'It was a tough call': The biggest snub from New Zealand's North v South clash
Lachlan Boshier’s cruel omission from the North squad speaks to New Zealand rugby’s rich loose forward depth and the All Blacks‘ desire to harness more physicality from this area of their game.
Impressive Chiefs flanker Boshier was the major causality as the North and South teams were revealed for Saturday’s inter-island match in Wellington.
Halfbacks Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and Mitchell Drummond; hookers Kurt Eklund and Andrew Makalio, props Alex Fidow and Daniel Lienert-Brown, Blues wing Mark Telea, Hurricanes flanker Reed Prinsep and Highlanders midfielder Sio Tomkinson also missed the cut.
Of that group, though, Boshier’s absence is the main talking point.
Boshier, often in tandem with All Blacks captain Sam Cane, was one of New Zealand’s form loose forwards this season. He was a constant menace at the breakdown where he frequently won telling turnovers while his defensive work rate was off the charts.
The fact he stood out in a winless Chiefs side that went 0-9 to end their campaign says everything about his efforts.
Boshier ultimately missed out to Ardie Savea and Akira Ioane who start at seven and six respectively, and Dalton Papalii who will come off the bench for the North side. Hoskins Sotutu also returns from a knee injury to start at No 8. That dynamic quartet should have the advantage over the South’s Shannon Frizell, Tom Christie, Tom Sanders and Dillon Hunt.
New All Blacks selector and North Island head coach John Plumtree admitted leaving Boshier out was one of his most difficult decisions.
“I pulled Lachlan aside and told him he’s not in the 23 and he’s disappointed and rightly so the way he’s consistently played for the Chiefs this year,” Plumtree said of the 25-year-old Taranaki product. “If you look at the group it’s a tough loose forward trio to break into and that can happen.
“He’s got a couple of things he’s going to work on and he has a bit of direction around that. I’m sure he’s going to get many opportunities above Super level in the future.
“Anything can happen in the loose forwards there’s a high rate of injury in that position. Lachlan is in that mix. When we talk about sevens in this country his name is mentioned amongst the selectors all the time and that’s the right place for him to be.
“It’s similar with Du’Plessis Kirifi and Dillon Hunt. In this country we always develop really good sevens through our franchises so it’s a tough position to be in.
“It was a tough call but there were many tough calls there’s many good players not here.”
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While Plumtree did not want to elaborate on specific elements Boshier has been asked to work on it’s likely to be adding more size and physicality to his repertoire.
England exposed the All Blacks in the World Cup semifinal last year by dominating the physical collisions. That loss, and the manner of it, still stings. Lessons will be absorbed.
In that match the All Blacks were steamrolled up front. To avoid a repeat they recognise the need to harness brutal big men in their loose forwards. With Savea and Cane locked in the likes of Frizell, Sotutu, Ioane and Papalii bring significant bulk and power to their domains.
All are capable of fulfilling the enforcer roles the All Blacks need from their pack.
Sotutu hasn’t played for one month after a knee injury ruled him out of the backend of the Blues season but, prior to that, his form off the back of the scrum turned heads – so much so that England coach Eddie Jones and Fiji counterpart Vern Cotter were keen to lure him into their national set ups.
The match up between Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga at No 10 will continue to hog headlines but for Plumtree, a former hardnosed loose forward, there is no hiding which area he is keen to witness.
“Those boys haven’t played together so I’m looking forward to seeing what that looks like,” Plumtree said of his loose forwards. “Hoskins has got a lot of natural ability. He’s really strong and has a good work rate too. We’ve been really impressed.
“He hasn’t played for a while so he will be a bit rusty. He’s a quiet character but confident as well. I said to him ‘you’ll be right for half a game’ and he said ‘nah I want a bit more than that’. He wants to put his hand up and impress and play a game that’s probably going to be a higher level of intensity than Super Rugby.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments