The All Blacks playing for their careers in this year's Super Rugby Pacific
Are a few All Blacks playing for their careers in 2022? The honest answer is plenty should be, but few actually are.
By my count, there are about 45 current All Blacks. That’s to say guys who suited up in 2021 or would’ve done had they been fit.
I lump them into three groups: the definites, the guys who’ll get picked again but arguably shouldn’t and the final group of blokes who are neither here nor there.
The complicating factor is the team itself. We’ve seen no evidence of a definite gameplan and no real semblance of a starting XV.
If the men coaching and selecting the side have an actual plan, then they’re doing a good job of keeping people guessing.
That’s not entirely uncommon at this stage of the Rugby World Cup cycle, but it would be a brave management group who waited until the knockout rounds of that tournament to finally show their hand.
Let’s start with the definites, of which I don’t have many. Bear in mind, these are my definites and won’t tally with yours, your mates or the blokes who actually pick the team.
Jordie Barrett, Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith, Ardie Savea, Scott Barrett, Tupou Vaa’i and Dane Coles are my dudes that have to be there in 2023.
I don’t like Ioane as a centre and still have doubts about which spot in the loose trio Savea should take, but they’re a must in New Zealand’s best side.
There’s no props there, just one midfield back and no-one to play No.6. Or a No.7, depending on where Savea ends up.
Fingers crossed that one or two emerge between now and then.
The next bit’s hard, because some of these have been outstanding All Blacks, but there are a group of players who really need to show us something this year. That starts with Super Rugby Pacific, which not every elite player will be too enthused about.
I want Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick to still be All Blacks come 2023, but they’ll need to justify it. It would be nice if Joe Moody, Codie Taylor, Richie Mo’unga, Ofa Tuungafasi and Sam Cane could join them but, in all fairness, they’ll need to be quite a lot better.
Beyond them, TJ Perenara, David Havili and George Bridge could have few complaints if a quiet franchise season sees them fall from All Blacks contention.
But add those 10 names to the guys on the definites list and that’s still only 20 players.
It’s no so long ago that we sympathised with selectors because of all the good players they had to leave out. Sadly, we’re now in an era where merely adequate footballers have become regulars in the squad.
Would some guys perform better under a different coaching group? I suspect so, but it’s a moot point.
We’ve got what we’ve got and there is a large group of players who need to find a way to play to their potential in an All Blacks jumper. We all believe the talent exists, but the performances in 2020 and 2021 haven’t backed that belief up often enough.
Frankly, it feels like the All Blacks are a team in transition, in which some all-time greats are showing their age and the next generation aren’t quite good enough.
If I have a wish for Super Rugby Pacific, it’s that guys grind it out game after game. I don’t want to see a good 40 minutes here or a barnstorming fortnight there. I want to see guys demand selection through consistency of performance.
If Whitelock and Retallick want to be among the first names on the teamsheet, then they have to earn it. If Cane is to finally establish himself as captain, then he’ll have to prove his durability. If Taylor wants to hold off the challenge of Samisoni Taukei’aho, then that starts with the Crusaders. If Moody still bristles at the suggestion the All Blacks pack got done by Ireland in Dublin, then he needs to show it rather than say it.
The challenge for all the would-be’s and might-be’s is to match the effort and excellence of Ardie Savea, to find the accuracy that someone like Jordie Barrett has.
Lots of positions remain wide open here and it’s time for a lot of players to actually justify their All Blacks status.
Comments on RugbyPass
Yeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
1 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
4 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
4 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
4 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
13 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
13 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
13 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
4 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
4 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
3 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.
4 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.
3 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 comments