhaps another part time job for Nucifora along with Wayne Smith getting on deck.


I'm reading rumours that neither of those two will go to Japan, so the first on the NH tour could be Harry Plummer. I suppose that might heavily depend on whether Perofeta and make a return in time for Taranaki's playoff run, but even then I think he is the preferred Fullback (possibly overtaken by Jordan now).

B
Bull Shark 179 days ago

if Mounga is going to come back - it needs to be quite soon. Ironing crinkles in Dmacs game, and getting BB to 170 caps is nice and all but a waste of valuable time.

J
JW 179 days ago

I think Dmac has a higher ceiling that Mo'unga, so not a waste of time.

S
SC 179 days ago

All Blacks vs England, Ireland, France


1 DeGroot

2 Taylor

3 Lomax

4 S. Barrett

5 Vaa’i

6 Blackadder

7 Savea

8 Sititi

9 Roigard

10 B. Barrett

11 Clarke

12 Lienart-Brown

13 Proctor

14 Nawara

15 Jordan


16 Aumua

17 Williams

18 Tosi

19 Tuipuloto

20 Lakai

21 Ratima

22 McKenzie

23. Ioane

J
JW 179 days ago

I don't think Roigard can get up and running to that level in time.

S
SM 179 days ago

Hurry up Mr Robinson this still feels to much like Foster's team, can't win test rugby playing like the chiefs.

f
frandinand 179 days ago

If you can't even get his name right it doesn't say much for your rugby acumen.

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T
Tom 59 minutes ago
No definites, but which Wales players could still make Lions squad?

Williams, Faletau, Lake, Morgan are the only ones who have a chance. None of them are guaranteed but I'd imagine they'll pick Williams and Morgan who could get in on merit and will likely be favoured for inclusivity.


Williams is fighting it out with Ben White for 3rd slot behind JGP and Mitchell.

Morgan is up against JVDF, Earl, Curry, Curry, Willis for 4 flanker slots. Morgan is a fantastic player but a huge call to leave any of those boys at home given how much Wales struggled at the breakdown against England. He's by no means solely responsible for that but it will be fresh in the minds of the selectors. Given the amount of hybrid players emerging and the inclination for a 6-2 split, they may be able to find room for a 5th flanker in the squad. In which case may be Ben Curry who misses out or Willis might be excluded given we have such depth in the players who have chosen to play for clubs this side of the channel.


Lake and Faletau are good enough but I'd be surprised if Faletau gets picked over Conan and Lake would be up against Cowan-Dickie which I can't see happening. Blair Murray is probably 4th in the 15 pecking order behind Kinghorn, Heenan, Marcus Smith. He may be a better 15 than Smith but Smith brings versatility so would be ahead of him. Since Smith may go on tour as a 10/15 hybrid, they would already have 3 fullbacks in the squad so Murray won't make it, good player though.


Nicky Smith and Dafydd Jenkins clutching at straws.

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