All Blacks star weighs in on Fiji's future in Rugby Championship
Nobody within All Blacks camp was surprised at the exploits of Fiji in Dunedin.
As the dust settles and the Monday afternoon match review begins, two men who watched from the sidelines say the All Blacks weren’t the least bit taken by surprise at how clinical Fiji were for large parts of the 57-23 encounter at the weekend.
Who knows whether those statements are genuine or not, but the prevailing opinion within the All Blacks is one of satisfaction that a challenge of this magnitude has come so early in the part.
When asked if it was the upper cut the team needed after their glorified training run against Tonga, Richie Mo’unga said that the rockstar status some of the Fijian players have in European rugby meant their quality as a unit on the field came as no surprise.
“I think the only ones that didn’t know what to expect were some of the New Zealand public who don’t watch European rugby,” Mo’unga told media on Monday.
“These guys [Fijian players] are rockstars over there. I was well aware of that as was the team, especially around their threatening ball carriers. What happened out there was expected and they came with the intensity that we expected as well.”
With the current All Blacks side being one of the more inexperienced in recent times, Mo’unga firmly believes in what’s good about those hard lessons, which have come a little quicker than they otherwise would have in past fixtures against the Pacific sides.
“It can only be a good thing having those challenges especially with an All Blacks team that’s quite young and doesn’t have a lot of experience. It just opens doors for those guys to learn as much as possible and Fiji are giving us that test at the minute.”
Whilst a lot has been made about the breakdown and the All Blacks’ lack of physical dominance in several key areas, what should also be front in centre in the mind of Ian Foster and co is some of the lacking execution through the hands in the backline.
The four tries the All Blacks backs did manage to dot down were pleasing from an execution perspective within the red zone, but there were frequent occasions when passes missed their targets and players ran over themselves when in phase play situated in the middle of the park.
For Mo’unga, likely to be selected this weekend at first-five, expectations of the perfect response are not realistic, but what he is in favour of is growing the backline further and continuing to assess the various combinations, old and new, that will be on show.
“This weekend it’s not going to be perfect again so we will learn some more and that’s the beauty of rugby because it gives us the opportunity to grow as players.”
All Blacks assistant coach Brad Mooar has hinted that another upheaval of players could be in the offing for a third straight week ahead of this Saturday’s clash with Fiji in Hamilton. #NZLvFIJ #AllBlacks https://t.co/WuLgd4bVJw
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 12, 2021
Naturally, the result has sparked further conversation about Pacific rugby and where it should sit within the international window.
Last week it was eligibility of the best players for teams like Tonga, but focus has now quickly shifted to the potential of Fiji joining the Rugby Championship at some point in the future.
It’s a future that Brad Weber would like to see, but the whippy halfback admits any decisions around that are far above his pay grade.
“Clearly they’ve taken massive steps forward in the last few years,” Weber said. “Many Fijians are playing around the world in the top teams and they’ve been some of the top players in those sides so they’ve clearly got quality.
“I wouldn’t say no to playing a team of quality like that every year because this was a real test and that’s the sort of intensity and physicality that we expect moving forward so it’s exactly what we wanted.”
Taking both Mo’unga and Weber at their word, there was never any doubt that the All Blacks knew what they were up for when Fiji came to town. That being said, it’s not often they come out on the wrong side of the physical battle.
The response in the second test should be a little more than intriguing.
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments