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How All Blacks halves anticipate a potential new game plan unfolding: 'It's all well and good picking big guys but you still need to play at speed for 80 minutes'
Will Ian Foster try and fight fire with fire the next time the All Blacks come up against England?
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At last year’s Rugby World Cup, England dominated the breakdowns and collisions in their semi-final match up with New Zealand and Foster likely learned from that match that there’s simply no substitute for size and power.
Following the announcement of the first All Blacks team of the year, there’s reason to believe that the new head coach could be trying to add a bit of mass not just to the pack, but to the squad as a whole.
Men like Hoskins Sotutu and Caleb Clarke have physically dominated their opposition on more than a few occasions during the Super Rugby season and the national selectors have rewarded that form with first-time call-ups.
Speaking on the Aotearoa Rugby Podcast, one-cap All Black Josh Ioane mused that Foster may well be hoping to counter incredible power of the likes of the English by bringing in some of New Zealand’s biggest power players.
“I think, with those Blues boys, they just bring that real physical presence. With Hoskins, Patty [Tuipulotu], Akira [Ioane], Caleb – they’ve got that real physical presence.
“Especially against teams like the Boks who are a real physical team, I think those boys will really suit matching those types of players.”
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Brad Weber, who watched the World Cup semi from the sidelines was quick to point out that Foster won’t want to sacrifice the high tempo play that the All Blacks are known for, however.
“Fozzie knows that it’s all well and good picking big guys but you still need to play at speed for 80 minutes with good fitness,” Weber said.
“He’s rewarded form, which is great, but I’m sure Fozzie will still be keen to play fast and up-tempo and I’m sure he’s confident the guys he’s picked can run that style of play, no matter what size they are – it just so happens that some of the boys we’ve spoken about earlier are pretty big.”
While their size may well be one of their greatest strengths, Ioane and Sotutu certainly showed off their fitness and finer skills in the North v South clash played over the weekend – including one exceptional linking play that saw both players carry and offload in contact to ignite the North’s attack.
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However Foster chooses to employ the All Blacks’ newly added physical behemoths, Ioane and Weber are simply excited to see the young players in the environment shine.
Some have made the #AllBlacks for the first time, some have revived their careers by winning re-calls, while others have regressed by missing the cut.https://t.co/VERQMV76Rj
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 7, 2020
The selectors have opted for seven uncapped players in the squad – as well as two who have played mid-week matches for the All Blacks but no tests.
“I feel like [Foster’s] gone with a few young boys and that’s good for development in the coming years, potentially the next World Cup,” Ioane said.
“In terms of style of play, I don’t think it’s clear at this stage – but there’s definitely plenty of potential and excitement there.”
“Yeah it does [bode well for the future],” said Weber.
“There’s a lot of guys probably still hurting from the loss last year and they’ll be really motivated to get on the waka and start getting some wins under our belt to build for that next World Cup. There’s probably nothing scarier for international rugby teams than a wounded All Blacks side. There’s certainly a lot of motivation there.”
While nothing concrete has been confirmed, New Zealand are expected to play a handful of matches in the coming months – including an extended test series against Australia.
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
37 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments