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'That's what you want from your No 6': All Black Frizell receives glowing endorsement
All Blacks blindside flanker Shannon Frizell starred in the 35-20 win over the Springboks with a resounding performance that has perhaps established himself as the first choice No 6.
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The Highlanders flanker was recalled to the starting side last year against the Springboks for the second Test at Ellis Park replacing Akira Ioane from the Blues, and has remained the starting No 6 since.
He has started 2023 with two big performances to reward the selectors for their faith, but even they must have been surprised at how Frizell took apart South Africa early at Mt Smart.
With his first touch he burst up the middle after an electric Will Jordan kick return to put the All Blacks deep inside South Africa’s half. With another carry shortly after he tossed aside Kwagga Smith with incredible strength.
His big moment came when he bulldozed Springboks fullback Willie le Roux to send Mt Smart delirious as the All Blacks early onslaught left the visitors shellshocked.
Lock Brodie Retallick praised Frizell’s ‘impressive’ performance revealing he couldn’t resist a second look at the replay of Frizell’s barnstorming try.
“He was awesome, I popped my head up and had a quick look at the big screen when he ran over Le Roux there in the corner,” Retallick said.
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“That’s what you want from your No 6. It’s impressive, he played extremely well I thought.”
On whether Frizell reminded him of All Black legend Jerome Kaino, Retallick could see some similarities with the power game that Frizell brought to the table.
“It was a bit like that. It’s great to see and it’s awesome for him.”
The All Blacks trusted Frizell with the tough carries coming out of their 22, with the workhorse flanker taking the job of setting up the exit kicks.
He finished with 13 carries on the night, equal most of any player on the field with Retallick.
The entire All Black back row stood up in the first half with relentless defence and Frizell managed a key ruck turnover defending in the 22 to scupple a South African attacking possession.
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Head coach Ian Foster said that the 29-year-old has stepped up to the challenge given to him in order to secure the role of the first choice blindside.
“He’s just taken the challenge on board. It’s a jersey he wants. I was delighted,” Foster said.
“I thought last week was one of his best Tests. The Argentinians, they are a tough team and he was strong.
“Then to do it this week was pretty special. I thought he should be pretty proud.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
2 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
2 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
2 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
2 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
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