Ian Foster reveals spots up for grabs for Ireland and France tests
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster says that while he and his fellow selectors have a plan in place for the major season-ending tests against Ireland and France, the door is still open for players to force their way into those matches.
Foster named his team to face Italy in this weekend’s test at Stadio Olimpico on Friday [NZT], with the All Blacks holding true on their indications that the match against the Six Nations minnows will feature numerous changes to the match day side.
In total, only seven players who were involved in last week’s 54-16 thrashing of Wales in Cardiff have been included in this week’s team, which comprises of a completely overhauled starting XV.
Of those who played at Principality Stadium, prop Tyrel Lomax, lock Tupou Vaa’i, halfback Brad Weber and wing Sevu Reece have all been promoted off the bench and into the starting lineup New Zealand’s clash in Rome on Sunday [NZT].
Just three of last week’s starters, meanwhile, have kept a spot in the match day team, with lock Sam Whitelock, midfielder David Havili and fullback Jordie Barrett all demoted to the bench.
The widespread rotation of Foster’s playing roster should come as little surprise given the strength and quality of the opposition the All Blacks are set to come up against.
Italy haven’t won a Six Nations match since 2015 and have never come especially close to beating the All Blacks since the two teams first met at Eden Park in the opening match of the 1987 World Cup.
More pertinently for Foster and the All Blacks, though, this weekend’s match presents the last opportunity for players to state their case for inclusion in the final two tests of the year against Ireland and France.
Both matches are set to be juggernaut encounters, on par with the two tests against the Springboks during the Rugby Championship in terms of magnitude of occasion and difficulty of opposition.
Since their controversial quarter-final exit at the 2019 World Cup, the youthful French have improved to the point where many view them as the dark horse to clinch a first-ever World Cup crown in front of their home fans in two years’ time.
The opening match of that tournament pits them against New Zealand in Paris, meaning the clash between Les Bleus and the All Blacks at Stade de France in a fortnight acts as a dress rehearsal for the biggest test on European soil since the 2015 World Cup final.
Ireland, meanwhile, haven’t caught the attention of the rugby world in the way France has since the last World Cup, but they remain a formidable beast on their home track at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Rookie All Blacks star Ethan de Groot has signed a two-year contract extension with the Highlanders in a deal that will keep him in Dunedin until at least 2024. #Highlanders #SuperRugbyPacific https://t.co/BpbI86Frg1
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The All Blacks know this all too well as the last time they played there in 2018, they suffered their first-ever defeat to Ireland in the Irish capital.
The trip before that, they were made to work extremely hard to beat Joe Schmidt’s side on the back of a shock loss to Ireland in Chicago five years ago, while Ryan Crotty’s injury-time try got them out of jail in their third-most recent visit to Dublin in 2013.
It was to be expected, then, that a raft of frontline All Blacks would sit out the Italian test in preparation for what is set to be a blockbuster pair of tests to close out what has been a largely successful 2021 campaign.
That isn’t to say that the teams to square off against Ireland and France are set in stone, though, as Foster hinted that a strong display against Italy from this week’s second-stringers could push them into contention for the final two tests.
“We went into this northern hemisphere tour with a three-game plan, and this is the third game, obviously, and after that, we know that we’ve got Ireland and France waiting,” Foster told reporters on Friday [NZT].
“As a group of selectors, we’ve got a pretty clear plan for Ireland, but I’d be pretty surprised if there weren’t a number of players that start on Saturday that aren’t starting in one of the next two tests.”
Injury returnees Sam Cane and Dane Coles, first-five Richie Mo’unga, halfback Brad Weber, flanker Luke Jacobson and young midfielder Quinn Tupaea are among those involved against Italy who will be chasing starting roles against Ireland and France.
There remains little to pick from between Mo’unga and new test centurion Beauden Barrett in the race to become the first-choice All Blacks playmaker.
While it seems the momentum is with Barrett following a sustained run at No 10 during Mo’unga’s baby-enforced absence during the Rugby Championship, that could easily change if the latter produces a stellar showing against the Azzurri.
Competition at hooker is similarly tight as Foster weighs the form of incumbent rake Codie Taylor and emerging youngster Samisoni Taukei’aho up against the experience and leadership of Coles, whose calf injury looks to have dragged him down the pecking order.
It’s now or never for the All Blacks’ fringe loose forwards. #ITAvNZL #AllBlacks
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Likewise at openside flanker, Dalton Papalii’s immense growth this year has made it difficult for Sam Cane, who has been reinstated as captain this week, to lock down the No 7 jersey after a six-month injury spell.
Those are just some of the many selection challenges Foster spoke openly about as, in some respects, he faces more questions than answers when it comes time to figuring out his first-choice team to play the Irish and French.
“There’s certainly going to be a lot of competition going forward the next few weeks,” he said of the selection issues that could arise if the All Blacks dominate Italy, as anticipated, this weekend.
“I don’t see it being a closed door from whatever we do in the Irish test going into the French test. There’s two different styles of game there and we’ve got a number of options coming through.
“I’ll give you an example: Dalton Papalii, I thought, was really strong against Wales and now we’ve got Sam Cane coming back, so how do we get that balance right in the last two tests of the year? That’s just one example of many.
“We’ve got some big decisions to make at hooker and a whole range of things, so there’s a few headaches, no doubt, coming up, but they’re good ones because we’ve got players putting their hand up producing the sort of performances we want.
“But, every week you do that, there’s more pressure on them next week to carry on doing it.”
Regardless of who he picks in Dublin and Paris, Foster outlined that the onus is on those selected – both in those matches and this weekend – to continue to apply pressure on one another by playin well to maintain competition for starting spots.
“I think you only build depth when people seize the opportunity you give them and they take it, and so what we’ve been delighted with is, over the last two months, we’ve made sure that we have given opportunity, but the real credit goes to the players.
“The reason we’re talking about our depth at the moment is because basically, to a man, when we’ve given someone a jersey, they’ve gone out there and done a really good job, but that’s still the challenge going forward.
“You can get overconfident with that, but the reality is we’ve only got good depth if we keep producing great performances, and so when we look at the last two weeks of this tour, a lot of that’s going to depend on the quality of our game on Saturday.
“We can’t excuse anything below a level that we really want to play at on Saturday, so if we get the level that we want and play well, then there’ll be a lot of pressure on the last two weeks, and that’s the way it should be.”
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI 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.
5 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 comments