'It's not the All Blacks standard': Lienert-Brown ready for better year
Anton Lienert-Brown has challenged the All Blacks for better performances this season while coming to grips with a brand-new midfield partnership.
Having notched his 50th test against Fiji upon his return from injury in July, Lienert-Brown is easily the most experienced midfielder in the All Blacks squad this year.
Once fit and available, Ian Foster had no problem rushing Lienert-Brown straight back into the starting line-up at centre for the second test against Fiji in Hamilton, where he played for the first time along side new second-five David Havili.
The pair had growing pains in their first outing together, conceding a line break to Fiji in the first couple minutes through their channels and had a communication breakdown down the right touchline in the second half that would have been a certain try had they been on the same page.
For Lienert-Brown, he admits the new combination will take time to build and the more time they spend together the better. The pair are roommates this week in search of building a stronger connection that will pay dividends on the field.
“Obviously we haven’t played a lot together in the midfield before, we are roomies this week so it is good to connect,” Lienert-Brown told media on Tuesday. “You know combinations take time. So the more time we can spend together, the better.”
Lienert-Brown says he and Havili aren’t big gamers, so being bunked down together doesn’t mean time on the PlayStation as they work on shoring up the All Blacks midfield.
Lienert-Brown’s own time in the midfield has been choppy over his 50 tests. After originally playing exclusively at No 13, he moved to No 12 ahead of the 2019 World Cup as ex-All Blacks coach Sir Steve Hansen partnered him with Jack Goodhue.
Together, the duo were used as the preferred options over Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty and Ngani Laumape, and their partnership was continued by current All Blacks boss Ian Foster in his first season as head coach last year.
However, Lienert-Brown and Goodhue switched midfield spots and offered stability in the two roles after Rieko Ioane was tried in the first test as a centre. Once Lienert-Brown replaced Ioane, that’s how things remained for the entire test year.
With Goodhue sidelined due to injury for the 2021 season, Lienert-Brown will have to build a connection with a new midfield partner, which looks to be Havili after he stood out in July with solid performances at the centre of the All Blacks’ attacking plans.
“I just think, as long as I can do what I can do well and control, that’s all that matters. I try not read too much and just focus on my job,” Lienert-Brown said when asked about playing in so many midfield partnerships.
“I’m just trying to play to the best of my ability and help out where I can.”
With Lienert-Brown and Havili rooming together this week, all signs point to them being named in Foster’s side for the opening Bledisloe test.
After tinkering with his side throughout their tests against Tonga and Fiji, Foster maintained those tests were auditions for the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup campaigns.
While Havili demonstrated his attacking prowess against Fiji, Lienert-Brown brings defensive soundness to the midfield, making great reads, shutting down support lanes, sliding off would-be runners and working off the ball to keep the defensive line shape.
In 2020, he showed glimpses of more physicality in his game, delivering a jarring tackle on Marika Koroibete at Eden Park that sent the winger spinning sideways.
The 27-7 win over the Wallabies in that test, the second of last year’s Bledisloe Cup series, was one of New Zealand’s best that season, but Lienert-Brown insists that they are out to prove a point.
“Last year for us, we’ve talked about it, it wasn’t good enough. It’s not the All Blacks standard, so we want to be better,” he said. “We are driven to be better so this is a massive challenge for us to start in the right way.”
Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI 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.
24 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.
9 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.
24 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 🤐
24 Go to comments