'I'm quite intrigued': Foster 'open minded' over potential 6-2 split at World Cup
All Blacks selectors have made an unusual call for the weekend’s clash with the Springboks, naming a bench with six forwards and two backs as opposed to the familiar five forwards and three backs split.
The 6-2 split is a popular option in the South Africa camp, who utilise it more often than not but it’s a first for New Zealand.
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster said the surprising call was due to the team’s injury concerns.
“Yeah, haven’t done it before,” he told reporters in London. “That’s effectively a squad management technique for this game.”
The coach went on to outline the injury status of both Shannon Frizell and Brodie Retallick, who are ahead of schedule but still expected to miss the Rugby World Cup opener against France.
Sam Whitelock and Scott Barrett will start in the locks with an additional two locks on the bench in the form of Tupou Vaa’i and Josh Lord – who is not in the Rugby World Cup squad but travelling as injury cover.
The additional lock cover leaves Cam Roigard and Anton Lienert-Brown as the only cover in the backline. Outside of the halves, every player in the All Blacks backline has the ability to cover at least two positions, meaning cover is guaranteed so long as no more than one back leaves the field.
“I’m quite intrigued how it goes,” Foster added. “I think it’s a necessity for this game, and you know, we’ll have a look at it afterwards and see what we think.
“So, (I’m a) very open-minded coach.”
All Blacks captain Sam Cane wasn’t so clued in on the reasoning behind the decision but could see the logic in it.
“Sometimes when we play the South Africans, they often go with a 6-2 split.
“But if I’m to be completely honest I haven’t discussed with selectors why they’ve gone with that split.
“I think it’ll allow some guys to get some good game time and the fact that we’re carrying a couple of guys with injury, maybe it just means that should anything happen to someone else then we’ve got guys who are ready and available to step up who have played test matches recently.”
Outside of the bench makeup, there are further selections that have piqued fans’ interest.
Foster has opted to commit to Scott Barrett at lock rather than playing him at blindside flanker in Shannon Frizell’s absence, giving Luke Jacobson a crack in the No 6 jersey.
Cam Roigard’s selection over Finlay Christie throws further speculation over the No 21 jersey after Roigard’s impressive debut against the Wallabies in Bledisloe 1.
David Havili’s return from injury has not been rewarded with game time just yet. The ability of Anton Lienert-Brown to cover both midfield positions may well have factored into his selection given the 6-2 split, and the ability of the starting midfielders to cover the outside positions if needed.
Comments on RugbyPass
Great work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
35 Go to comments