The All Blacks selection dilemma that Sam Cane's captaincy has created
There’s no doubting that the All Blacks captaincy role bestowed on Sam Cane is an appointment richly deserved for the 63-test flanker.
Few players possess as much defensive accuracy, consistency and quality as Cane, and the fact that he first captained his nation five years ago at the age of 23 is indicative of how highly his leadership capabilities are regarded.
The perseverance he showed to return from a fractured neck suffered in 2018 further illustrates the mental and physical toughness the 28-year-old wields, making him the logical choice to succeed Kieran Read.
Despite having started last year’s World Cup semi-final defeat to England off the bench, a player of Cane’s calibre will demand a starting role in the All Blacks set-up, which is more than what can be said of his only other challenger for the leadership role.
While substantially more experienced than his international teammate, 31-year-old Sam Whitelock has already shown signs of wear and tear as he enters the twilight of his professional career.
The 117-test veteran remains a crucial cog in the make-up of the All Blacks, and that was reflected in his most recent contract extension with New Zealand Rugby which will keep him locked in until the 2023 World Cup in France.
Whether Whitelock actually makes the tournament given his exhaustive schedules with the All Blacks and Crusaders is another question entirely, but those doubts surrounding his longevity only supports the reasoning behind Cane’s induction as skipper.
He will go down as one of the all-time great locks, but Test centurion Sam Whitelock can't just live on reputation with the All Blacks. @bensmithrugby writes the odds are against Whitelock being around by the next World Cup. #AllBlacks https://t.co/eJ9bYt3VuI
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 6, 2020
The implications of Ian Foster’s decision to promote the Chiefs stalwart extends beyond the squad’s leadership dynamics, though.
With Cane’s new captaincy role effectively cementing his place in New Zealand’s starting XV, questions will be asked of what beckons for 2019 World Rugby player of the year nominee, Ardie Savea.
Predominantly an openside flanker, Savea has tussled with Cane regularly throughout the past four years for a starting role following the retirement of Richie McCaw after the 2015 World Cup.
Up until the end of 2018, Cane was regarded the premier No. 7 in the country for the very attributes mentioned above, but his neck fracture against the Springboks in October of that year opened an avenue for Savea to improve his standing in the pecking order.
An impressive end-of-year tour with the All Blacks was followed up by a barnstorming Super Rugby campaign last season, creating a selection dilemma for the national selectors of how they were going to fit all of Cane, Savea and captain Read into starting roles.
Cane and Read were ultimately retained in their favoured positions of openside flanker and No. 8, while Savea was thrust into the blindside flanker spot to alleviate the self-imposed absence of departed Highlanders bruiser Liam Squire.
As one of the most robust loose forwards in the world, Savea’s transition to the short side of the scrum was seamless.
His explosive ball-carrying, eye-catching pace and defensive work rate stood out to the point that the Hurricanes star blossomed into one of the best players on the planet.
More pertinently from a Kiwi perspective, though, Savea’s positional switch exemplified his versatility across the back row.
Even while donning the No. 6 jersey, the 26-year-old was often used off the back of the scrum to best utilise his prowess with ball in hand.
It’s that fluidity throughout the loose forward positions that Foster will look to when the time comes to picking his first All Blacks team of the year, whenever that may be.
“We’ve shown we can both get them on the park at the same time which we’re excited about,” Foster said at the time of Cane’s captaincy announcement earlier this week.
“Certainly, when you look at form from last year, both players were good enough to be selected.
“We’ve looked at the versatility of Ardie and Sam so we’ve got some really good options there. Some of that might be influenced by who puts their hand up as the third loosie.
“There’s plenty of room for people to impress in that six-eight role and we’ll look at the combinations from then on.
“Ardie is a massive part of our plans, as is Sam Cane. I’m pretty sure we’ll find a way to get them both playing, and playing really well.”
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With Cane’s and Savea’s places in the national side virtually untouchable right now, the focus will shift to deciding who will accompany the pair in New Zealand’s loose forward trio.
The exit of Read to Toyota Verblitz in Japan’s Top League means Savea could well make a permanent move to No. 8, a position that may prove to be where he is most effective.
Alternatively, he may be retained at blindside flanker if a promising option emerges at No. 8.
Blues youngster Hoskins Sotutu certainly fits that bill after a series of spellbinding performances for the Auckland franchise this year before Super Rugby was ground to a halt in March.
So too does Crusaders rookie Cullen Grace, who would presumably be used as a blindside flanker at international level after flourishing there in Super Rugby.
Not only would his height be a valued asset at the lineout, but his inclusion in an All Blacks side would allow Savea to maintain a place at the base of the scrum.
However, both Grace and Sotutu have stern competition in the form of two-test Chiefs youngster Luke Jacobson and three-test Blues tearaway Dalton Papalii.
Jacobson, in particular, has been earmarked for future success, although a run of injuries has hampered the 23-year-old’s progress in recent times.
Outside of that quartet, nine-test blindside Shannon Frizell has brought a physical edge since entering the professional scene two years ago, but the former Tongan age-grade football representative has struggled for form in a depleted Highlanders outfit this year.
The same can be said of experienced Hurricanes utility forward Vaea Fifita and Blues veteran Akira Ioane, both of whom are yet to find the vein of form that first made them All Blacks three years ago.
Elsewhere, long-serving Chiefs flanker Lachlan Boshier caught the eyes of many early on in this year’s Super Rugby, while Hurricanes sophomore Du’Plessis Kirifi remains a long-term option in the years to come.
Regardless of who fits in alongside Cane and Savea in the national side, it’s undeniable that the depth of quality loose forwards throughout New Zealand leaves the All Blacks in good stead when they next run out onto the park.
No matter where Savea is deployed to complement the services of his skipper in the coming months, Foster can rest assured that his back row stocks will remain unaffected – if not enhanced – by the selection of Cane as his side’s captain.
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!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 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.
25 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.
25 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