The new requirement for an All Blacks loose forward
When New Zealand travelled to the World Cup in Japan last year, the make-up of their first-choice loose forward trio was still not quite clear.
Their three best players – Kieran Read, Ardie Savea and Sam Cane – had been crammed into one trio to take on the Wallabies in Perth earlier in the year, but questions remained over the viability of that option.
Savea and Cane had traditionally been viewed as out and out openside flankers, but that thinking changed (or was forced to change) in 2019 when it became apparent that there was no one else ready to step up to the plate as an international blindside flanker.
Liam Squire, Jerome Kaino’s heir-apparent, had withdrawn himself from national selection for personal reasons while Luke Jacobson showed plenty of promise but eventually was pulled from the tournament due to lingering concussion issues.
The experimental trio in Perth were outplayed by their Australian opposition but the fact that the All Blacks were reduced to a seven-man pack for half the game due to a red card incurred by lock Scott Barrett made it difficult to assess the performance.
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The same trio again started against Australia three weeks later in the Bledisloe Cup decider and all three players stood up to help crush the Wallabies 36-nil.
Still, there were reservations about the combination.
Cane and Read had it all right, starting in their usual positions, but Savea was the one who was forced into a slightly different role on the blindside flank.
Questions were asked concerning whether Savea had the bulk or height to shift into the 6 jersey, or if his influence would be stifled by the more conservative nature of the role.
Still, coach Steve Hansen persisted and it wasn’t until New Zealand’s ill-fated semi-final against England that a new option was trialled, with Barrett shifted from the second row onto the blindside.
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 14, 2019
It wasn’t quite the inspired selection that Hansen would have hoped for, with the English forwards comfortably playing their New Zealand opponents out of the game.
Hansen himself probably still wonder what his best option would have been going into that game. Jacobson and Squire were both back home in New Zealand, alongside the likes of Vaea Fifita and Luke Whitelock, while Shannon Frizell and Matt Todd were saved for the bronze playoff a week later.
Whatever the right answer is, it’s becoming clear that the role of each loose forward is no longer as simple as it was in the past.
Alongside the usual jobs of a forward, tackling, fetching and ball carrying were the traditional jobs of the blindside flanker, the openside flanker and the number 8, respectively.
Loose forwards are now expected to do all of the above, as well as running in open play, passing and sometimes even kicking.
There are simply no players on the field that are expected to have as diverse a pallet of skills as a loosie – and coaches and fans alike are expecting more and more from New Zealand’s players.
Jacobson, who has played almost zero rugby on the openside has been touted as Test-level 7 – simply because he can do all the jobs required of a modern-day loosie.
“I feel a lot more comfortable at 6 and 8,” said Jacobson at the Super Rugby launch. “I’ve had a little bit of time in the saddle at 7 to build a little confidence there.
“I’m not too phased where I am, as long as I’m out on the pitch. If that’s where the team wants me then sweet as, no dramas.”
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 26, 2020
Savea has also covered all three loose forward roles between the Hurricanes and the All Blacks while Cane has been used at the back of the scrum for the Chiefs.
In the Chiefs’ game against the Reds, late in the 2019 season, Cane was originally named on the blindside with Lachlan Boshier at 7 but when the pair ran out of the tunnel for the match, it was Boshier who’d been handed the 6 jersey.
“To be honest, it wouldn’t worry me which number they have on their back,” said Chiefs forwards coach Neil Barnes ahead of the game. “We talk about what roles they’re going to do from set-piece and, from there, it’s just rugby and they play, so it’s not a big deal.”
Cane also shed some light on the situation.
“As soon as [the team] got announced, me and Lachie talked and Neil came over and said ‘I don’t care which jersey you guys wear, you guys sort it out’.
“We were like ‘well I’m doing seven at lineout, Lachie’s doing six at lineout’. I said [to Boshier] ‘do you want to do seven at scrum time?’, he goes ‘I don’t really mind’. I said ‘sweet, I don’t mind either.’”
Because there’s so much more to the roles than simply tackling or causing a ruckus at the breakdown, the similarities between the two positions have grown so much compared to the aspects that make them unique that distinguishing between the two is almost pointless.
The current crop of New Zealand loose forwards that will contest for spots in the first All Blacks squad for the year are all more than capable of playing in at least two positions.
Incumbents Cane and Savea can effectively operate across the whole backrow. Jacobson and Blues flanker Dalton Papalii are in a similar boat – though their comparative lack of experience means they haven’t had the chance to show off their abilities in all three positions at Super Rugby level yet.
Then there are the hybrid lock/flankers like Barrett, Fifita, Frizell and Tom Robinson.
It’s fast becoming apparent that to progress to the next level, you’re going to need at least a few strings to your both – especially with compacted squads, such as at the World Cup.
With just 31 men allowed, the ability to cover more than one position is imperative and, thankfully, most of New Zealand’s loose forwards are capable of doing so.
The role of a loose forward has grown considerably since the early years of professionalism where specialisation was key. Now, strength lies in breadth of skills and selection at the highest levels is becoming more and more dependent on it.
WATCH: England coach Eddie Jones says he wants the team to be “the greatest team the rugby world has ever seen” following his announcement of the team’s Six Nations squad.
Comments on RugbyPass
best news and very helpful
4 Go to commentsA year ago Ireland and France looked impressive. In this 6N neither looked special. Both have lost good players, but more importantly teams have figured out how to shut them down. In particular the Irish loss to a rebuilding England and the home game struggle against a brave Scotland did nothing to prove that the Irish RWC result was undeserved. If the Scots can shut down the Irish attack, then SA can do so with interest. Rassie will have watched that game with confidence. Farrell is smart, and the Irish team is talented, so we should expect a more creative game plan in SA. But if all they bring is what they showed against Scotland then Ireland is going to struggle against the Boks. It was a fun 6N tournament, but the win for Ireland was as much about weak competition as about Irish brilliance. It was mostly due to France being off the boil, Wales and Italy not being contenders, and Scotland being a home game. England are looking much better, but “much better” should not be enough to topple a team that is supposed by some to be The Best in the World. I hope that Ireland can bump it up a notch or two for the Bok tour. A year ago they were fantastic to watch. It would be great to see that again.
24 Go to commentsLooking forward to the Wallabies being competitive again. No doubt that Joe can get them back on track.
1 Go to commentsThanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.
43 Go to commentsGreat story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
43 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
24 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
43 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
43 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
4 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to comments