The All Blacks selection that's hardest to wrap your head around
Ahead of Ian Foster unveiling the latest All Blacks squad of the year to contest the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship, it was already expected there would be changes to the team.
Following Saturday’s win over Fiji, Foster revealed that returns from injury were nearing for props Ofa Tuungafasi and Joe Moody, who missed the entirety of the July series.
The All Blacks named eight props for their squad to take on Tonga and Fiji. Experienced loosehead Karl Tu’inukuafe was selected alongside rookies George Bower and Ethan de Groot while Nepo Laulala, Tyrel Lomax and the returning Angus Ta’avao were named as tighthead options.
With specialist loosehead Moody and the multi-talented Tuungafasi now available for selection, it would have made sense for Foster to drop one prop from each side of the scrum for The Rugby Championship – but that’s not what happened.
Instead, Bower and De Groot were both omitted from the 36-man squad (although Bower has been retained as an injury replacement until Moody returns to full fitness).
While Tuungafasi is capable of playing on both sides of the scrum, it’s in the No 3 jersey where’s he’s been almost exclusively employed over the past 18 months.
In fact, not since 2019 has the 29-year-old start a match wearing No 1 at any level of the professional game – although he did come off the bench and slot into the tighthead role on two occasions throughout this year’s Super Rugby campaign with the Blues.
With both Bower and De Groot axed from the All Blacks squad, however, it appears that the selectors now see Tuungafasi as someone capable of stepping back into the loosehead role that he filled from the bench throughout the 2019 World Cup.
The decision, however, does raise some questions.
Many considered Tyrel Lomax a very lucky inclusion in the first All Blacks squad of the year, given his disappointing form throughout the Super Rugby season.
Ethan de Groot finished the 2020 season weighing 135 kilograms. Six months on and 10 kilos lighter, the 22-year-old is now an All Black.
?? @TomVinicombehttps://t.co/GchgcS10YY
— The XV Rugby (@TheXV) June 23, 2021
The 25-year-old was well and truly accounted for at the scrums by a number of New Zealand looseheads – including De Groot and the Chiefs’ Aidan Ross – while he was also lucky to escape a red card for a dubious tackle on Red prop Feao Fotuaika during the Hurricane’s Trans-Tasman campaign.
With Tuungafasi out of action, however, New Zealand’s depth in the No 3 jersey isn’t exactly bursting at the seams.
With both Laulala and Tuungafasi already part of the regular All Blacks propping set-up, third-choice Marcel Renata is the only other option in Auckland.
At the Chiefs, Ta’avao was backed up by Sione Mafileo and, eventually, Atunaisa Moli. Moli, with a bit of game time under his belt, could make a return to the All Blacks in the future but played just a single Super Rugby match upon his return from injury.
In New Zealand’s capital, Lomax started every match bar one while the Crusaders employed Samoa’s Michael Alaalatoa at tighthead. 29-year-old Siate Tokolahi was the Highlanders’ No 3 of choice this season, starting all but one match – but he’s now off to France.
By comparison, NZ’s loosehead stocks are exceptionally healthy.
Moody, Tu’inukuafe, Bower, De Groot and the Blues’ Alex Hodgman all have test experience while Ross spent some time with the national squad during July. Throw the likes of youngsters Tamaiti Williams and Ollie Norris into the mix and there’s little reason for concern.
That all makes the selection of just two specialists for the Rugby Championship all the more difficult to justify.
Perhaps Foster and his fellow selectors want to build depth in the tighthead position – but that doesn’t seem like a job for the national squad.
With so many proven looseheads around the country, however, Foster will be confident that should injury strike Moody, Tu’inukuafe or Tuungafasi, there’ll be plenty of men ready to step in and fill their boots.
The upcoming NPC – kicking off on August 7, the same weekend as the All Blacks’ next test – is the perfect time for a young No 3 to make a statement. It’s entirely possible that there’s a young tighthead prop set to make their provincial debut in the coming weeks who’s not on any national radars, but could be a surprise call-up for the All Blacks squad when they tour Europe at the end of year.
Watch this space.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
81 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
3 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
3 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
3 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to comments