Ian Foster's message to Damian McKenzie amid All Blacks fullback race
Jordie Barrett may have established himself as the first-choice All Blacks fullback, but don’t expect Damian McKenzie to not feature over the coming weeks.
That’s the message All Blacks head coach Ian Foster conveyed to media on Friday [NZT] after he revealed his team to play Wales in Cardiff on Sunday [NZT].
Naming a full-strength team to face the Welsh in the first match on the European leg of their end-of-year tour, Foster has picked Barrett to don the No 15 jersey on the back of his standout showings against the Springboks in the Rugby Championship.
The selection of Barrett at fullback at the Principality Stadium this weekend is a continuation of Foster’s faith in the 24-year-old after he started in five of New Zealand’s six Rugby Championship fixtures.
His two performances against South Africa, though, were what cemented his place in the starting All Blacks lineup as his aerial ability, goal-kicking prowess, sizeable frame and running game all proved to be valuable assets for the Kiwis.
As such, McKenzie has fallen behind Barrett in the national pecking order after having dominated the starting fullback role against Tonga and Fiji in July and against the Wallabies in the Bledisloe Cup.
McKenzie was handed his first start fullback in more than two months when he was handed the No 15 jersey during the All Blacks’ 104-14 annihilation of the USA Eagles in Washington DC last weekend, and the 26-year-old looked in fine form in a largely free-flowing, one-sided affair at FedEx Field.
However, that wasn’t enough for him to retain the role against Wales this weekend, but Foster downplayed the notion that McKenzie is entirely out the reckoning for major tests when asked of the challenge the playmaker faces to usurp Barrett.
“I don’t want to talk specifically about that, to be fair, but all I’d say is that we’ve gone through this year, we’ve given plenty of players an opportunity,” Foster told reporters.
“I think Damian’s done well with the opportunity he’s got, and now it’s just a matter of us looking at selection and trying to try some different combinations versus different opposition to see what sort of options we’ve got in our squad.
“We’re delighted with the growing depth. It’s certainly putting pressure on selection and putting pressure on players, but that’s only because other players are playing well, and so our challenge is that whoever puts on that black jersey does a good job and that just makes my job even more difficult, but that’s the job that I want.
“We’ve been pleased with Damian. I think he’s playing well, and now it’s just a matter of looking at his skill set versus the opposition when we come to selection time.”
While the All Blacks have named a full-strength team to face Wales this weekend, the selection of some players have certainly turned some heads. #AllBlacks #WALvNZL https://t.co/cDLg372DAl
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 29, 2021
Picking his players best-suited to the opposition his side is set to face is exactly what Foster has done for this week’s test with Barrett.
Expecting wet conditions under the open Principality Stadium roof against a team that is thought to employ kick-heavy, set piece-orientated tactics similar to that of the Springboks, Foster has backed Barrett to negate that anticipated game plan.
The 32-test international did that with aplomb against South Africa during his side’s win in Townsville and loss on the Gold Coast, so it’s little surprise to see Foster reward him with another start in another significant match.
“I think Jordie’s form in the last couple of months has been really, really strong,” Foster said.
“He brings a physical component to our back three and, particularly up here at this time of the year, it’s wetter, the roof’s open, we are expecting a pretty determined effort to get into our back three aerially and defensively, and that’s one of his strengths.”
That approach of selecting players best-equipped for the job will be implemented for McKenzie when it comes to facing other nations in more open, free-flowing fixtures against the likes of Italy on this end-of-year tour, as was the case against the USA.
But, for this week, Barrett has earned the upper-hand against a Welsh side widely tipped to struggle against the in-form New Zealanders due to their lack of frontline stars either because of injury or they play for English clubs that aren’t obliged to release their players for this match.
Foster isn’t buying into that narrative, though, as he still expects Wayne Pivac’s side to throw the kitchen sink at the All Blacks, hence the selection of Barrett, among others, in his top-tier starting lineup.
“They’re the Six Nations champions. You don’t do that by not having depth,” Foster said.
“They’ve clearly got a few players that haven’t been released from clubs, but that was always going to happen, so it’s not like that’s a surprise, so their preparation hasn’t been affected by that because they’ve known that.
Let’s hope Wales hand the All Blacks a lineout bath in Cardiff because, on the basis of this year’s test schedule, New Zealand’s 2021 season is fast amounting to nothing.
?? @HamishBidwell https://t.co/RzCnGRb1fq
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 28, 2021
“They got a tight five that’s largely intact. A lot of them are British and Irish Lions from the South African tour, so it’ll be no surprise to see them go to that part of the game.
“It’s been a key strength of theirs, so I think they’ll put a lot of emphasis on their pack, and then you look at their backs.
“[They have] still got a lot of experience in there and they’ve got some young guys that are coming in, so they play a lot of rugby, they play a high-retention game, and they demand patience from you.
“They’ve always been very, very passionate about how they throw their bodies into the contact area, so it’ll be a physical challenge in that regard.”
Comments on RugbyPass
1. Heard this so often over the yrs. One Warriors CEO even claimed future kids wouldnt know which came first, the ABs or the Warriors. Always keen to talk themselves up. 2. That fella Barakat who says he will drop HBHS sponsorship because HBHS quite rightly wants its players to focus on rugby is an odd fit as a sponsor in the first place. As a recruitment official for the Warriors he seems to regard his sponsorship as a paid licence to help to select players from HBHS for the league side. Maybe he should find a league school to fund.
1 Go to commentsNZ U20s are the team to beat this year for sure. And how nice after so long that NZRFU is actually taking this seriously. For far too long they have been sending woefully coached and woefully underprepared teams to the U20 WCs. That Wrampling boy is a star in the making.
2 Go to commentsI agree ..come on keyboard warriors and journalists looking for a cheap win ….. only 2 mins to go 12 points down …this DID NOT decide the game and beside JM was hit after the whistle and in response it was a pat on the back of the head …harmless ….watch soccer if this is your issue
4 Go to commentsRest is for namby pamby sissies, I see. True men should overcome their trifling injuries by playing week in, week out. Bidwell’s stance reminds me of a Jon Gadsby character from the 70s, a rugby captain giving an after-match speech: “It was a very physical contest. One of our players caught a boot on the back of his head in a ruck, and he died, actually. But to his credit, he played on.”
1 Go to commentsI still see nothing in Sotutus play that hes changed his upright running style that failed so many times against decent international defences like the french. Other than that… Iose? Well you have covered his limitations well. If Sititi had been playing the the season… Jacobson? Grace?…Neither shout pick me. So Ardie it is.
1 Go to commentsThere isn’t one element you mentioned there that every top class or successful team gets up to. The great All blacks sides used to play on the ‘fringes or edge’ but it was essentially saying they were doing something illegal or borderline to gain dominance. The fine margins at the top are minute between the top sides. La Rochelle, the crusaders, Saracens, Toulon etc etc…..have all been accused. Get over it, the comment comes across as salty and naive. Northampton as well as they played to get back into the match were thoroughly beaten and controlled for 60 minutes and Leinster have only themselves to blame for kicking it away and hence losing control of the match and being nearly the architects of their own downfall.
2 Go to commentsThere is some talent coming thru thats for sure. The 10 looks special to me. Rico Simpson is a name to look for in the future.
2 Go to commentsI think this quiet honestly is just an innocent misunderstanding by someone who is pig sh*t stupid. Eben is a fine player but by christ, if he can’t understand or get what the Irish players were trying to say to him after the match…..well i hope he has someone looking after his finances, career and is reading the fine print for him, cause life after rugby may be quite difficult for the vacuous echo chamber.
27 Go to commentsIt could be Doris' day!
3 Go to commentsThe whole thing has blown up because Eben’s words have clearly struck a nerve in Ireland. Otherwise they would just laugh it off. I think some former Irish players, commentators and some Irish fans know deep down this Ireland team started to believe its own press and that a certain amount of arrogance had started to creep in during the World Cup. The topic was actually brought up by Irish pundits on Off the Ball recently. It’s fine to be arrogant if you can back it up. Ireland didn’t.
27 Go to comments‘The Irish are good people'. Why is Goode praising a people who hate his own? Wet wipe.
27 Go to commentsLa mejor final que se puede ver en el emisferio norte.
1 Go to commentsA lot of cope from south africans in the comments. Etzebeth is a liar and a hypocrite; you don’t have to defend him!
27 Go to commentsHe got big and really slow for a flyhalf…not sure he’s relevant in a bok conversation anymore
4 Go to commentsBest tourney team vs best team in the regular season for 3 games in RSA - talk is cheap, let’s see what’s what on the tour
27 Go to commentsOne overlooked statistic from their 2016 winning season is the Huricanes are still the only team in Super rugby history not to concede a try during the playoff rounds.
4 Go to commentsThanks for the article, Nick. The Nienaber blitz D does ask a lot of its scrumhalf. I have been watching JGP on D and he often looks like he has mastered what Nienaber asks for better than Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach! 🤣 Impressive season by JGP if I must make an understatement.
22 Go to commentsOkay last one. I promise. I think it’s despicable for Andy Goode to suggest that Eben can’t count to 12. To be fair he only had to count to 8 - the number of Irishmen who DIDN’T say that. Less the 3 kiwis of course. 23 - 12 - 3 = 8. See Joe. I can do maffs.
27 Go to commentsCheers, Nick! How do you see the Reds’ Jock Campbell’s play this year? Not as strong a carrier as Andrew Kellaway or Tom Wright, but does avoid errors. Do you see Joe Schmidt as wanting safety first at 15 or a try-assisting counterattacker?
91 Go to commentsI’m sure this was all just a big misunderstanding. Irishmen and Afrikaaners conversing in a noisey stadium. Not easy to get the right messages across. A minefield.
27 Go to comments