'Is there any innovation left?': John Kirwan questions whether the All Blacks can evolve again to retake number one spot
In the first year under new head coach Ian Foster the 2020 All Blacks slumped to a 50 percent win rate from their six tests. Despite winning the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe, their form was heavily scrutinized by fans and pundits alike.
Heading into 2021, Foster and his staff picked five newcomers to the squad, sticking with the basis of last year’s team.
One of the more surprising selections was Chiefs second five Quinn Tupaea, who comes into the squad as one of only two players who played their Super Rugby at the 12 position regularly along with David Havili.
Analysing the squad on Sky Sport’s The Breakdown, former All Black John Kirwan highlighted that this was one of the areas that the All Blacks squad looks ‘thin’.
“I think the back row and the centre is a very interesting conversation,” Kirwan commented.
“I put 13 against Braydon Ennor, David Havili 12, Rieko Ioane 13, Anton Lienert-Brown 13 and Quinn Tupaea 12, so actually, we are quite thin there I reckon. But they said that.”
After signing a contract with Stade Francois in the Top 14, Hurricanes midfielder Ngani Laumape was not considered. Last year’s starting second five Jack Goodhue is set to miss the season with injury.
That leaves Anton Lienert-Brown as the only midfielder with significant test experience, with 49 caps and 29 starts. Rieko Ioane has just one start in the All Black midfield, while Ennor has just one appearance from the bench while Havili also has just three appearances from the bench.
Lienert-Brown will also miss the start of season after undergoing elbow surgery which will see him sidelined for several weeks.
Also of concern to Kirwan was the loose forwards, with the lack of a specialist openside in the absence of Sam Cane. Chiefs flanker Lachlan Boshier was snubbed again, while Hurricanes Du’Plessis Kirifi was missing despite being called into the squad during the Tri-Nations last year.
“And the loose forwards, I’ve gone down the list and written 6, 6, 8, 8 and there is only one 7, real out-and-out 7, if you count Ardie Savea as an 8,” he said.
“Like Foxy [Grant Fox] said, we are all going to have to get used to players being that good that they are going to have to cover.
“I think Plums [John Plumtree] spoke about maybe Ethan Blackadder playing 7, which you just have to get on with I guess.”
With positional shortages to manage, the All Blacks will have to find a new way of playing to take the game forward in the next innovation cycle.
Kirwan questioned whether New Zealand has any innovation left after back-to-back World Cups, with the Northern Hemisphere improving drastically over that time.
“I think what I’ve seen is a real step up in quality from the Northern Hemisphere, and they know their style really clearly,” Kirwan said.
“I think the last few World Cups we’ve come up with some innovation, we’ve come up with the pods and passing out the back, is there any innovation left?” he asked.
“And if you do have some innovation coming, when do you bring it out? And I think that is really hard in our game.
“Wayne Smith spoke about it on this show a couple months ago. What are we going to bring? Because we always lead innovation, and when you think about the game, it is hard to know.
“Is it more kicking, less kicking, different types of kicking, so I think there is some stuff you could possibly experiment with this year, but you can’t show all your cards either because you’ve only got 30 tests left.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Great story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
39 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
39 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
39 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to comments