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The Cory Jane verdict on All Blacks XV speedster Caleb Tangitau
By Ned Lester
Breakout Highlanders star Caleb Tangitau generated huge hype during Super Rugby Pacific with his electric pace on the wing, and has since earned his first two All Blacks XV caps on the team’s European tour. Former All Black Cory Jane, the development team’s defence coach, shared his first impressions of the 22-year-old flyer this week.
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While Tangitau is getting his first taste of the All Blacks environment in London this week, having been called in as injury cover for training, he remains available for All Blacks XV selection in this week’s clash against Uruguay in Béziers.
As the only outside back to earn selection in both of the All Blacks XV’s opening fixtures of the tour, and scoring three tries in those two games, it’s clear he’s impressed the selectors of both the All Blacks and All Blacks XV.
“He’s an awesome talent,” Jane told fellow former All Black Israel Dagg on Sport Nation. “Just seeing what he’s done with the ‘Landers, the change of scenery for him, he’s gone down there and done awesome. And now he’s here with us, you can just see his talent.
“He’s got a lot to learn in the rugby; he gambles a lot, gets a lot of intercepts as well. But he’s taken a few things on board, which is good for him, because he’s got a lot of growth with all the talent that he still has.
“He’s a player for the future if he can continue to grow. He’s got unbelievable speed, which is awesome, too. The future is bright for him.”
Tangitau has stepped into the All Blacks camp while Caleb Clarke is sidelined by concussion protocols, and is joined by Christian Lio-Willie and Josh Beehre, who are covering for the early departures of Samipeni Finau (personal) and Luke Jacobson (injury).
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For the All Blacks XV coaches, catering to the top squad is a top priority. Jane explained what that looks like in practical terms, before getting distracted with a story about a previous visit to Bath, where the England A game was played on the weekend.
“If the guys have had messages from the All Blacks, we want the guys to be able to go out there and play like that, so they can be seen.
“For the rest of the guys, it’s an opportunity to play at a higher level than what most of them have played at, and express themselves.
“Whilst there’s still a little bit of structure on every part of our game, because you’ve got to throw in a little bit to get everyone on the same page, you still want them to go out there and express themselves and play with their skill.
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“It was an awesome occasion. Bath is a cool little city. I remember going through there with the All Blacks. We were on our way to Cardiff, and we stopped for about an hour to have lunch, and I got some chicken wings that still had some feathers in them. So, that was all I remembered from Bath. I didn’t have lunch that day.
“But going back and actually looking around, it’s a cool place. The ground was packed, and hey, we won.”
Jane expanded on the challenges of coaching against sides like the Barbarians and England A, and the value of the contests for the All Blacks XV players.
“The first couple of games, it was the unknown of what they were going to run. So you have to try to get the boys on the same page with a little bit of a system and an understanding of where to be to cover anything.
“And I think it’s been an awesome understanding for our men to come up and here and play against the BaaBaas, which were mostly South Africans, big humans, and then you play against England, and again, they’ve got big humans.
“We just don’t get that now with Super Rugby. You’re just playing against New Zealand or Aussie. And so to experience bigger humans, where the boys understand you’ve got to get off the line a little bit faster because they love winning collisions.
“And so for me, it’s more about giving a good, simple system that we can get on the same page, so that when you don’t know what’s coming at you, you can try and stop it. We know a bit more this week, so we can get a bit more aggressive and excited.
“But I think the big learning for everyone is just the size of the athlete that comes at us, not as explosive as what we’re used to, but just big. It’s a different mentality and a different technique to stop them.”
