Jeff Wilson: 'He will change the way the All Blacks play'

Is there any point listening to anything Wilson says? He changes his opinion on everything and can’t read a book let alone a game. A great instinctive player - a poor pundit. DMac has proven every time that against a rush defence - he crumbles. Every time. Super Rugby is not fit for purpose - it’s far below the pressure and intensity of test Rugby… and he’s behind a dominant pack so has a gentle ride. He and Barrett are why the AB back lines have not functioned well over the last 3 years.

Maybe Will Jordan will move back to the wing, maybe Damian McKenzie will play at 15 (it’s already been tested and I’m not particularly convinced), maybe we’ll go back to a 14/15 setup with two fullbacks like in the great eras of the New Zealand national rugby union team (Jeff Wilson / Christian Cullen, Cory Jane / Israel Dagg, Ben Smith / Israel Dagg, Nehe Milner-Skudder / Ben Smith), and in that case Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens is a good candidate. Callum Harkin looks pretty good too…or Josh Moorby ?

Maybe we’ll have two powerful wingers like Leicester Fainga’anuku and Caleb Clarke.

Maybe Emoni Narawa, one of the best defensive wingers in the world, will be on the field.

Maybe we’ll get a surprise (Kini Naholo / Fehi Fineanganofo). We just don’t know yet. A lot of speculation and a ton of players being mentioned. Let’s see the squad first… then we’ll wait for the first team sheet.

McKenzie and Love need to focus exclusively at 10 with Barrett so out of form and undeserving of selection and Mo’unga being disqualified from selection until the Bledisloe Cup.

He is actually good in the air

When not challenged yes, when contested we saw what happened last year.

When I hear talking heads start banging on about shifting Jordan to the wing, I tune out. And after years of under-delivering at international level, why would anyone believe McKenzie’s suddenly going to be the man?

As for 10, far from being “blessed” (surely Rennie was misquoted and actually said “busted”, or something like that), it’s a major problem area. NZ churches should be directed to start praying for the health and form of Mo’unga.

In tests lately McKenzie had been found wanting, he kept going sidew.ays so was picked off easily. Good for a bench spot. As for Love at Ist five, he is still to green and has played as utility for the All Blacks.

I would also disagree with Jordan on the wing, he is best at fullback.

McKenzie is not a good enough traditional 10 to be a successful test 10. At best McKenzie is the 15 in a 10/15 dual playmaker set up (unsure if he’s even up to test level as a starting test 15 – probably best as a utility). McKenzie has been given many opportunities at 10, especially in 2024. But he couldn’t quite adjust his game enough.

Love should be the 10. He has room to grow for RWC 2027. What better environment to test him than a tour to South Africa? J Barrett has grown into a second playmaker role (wherever Rennie plays him).

A dual playmaker set up is a logical response to the improvements that rugby defense has made in the last decade. But a dual playmaker set up hasn’t delivered, for the All Blacks, in the big matches, because they were not executed properly.

The reason why ‘rush defenses’ are so successful is the key to beating them. That they ‘swamp’ a specific area of the field, taking the ‘time’ away from the attack and removing options. But a team can only have 15 players on the field. If the defence ‘swamps’ one area, another area is wide open.

This is what the dual playmaker set up was trying to exploit. The issue was the execution. The opportunity needs to been seen and the ball passed to the right gap. The dual playmaker set up was often two 10/15 hybrids, with neither being a true expert playmaker/passer. Both were outstanding broken field runners (who also tended to move horizontally). That worked fine if the opposition defense line wasn’t set, but the issue was defense lines were set, and more prepared than ever.

They key to a dual playmaker set up is a traditional playmaking 10, at 10. A 10 with all the skills, but passing as the key skill. Even when they tried more traditional 10 at 10. There were still issues as they weren’t sure who was the boss of the backline; and the coaches never fully committed until too late.