Ollie Norris may be the answer to the All Blacks' propping woes
If the All Blacks are still on the quest to reinvigorate their front row stocks with ball-playing props then Ollie Norris’ performance against Moana Pasifika on Saturday night should have turned a few heads.
Since the build-up to the previous Rugby World Cup, the All Blacks selectors have called upon New Zealand’s front-rowers to lift their game in the loose. When Owen Franks and Karl Tu’inukuafe were omitted from the squad to travel to Japan, then-coach Steve Hansen made it clear that mobility and dynamism were equally as important attributes as being a strong scrummager.
“We’ve said that we want mobile, ball-playing props who can also do their roles,” Hansen said at the squad announcement.
“When you talk about mobility, you’re talking about people’s ability to get back up from the ground and defend and get back and be a ball player.
“In today’s game, you need props that can do more than just scrum and lift in the lineout so that’s been our challenge in the last 12 months that we’ve put to our front-rowers and some of them are progressing really well with it and others are struggling.”
In the years since, the message has remained the same: you can’t be a test-level prop if you’re sole strength is in the set-piece.
Blues forwards coach Tom Coventry – who has access to four All Blacks props in his squad, Nepo Laulala, Ofa Tuungafasi, Alex Hodgman and Tu’inukuafe – reaffirmed ahead of the Super Rugby Pacific season that mobility remained one of the key work-ons for his contingent.
“A few years ago it was the lock role I thought we had to really ask questions of the skillset, but today it’s props definitely around the track, being decisive with decision-making, and their ball-skills under pressure now with lines coming hard at them,” Coventry told Stuff.
“They’re all skillsets that probably have to adapt. The question is on the money – that’s where we have to look for the future with our front-rowers.”
“We’ve got props working hard already on what we’re talking about, with a lot of handling work … I think agility and the ability to move and make decisions is the key. That’s largely to do with aerobic fitness, but also putting them under pressure at training so they can affect those skills when they need to.”
Last year, the All Blacks utilised eight props throughout their 15-match campaign: George Bower, Tyrel Lomax, Joe Moody, Angus Ta’avao, Ethan de Groot, Laulala, Tuungafasi and Tu’inukuafe. Of those eight, perhaps Bower, Lomax, Ta’avao, De Groot and Tuungafasi could put their hands up as ball-players – but that might be stretching it for some in that group. Moody and Laulala, however, remained the first-choice players throughout the season, when fit and available.
Certainly, all eight of those players won’t feature for the New Zealand national side this year with the slightly contracted test season but there could be a few big names omitted as the season wears on if the All Blacks selectors put their money where their mouths are and look at investing in a man such as Chiefs loosehead Norris.
Norris played in the loose forwards during his formative years and only made the switch to the front row in 2018 after being told he could either become a “club legend” at number 8, or push for higher honours as a prop.
While the 22-year-old is still working on developing his skills in the dark arts at scrum time, he’s as dynamic as props come and has stood up for Waikato and the Chiefs in recent seasons thanks to his excellent work in the loose.
Ball-carrying has always been the young front-rowers speciality but against Moana Pasifika at Mt Smart, Norris showcased his excellent skills in the breakdown, snaffling three turnovers throughout the match. According to Opta, that’s the third-most turnovers a prop has snaffled throughout Super Rugby history.
That’s not to downplay his abilities at the set-piece either. His work at scrum time on Saturday was also more than commendable, with the Chiefs scrum dominating Moana Pasifika throughout the game, earning half a dozen penalties or advantages.
Norris is now in his third season of Super Rugby and earned a first call-up to the Maori All Blacks last year, indicating the powers-that-be are aware of his talents. While he would likely be the first to admit he’s nowhere near the finished product just yet, the All Blacks coaches should be looking at Norris as the type of player they can mould into a beast at scrum time, but who already possesses the mobility they’ve now been searching for since 2019.
There are other front-rowers around the country who also boast high ceilings, including the Highlanders’ Jermaine Ainsley and the Crusaders’ Tamaiti Williams, but Norris is the one who has stood up the most in his short career to date and a man who should be making big strides as the season progresses.
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
36 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments