Ngani Laumape has joined an exclusive club of All Blacks
Taking the L in your first All Blacks test is a good omen, finds Jamie Wall.
The biggest talking point from the British & Irish Lions’ shock second test win over the All Blacks was, and forever will be, the ordering off of Sonny Bill Williams. The first red card shown to an All Black in 50 years also marked the beginning of another former league player’s test career, when Hurricane midfielder Ngani Laumape came off the bench to try and stem the hemorrhage.
It’s not the way you want your first test to start. Laumape probably spent the week thinking he’d be getting the last 20 to blast away at a tired Lions defence that had already conceded 25 or so points. Instead he found himself having to take them on half an hour before he should’ve and with one less teammate to help him.
And it certainly wasn’t the way you’d want your first test to finish, either. All Blacks losses are rare, so having to endure one in your first match must feel extra harsh.
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But there’s a couple of things that can cheer Laumape up: firstly, he played pretty well. Secondly, he’s in good company when it comes to guys that took an L in their first game in a black jersey. In fact, if anything it means you’re going on to achieve quite a bit. Here are some other members of the club.
Jonah Lomu: Before he made his blockbusting entrance to the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the most important man to ever play the game had to endure not only a losing match, but a losing series as well. 19-year-old Jonah was badly exposed out on the wing of a very pedestrian All Blacks backline, getting turned inside and out while the French scored the try from the end of the world. He went on to score 37 tries in 63 tests, and has the distinction of endorsing the greatest Playstation game of all time.
Ma’a Nonu: On a rainy night in his hometown, Nonu made an inauspicious debut for the All Blacks against the soon-to-be world champion English in 2003. Just like on the weekend, the All Blacks went down in the wet at Westpac Stadium and Nonu had to wait another week for a test victory. He probably got over it after he played 102 more, scored 31 tries and won two World Cups.
Joe Rokocoko: Outside Nonu was young Blues sensation Rokocoko, who barely touched the ball that night. He did, however, score the next week (wearing jersey #30 for some reason) against Wales. This was the first of 46 for the All Blacks, at one stage was going at better than one a game. He ended up playing 68 tests and is still making serious coin playing for Racing 92 at the ripe old age of 34.
Nehe Milner-Skudder: NMS was a guy who barely anyone would’ve heard of at the start of 2015. But after a stellar Super Rugby season, he found himself on the wing for the All Blacks in Sydney for the Bledisloe Cup series opener. It certainly wasn’t his fault that the All Blacks lost 27-19, he scored both their tries and showed everyone what he was capable of at test level. He ended up getting another try against the Wallabies that year, opening the scoring in the World Cup final at Twickenham en route to a 34-17 All Black win.
Scott Barrett: One of the many, many Barrett children, Scott had the misfortune of getting his first taste of test rugby in Chicago last year against Ireland. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last eight months, you’ll know that Ireland scored their first ever victory over the All Blacks that day – so Barrett’s first test loss has the added bonus of being an historic one as well. But the big man did get a try in that game and has gone on to be a solid member of the team ever since.
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 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 comments