Succession planning can't take a back seat in All Blacks' second row
For one reason or another, the All Blacks locks have really struggled to hit their stride over the past three years.
Brodie Retallick’s dislocated shoulder suffered during the 2019 Rugby Championship meant the former Player of the Year had minimal minutes under his belt come the fateful World Cup semi-final, and it showed.
Earlier that season, Scott Barrett’s red card against Australia in Perth effectively cost NZ the match while Sam Whitelock looked to be on his last legs by the time the World Cup rolled around, and the trio of Retallick, Barrett and Whitelock were all well and truly bested by England in that dogged semi-final.
Last year, after a mini-break from the game, Whitelock was back to his best but Retallick was on sabbatical and absent entirely. Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu, meanwhile, toiled away but still weren’t reaching the lofty heights that many would have anticipated of the two 28-year-olds, given their obvious potential visible during their younger years. Tupou Vaa’i was also added to the mix after an impressive debut season for the Chiefs and looked like he could have a long career in the black jersey while still very much being wet behind the ears.
In 2021, Retallick returned to the fold but never appeared to fully adjust back to the rigours of test rugby. It’s been more than two years since we’ve really seen him at his best. Whitelock started out strongly and his absence was keenly felt during the Rugby Championship, where the All Blacks were outsmarted at lineout time. Upon his return on the end-of-year tour, however, his form was more akin to 2019 than 2020 and despite his obvious world-class abilities at lineout time, he was outplayed around the park by many of his European opposition.
Barrett certainly stepped up to shoulder some hefty responsibilities in the early part of the year, managing six stars, but neither he nor Tuipulotu – who had just two starts to his name – headed north with the side. Their absence in Europe paved the way for Josh Lord to join the ranks of the All Blacks but that was very much a decision driven on the youngster’s potential, as opposed to him currently being the sixth-best lock in the country, while Vaa’i continued his development with the side.
Ian Foster has some big decisions ahead of him this year… And they could come down to Super Rugby form. #AllBlacks #SuperRugbyPacifichttps://t.co/kddyywmuR5
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 13, 2022
All in all, it hasn’t been a vintage few years in the locking department for the All Blacks and Ian Foster will be hoping that a more traditional calendar in 2022 (pandemic permitting) will allow the likes of Retallick and Whitelock to get back to their best.
This year, Retallick will have a full Super Rugby campaign under his belt before taking the field in the black jersey, while Whitelock, nor any of his NZ teammates, will be served up the same lengthy slog of a season as 2021.
That bodes well for the primary duo, while youngsters Vaa’i and Lord will also benefit hugely from another round of Super Rugby under their belt, as well as the presence of Retallick at the Chiefs.
Tuipulotu, on the other hand, is now following in the footsteps of Whitelock and Retallick and is spending a season in Japan.
Come July, when Ireland arrive in NZ, Foster will likely select five locks at the absolute most for the mid-year clashes with Ireland. Whitelock and Retallick are certain selections and with 41 and 48 caps to their names respectively, you would almost think that Tuipulotu and Barrett would be safe bets too, leaving Vaa’i and Lord to scrap it out for the final spot in the team. Certainly, there’s no bigger goal for Foster than to win the World Cup in 2023 and that means picking the best men for the job.
From a long-term point of view, however, there’s a little bit of a problem with the first-choice quartet.
Barrett, the youngest of the lot, will be on the cusp of his 30th birthday when the tournament in France comes to a close. Tuipulotu will have turned 30 earlier that year while Retallick and Whitelock will be 32 and 35 respectively. All four of the group have contracts ending in 2023 and it’s entirely within the realms of possibility that the foursome will all call time on their test rugby careers.
Retallick has already indicated that the World Cup will likely be his international swansong while it’s all but a given that Whitelock will hang up his boots. Barrett and Tuipulotu have the greatest chance of remaining in NZ and continuing to build their legacies but they’re hardly spring chickens.
Again, the World Cup is always going to be the biggest priority but as former All Black Justin Marshall said last month, “the All Blacks have never been a side that slowly build towards major competitions, we’ve never been a team that targets World Cups and says ‘We’re learning, we’ll get there’. The pathway to the World Cup is equally as important as the World Cup itself.”
After somewhat of a disappointing year that certainly harmed the All Blacks’ aura, how comfortable will New Zealand Rugby be heading into 2024 with all four of their experienced locks out of the picture?
Questions remain how best to utilise the two senior All Blacks loose forwards – Sam Cane and Ardie Savea – alongide youngster Dalton Papalii. #AllBlacks https://t.co/Qpkr65xwV1
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 6, 2022
Vaa’i and Lord may pick up minutes here and there over the next two seasons but as the fifth and sixth second-rowers in the pecking order, there’s a very real chance they could miss out on the majority of squads altogether.
Unless, of course, Foster makes a big call this year and decides that it’s time to see what the new breed of locks can do when given the chance. Perhaps Barrett’s and Tuipulotu’s positions in the July squad aren’t quite so guaranteed as many would assume.
Tuipulotu’s spot is probably the most at threat, given he’ll be away for the Super Rugby season. Foster may decide that he’s best served to acclimatise himself to NZ rugby via the NPC for a few rounds before returning to the national set-up during the Rugby Championship. If Tuipulotu’s time in Japan sees him reinvigorated, as it did when Whitelock returned from his short stint there in 2020, it will make Foster’s selection meetings even tougher. If, however, Tuipulotu needs a bit more time to get up to speed, as was the case with Retallick last year (although he did spend two full seasons in Japan), that could hand Vaa’i or Lord the opportunity to jump a couple of places in the pecking order.
The worst thing for New Zealand rugby would be for the All Blacks to lose all four of their first-choice locks after the 2023 Rugby World Cup and unless there’s a change-up in the near future, that’s entirely possible. Perhaps, however, another full season of Super Rugby alongside Brodie Retallick will be just what Tupou Vaa’i or Josh Lord needs to really bring their game up to the level needed for week-in, week-out test rugby.
Either way, Ian Foster will be hoping that the stars have aligned for the coming two seasons and while the All Blacks’ second-rowers haven’t necessarily been at their best over the past few seasons, there’s reason to be optimistic ahead of 2023.
Comments on RugbyPass
An 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 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 commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments