Saturday's test last chance saloon for fringe All Blacks before Super Rugby open season
While South Africa’s withdrawal late in the piece likely curtailed any plans Ian Foster may have had for selecting a bumper squad for this year’s Rugby Championship, the All Blacks head coach still handed caps to 36 players in his first season in charge.
That number isn’t any higher than a typical season but it’s still a big figure given that the All Blacks will have only played six matches by the close of the coming weekend.
Further, nine players earned their test debuts in 2020, including Asafo Aumua, Alex Hodgman, Tupou Vaa’i, Cullen Grace, Akira Ioane, Hoskins Sotutu, Peter Umaga-Jensen, Caleb Clarke and Will Jordan.
That compares similarly to other post-World Cup years, with nine players debuting for New Zealand in 2012 and 11 in 2016.
The big difference, however, is that game time has been severely limited for the current season’s crop of debutants.
Clarke has effectively taken over as the first-choice left wing while Sotutu has had some good opportunities – mostly off the bench. 20-year-old Vaa’i has also earned some significant minutes, given the presence of Sam Whitelock, Patrick Tuipulotu and Scott Barrett.
Playing time has been hard to come by for the other six men, however, who’ve mostly a few token minutes off the bench.
Compare that to 2012, when Brodie Retallick, Luke Romano, Aaron Smith, Julian Savea and Beauden Barrett were heavily used in their debut seasons. Similarly, Ardie Savea, Liam Squire, Anton Lienert-Brown, Scott Barrett and Rieko Ioane clocked up some big minutes.
2020 hasn’t been such easy sailing, however.
The fourth test against Australia was Foster’s first real opportunity to gamble a little bit with selection, given the Bledisloe Cup had already been secured for the year, and he handed debuts to Akira Ioane, Asafo Aumua, Cullen Grace and Will Jordan.
A red card to Ofa Tu’ungafasi prematurely ended Ioane’s start after the All Blacks needed to lose a man in the forwards to accommodate a new prop. Meanwhile, Jordan managed five minutes off the bench before concussion cut his debut short and Grace came on with just two to play and made zero tackles and had zero touches of the ball. Aumua was a bit luckier, managing a whole 10 minutes.
Had the All Blacks won that match and had one hand on the Tri-Nations trophy, Foster and his fellow selectors would have likely felt comfortable experimenting some more in New Zealand’s final two matches of the year against Argentina. The All Blacks didn’t win, of course, and the top side was rolled out to play Los Pumas in Sydney.
That top side didn’t fare so well either, and Argentina’s historic victory no doubt threw up a conundrum for Foster’s final selection of the year.
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Should the All Blacks again pick their ‘best side’, and try to right the wrongs from two weekends’ prior? Or does Foster bank on the shock loss being a product of a once-in-a-blue-moon inspired performance from Argentina, and experiment a little?
We’ll almost certainly see a few changes to the team that was bested in their last outing – potentially even with some fringe players getting another opportunity to showcase their talents.
Even factoring in the side that will try to get revenge on Los Pumas on Saturday, the fact remains that there’s likely been very little movement in the All Blacks pecking order this year – at least based on game day performance.
That should come as a huge relief to the swathe of talented players that weren’t selected to wear the silver fern this season.
There was likely a feeling amongst some players left in New Zealand that if you weren’t selected in the All Blacks’ bumper 38-man squad for the Tri-Nations, you’d slipped quite far down the hierarchy.
That may well be true, but there won’t have been much further ground lost during this year’s test season simply due to the scarce minutes on offer for the young players on the edges of the squad.
Loose forwards such as Marino Mikaele-Tu’u, Luke Jacobson and Lachlan Boshier were all touted to earn call-ups this season but were instead left to toil away in the Mitre 10 Cup. While Sotutu has certainly advanced his case for the national side, the same couldn’t be said for Ioane, Grace or Du’Plessis Kirifi.
It’s a similar story elsewhere across the park. Atu Moli and Angus Ta’avao’s injury-plagued seasons pulled the pin on them having much chance of turning out for the All Blacks, but there have been few outstanding performances from New Zealand’s props this year and a good Super Rugby season in 2021 could catapult them back into the selection frame.
Uncapped lock Quinten Strange eventually ceded his spot in the squad to Crusaders teammate Mitch Dunshea following an ankle injury and while Dunshea has been getting to know his fellow All Blacks on the training paddock, Strange is about to play in the provincial final.
Marino Mikaele-Tu'u may have missed out on the North Island squad last month – but the @AllBlacks coaches haven't forgotten about him altogether.
The @Highlanders loose forward spoke with @TomVinicombe about his impressive season. #AllBlackshttps://t.co/5bz0MBJe8E
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 24, 2020
In fact, you could argue that the likes of Mikaele-Tu’u, Jacobson and Strange have all been better served by remaining in New Zealand. They’re all still in the early stages of their professional careers and every match will do wonders for their future prospects.
Kirifi and Peter Umaga-Jensen, meanwhile, have spent the better part of the provincial season holding tackle bags for the All Blacks and have missed out on clocking up some solid minutes with Wellington as well as potentially the recently announced Moana Pasifika side.
Of course, any Kiwi rugby player would prefer to be in camp with the All Blacks, even if it wouldn’t have necessarily led to any game time – but the men who did miss out have certainly not fallen behind their peers in the ways that some might have first expected.
This weekend is the final opportunity for this year’s debutants to impress the NZ coaches and with minutes likely to once again be limited, all eyes will be on next year’s blockbuster Super Rugby season.
Injuries and absences across the board led to plenty of youth turning out for their respective sides in this year’s Aotearoa competition and next season will likely be more of the same.
Brodie Retallick, TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett are all on sabbatical in 2021 and there will no doubt be a few players struck down during the pre-season. Meanwhile, a handful of young men have put their hands up during the Mitre 10 Cup – and you never know who might be the next Tupou Vaa’i, someone with zero prospects of playing Super Rugby suddenly thrust into a starting role and eventually emerging as a new All Black.
Next week’s Super Rugby squad announcements will draw plenty of interest but all eyes will be on the All Blacks this weekend – and the men tasked with toppling the high-flying Argentinians. It’s their last chance to make a statement, so expect plenty of fireworks this Saturday.
Listen to the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod below:
Comments on RugbyPass
“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to comments