'Not ideal': How the All Blacks plan to cope without key duo against Ireland

Just as the All Blacks begin to welcome back three of their key men, another two frontline players have become unavailable for Saturday’s crunch match against Ireland in Dunedin.

Three days after storming to victory in the series-opening test at Eden Park, news broke that the All Blacks will be without locks Sam Whitelock and Tupou Vaa’i due to concussion and Covid, respectively.

Under World Rugby’s new concussions protocols, Whitelock will be sidelined for 12 days after he self-reported concussion symptoms in the wake of his side’s 42-19 win over the Irish in Auckland last weekend.

Aotearoa Rugby Pod | Episode 20

Aotearoa Rugby Pod | Episode 20

Vaa’i, meanwhile, is the latest member of the All Blacks camp to be struck down by Covid, leaving him out of action for seven days.

The 22-year-old is the fourth All Black to have caught the virus since coming into camp. Will Jordan, Jack Goodhue and David Havili were all ruled out of last week’s win after returning positive test results.

The unavailabilities of Whitelock and Vaa’i forced All Blacks boss Ian Foster to go to the New Zealand Rugby board and request dispensation to pick Patrick Tuipulotu, who was deemed ineligible for selection due to his sabbatical in Japan earlier this year.

That request has since been granted, alleviating the All Blacks of their stretched stocks in the second row, which were thinned even further when it was revealed last month that two-test youngster Josh Lord would be out for the season with a knee injury.

As such, Foster has only three locks to pick from for this week’s clash against Ireland at Forsyth Barr Stadium in the form of Tuipulotu, Scott Barrett and Brodie Retallick.

The latter two of that trio are the likeliest candidates to start in the second row, which would force a positional shift from Barrett following his impressive test return to blindside flanker three years after starting there in New Zealand’s World Cup semi-final loss to England.

Demanding a ruthlessness in physicality and aerial prowess at the lineout from whoever accompanies Sam Cane and Ardie Savea in the back row, the All Blacks are likely to use either Akira Ioane, Dalton Paplii or Pita Gus Sowakula as Barrett’s replacement at No 6.

Although he has largely featured as a No 8 this year, last week’s try-scoring debutant Sowakula has been touted as a blindside flanker option by Foster.

“Pita Gus gives us that 8-6 role,” Foster said of Sowakula at the All Blacks squad announcement last month.

“He’s a big man, he carries hard. We think there’s more to his game at the contact than perhaps what he’s shown. He can offload, he can step, and I’d like to see a bit more out of that, but it’s a chance just to put a big man into that space.”

Similarly, Foster signalled an interest in Papalii’s ability as a blindside flanker despite primarily playing as an openside flanker, while Ioane featured frequently for the All Blacks at No 6 last year.

“We’ve got Akira who played well for us last year, and he’s had really good spells this year in coming back [from his foot injury],” Foster said last month.

“We’ve flagged already that we’re interested in Dalton as a 6, whether it be starting or off the bench down the track.”

Perhaps more pertinently, though, is how the All Blacks will adapt at the set piece without Whitelock given the leadership qualities that has seen him act as New Zealand’s chief lineout operator in most of his 133 tests.

Now the second-most capped All Black in history, the vast experience Whitelock brings with him is almost impossible to replace.

Cane is aware of that, prompting the All Blacks captain to tell media on Tuesday that the loss of Whitelock is “not ideal” before adding that Vaa’i’s Covid-enforced self-isolation is “a tough pill for him to swallow” after a strong Super Rugby Pacific campaign.

However, Cane was optimistic about Tuipulotu’s return to the All Blacks set-up – “he’s up to speed and slipped in pretty seamlessly” – and backed Retallick to assume the lineout operator role in the absence of his long-time lock partner Whitelock.

“Sammy runs our lineout particularly well, and Brodie will sort of just take over that mantle,” Cane said.

“He did that for the majority of the Rugby Championship last year, so he’s ready and looking forward to doing that.

“It’s crazy that he’s played 90-odd tests and his locking partner’s always been the one that’s run the lineouts, but he’s done in at Super Rugby time and time again. Other than that, business as usual.”

As for Jordan, Goodhue and Havili – all of whom trained with the side in Dunedin on Tuesday after completing their respective isolation periods – Cane remained sceptical about their inclusions in this week’s team.

“There’s absolutely no pressure from the players, management, coaches, anyone to rush back,” Cane said.

“They were on a bike yesterday with some sort of heart rate monitor on measuring how they respond to exercise, so all the precautions are being taken there.

“The last thing anyone would want is to risk them getting long Covid, so there’s no pressure. They’ll have a few boxes to tick to even be available, I think.”

The New Zealand skipper’s comments come after he suggested last Tuesday that Jordan wouldn’t be right to play until next week’s third test in Wellington.

“We’ve talked about before, there’s a lot of depth and competition for places,” Cane said in the lead-up to last week’s test.

“I don’t know if [Jordan] was going to be starting or not, but I’d say he was a pretty good chance, but it just means someone else will step up in his place.

“Hopefully Covid doesn’t knock him around too much and, realistically, he’s probably only a chance for the third test.”

Time will tell whether any of Jordan, Goodhue or Havili will feature this weekend, as the All Blacks team to face Ireland in Saturday’s second test will be revealed on Thursday.