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'Just give us the ball': All Blacks loosies set to justify selections

By Tom Vinicombe
Dalton Papalii and Ardie Savea. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

An outstanding Super Rugby campaign and some solid work on the training pitch has Dalton Papalii rewarded with a start in the No 7 jersey for the All Blacks‘ battle with the Wallabies on Saturday.

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The Blues flanker started against Tonga in July and put in a strong showing but didn’t feature again for New Zealand in the Pasifika series thanks to a troubled calf.

With captain Sam Cane out for the foreseeable future, Papalii was always a chance of starting in the major tests but with Ardie Savea also on deck, Papalii didn’t exactly have an unimpeded run to the openside flanker berth – especially when you factor in the relative strength of the loose forwards as a whole.

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Brodie Retallick identifies where the Wallabies will be most dangerous.

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Brodie Retallick identifies where the Wallabies will be most dangerous.

As it turns out, the two will combine in the opening Bledisloe Cup match of the year, with Savea slotting in at number 8 after playing on the flank against Fiji in the All Blacks’ final test of July.

While some players returning to full fitness have been released to their provincial sides for the opening weekend of NPC, Papalii has instead been entrusted to come out firing against the Wallabies – and coach Ian Foster has full confidence in the 23-year-old to stamp his mark.

“Dalton, I thought, was probably our form loose forward in Super Rugby,” said Foster on Thursday. “He played well in the first test, he then had a niggle which meant we had to take him out for two weeks. [He’s] training well, I think he deserves a chance.”

“If you look at his workload this year, he’s outstanding off the park, how he goes about his work,” Foster later added.

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“We’ve certainly got a lot of work into him the last couple of weeks behind the scenes and had a camp last week and the Thursday’s training was pretty full-on and his goal was to get through that from a contact and a physical side. [He] did that well, came in this week and has just been 100 per cent all week.”

Foster indicated last month that Savea get an extended run at No 7, given he and Papalii are the only specialist openside flankers in the squad with Cane unavailable, despite the fact that Savea was primarily used in the No 8 jersey last year. Saturday’s match now gives him and  his young understudy the opportunity to play together for the first time in their careers.

“Ardie, we were fortunate enough to be able to give him a good run at 7 for his first game back in a while,” Foster said. “[We] thought he went really well there but it’s a chance to put him back where, I guess, he’s played more rugby for us and we believe that’s where he’s going to influence this game better.”

“I’m just happy to be out there and having Pap there at 7 is pretty cool,” said Savea. “I’ve never played with Dalts before and been a fan of him, watching him play and do well in Super so really looking forward to just getting stuck into it with him and Aki at 6. We have a few laughs and stuff like that but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty stuff, we’ve got each other’s backs.”

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Savea added further praise on Papalii, with the Hurricanes captain suggesting his Blues opposite was excellent at pumping up his teammates and keeping the team focussed.

“His physicality, his presence, the work he does in the breakdown… He’s the guy that g’s the boys up,” said Savea. “He’s just come in and been himself in this environment. It’s been pretty good.”

The comments were reminiscent of stand-in captain Samuel Whitelock’s following the All Blacks 102-0 win over Tonga at the beginning of July.

“I personally saw some growth in some of the younger boys, someone like Dalton, was really good,” said Whitelock. “He played really well and got the boys in to deliver a quick message if we needed it.”

Saturday’s game will see the All Blacks roll out their fourth different loose forward trio in as many games but according to Savea, not a whole changes regardless of the personnel on the park.

“I’m really excited just to be out there and play but in terms of the loose roles, we stick to our roles in the team but we just add our individual flair and our strengths that we have,” he said.

“Obviously we have our kind of strengths and skillsets as players so we try and use that wherever we can in our team game and our team structure but yeah, just give us the ball. Give us the ball, we’ll run.”

Saturday’s match kicks off at 7:05pm from Eden Park.

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Jon 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

28 Go to comments
A
Adrian 7 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

28 Go to comments
T
Trevor 10 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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