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The Wallaby 'old head' the All Blacks freely admit they're going to target

By AAP
Aaron Smith of the All Blacks looks on with team mates during the Bledisloe Cup match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies at Sky Stadium on October 11, 2020 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

The All Blacks will apply the blowtorch to Reece Hodge, the Wallabies’ latest five-eighth offering, as they plot to complete a Bledisloe Cup series drubbing in Brisbane.

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Rookie playmaker Noah Lolesio has been sent back to the bench for the Suncorp Stadium match after the 43-5 thrashing in Sydney, which saw New Zealand secure the trophy.

And they now have set their sights on Hodge, who will make just his second start at five-eighth in 42 Tests.

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Dave Rennie explains why he’s picked Reece Hodge:

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Dave Rennie explains why he’s picked Reece Hodge:

His only other outing at No.10 came in 2017 against Japan in Yokohama when regular playmaker Bernard Foley fell sick, with the Wallabies winning 63-30 and Hodge successfully converting all nine tries.

The All Blacks will be a far tougher proposition for the 26-year-old, who has won the majority of his caps on the wing, with coach Ian Foster saying they planned to test him out.

“He’s (Hodge) shown skills in the past at 10 but it’s going to be another thing to go into a big Test like this and i t’s something that we’re going to ask a few questions of,” Foster said.

The All Blacks mentor thought Hodge’s selection was designed to improve the Wallabies’ kicking game which was woeful in the third Test and bring some starch to their defence.

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“They were criticised a bit with their kicking game last week so he won’t be short of that skill-set; he’s got a big kick on him,” Foster said.

“When you look at the 10, 12, 13 combination they are really trying to shore that space up defensively.”

The Australians have struggled since the second-Test loss of veteran playmaker Matt Toomua, who is out for the year with a groin injury.

The injured James O’Connor will also miss the Brisbane match after a knee injury ruled him out of the Sydney clash, and it appears the Wallabies have gone back to basics.

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“They may have lost their decision-maker in Toomua so they’ve probably gone with a lot more direct running and a lot more of a power game through the mi dfield,” Foster said.

“Hodge is more of an old head and they will use his experience to guide the team around.”

A heavy loss would be a final trans-Tasman insult, given the venue is historically Australia’s most successful stomping ground.

The Wallabies are on a six-game winning streak at Suncorp Stadium dating back to 2016, including a 2017 win over the All Blacks.

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Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 12 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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