Five Six Nations changes for Wales, including a new cap on the wing

Having a team of five supposedly elite officials, who between them conspired to ensure almost the minimum possible punishment for a player guilty of an off the ball headbutt into a prone and vulnerable opponent, is not what any watching parent wishes to see.

To have that type of incident regarded as ‘low entry’, with no apparent - or at least publically facing reprimand for the officials who so badly let down a vulnerable player, frankly speaks volumes.

When the inevitable CTE related court adjudication comes - and it is a question of ‘when’, rather than ‘if’. The weak Governance we see reflected in moments like this will be pivotal in deciding whether the sport as a whole survives it.

He had his chance and Razor finally lost patience with his wild inconsistency and promoted Beauden Barrett as starting 10.

That being said, as Barrett is 33, Mo’unga is ineligible, and none of the young 10s will be test ready, DMac will start the France tests in July by default. Hopefully DMac plays like he did against Ireland (outstanding) and not like he played against Argentina in Test 1 and Australia in Test 1 (terrible).

There has been a university brain drain for many decades (at least since the 90s) so I'm not sure if overly relevant. Most talented youth players are identified at school and then provided a development contract with Ulster which requires them to stay in Ireland. I don't know of any young players who left to go to university and then were awarded professional rugby contacts to an English/Scottish team.

There is a rot in provincial rugby for years… just look at the number of players from Munster and Connacht as well as Ulster. It's a significant failure, one that requires robust action rather than mere fine tuning.

The question should be: Can a player add to the All Blacks environment?

Winning world cups is about squad depth, combinations within the 23, rest and rotation and team culture. Henry knew this and Erasmus knows this, any kiwi without the memory of a goldfish should know this too (2011). Rugby media in NZ are too fixated on the starting XV, let alone the makeup of the match-day 23 or even the wider squad.

Some quality 20-30ish cap loosies like Matt Todd, Liam Messam, Chris Masoe and Victor Vito added plenty to their respective teams.

As others have mentioned Kirifi could be a weapon on a 6-2 bench, with impact, clutch plays and leadership at the death, not to mention his off field impact on the squad culture. Starting XV for every match? Unlikely, but we can use him to play horses for courses and have a 6-2.

Back to the question then: Can can Kirifi add to the All Blacks environment? Yes.