'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
Farcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
61 Go to comments