Time against Steve Jackson as he prepares to restore Manu Samoa to feared World Cup force
Time is short, but Steve Jackson has lofty ambitions with Manu Samoa.
The head coach of World Rugby’s No 16-ranked side has been in the job less than a month but flies out this weekend with his Australasian-based players and management to link with the European professionals for a three-Test northern tour.
It is not, by any stretch, a cutting-edge itinerary: USA (in Spain), Georgia and then Spain, all tier two rugby nations.
“We don’t want to be playing tier two teams, but that’s just the reality of the situation we’re in at the moment. This mini-tournament is important to build confidence heading to the Rugby World Cup.
“On this tour, we want to establish how we want to play the game and the standards we want. But the World Cup is what I am employed to do,” says Jackson, whose two-year contract as the Blues forwards coach ended in disappointment.
Just six weeks ago he was pondering whether to apply for the 2019 North Harbour coaching job two years after leaving that union on a high with the Mitre 10 Cup Championship title.
There was another role in the pipeline, but then a chance meeting between his Blues colleague Al Rogers, who was working with Hawke’s Bay at the time, and former referee Chris Pollock, set in motion the swift chain of events which led to Jackson taking the Manu job. Some would see it as a poisoned chalice given what has happened to Alama Ieremia (2017) and Dicky Tafua (2018).
But Jackson is nothing but excited about what lies ahead. Manu Samoa qualified in July for the World Cup. Now there are just seven Tests before they lock horns with Russia on September 24, 2019. Not since Pat Lam’s boys in 1995 has a Manu team qualified for the RWC quarter-finals. That is too long when you consider the talent often at their disposal.
“I’d be silly if I didn’t (aim for the quarters). I made it clear to the players and management group that we were not going there just to compete and be happy with our performances if we lose. We are going to win and to win as many games as possible. It’s about me making those players believe they are good enough to beat these teams,” he adds.
Jackson talks of bringing the “fear” back into the Manu jersey. He wants players who are passionate for their homeland and their team.
“Privileged is the word. To be a head coach again, for an international side and going to a World Cup, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
His 31-man squad had to be lodged with World Rugby on October 5, within a few days of him getting his feet under the desk. There was little time to sift local talent – Samoa A won the Americas Pacific Challenge days later – but they could come into reckoning next year.
Samoa coach, the great Manu wing Brian Lima, has already let Jackson know publicly about the need to promote Samoan-based players where possible.
Loose forward TJ Ioane has dropped out through injury, while Otago prop Hisa Sasagi has an offshore contract to head to once the Mitre 10 Cup Championship final is done this Friday.
Chris Vui, who would have been skipper, having worn the captaincy armband for Jackson with North Harbour in 2016, is out with a groin injury, while halfback Kahn Fotuali’i is only just back from long-term injury. Brandon Nansen of the Dragons has been cleared of concussion symptoms after his place was in doubt.
Scarlets centre Kieron Fonotia is unavailable and is believed to have a clause in his club contract that removes him from November international selection.
“There is an international window in November where all players are available, but in some instances you have to give them leeway with their clubs,” says Jackson, diplomatically.
First-five Tusi Pisi’s selection has aroused some public comment. The 36-year-old was first selected by Michael Jones for the Manu way back in 2002 but did not play his first Test until 2011. He now has 34 internationals to his name and is plying his trade for the Bristol Bears.
He and Auckland-based D’Angelo Leuila are the No 10s. There are few others eligible and up to the mark.
“I’ve known Tusi a long time,” says Jackson, who played club rugby with Pisi at Massey in 2004. “He’s a highly professional rugby player and athlete. He has come in for some criticism, but I back myself as a coach to get the best out of Tusi.”
The same goes for other players, including uncapped men like Tasman hooker Ray Niuia, North Harbour lock Ben Nee-Nee, Hawke’s Bay midfielder Stacey Ili and Bay of Plenty second-rower Kane Leaupepe. The latter, in particular, was in fine Mitre 10 Cup form. He is the sort of youngish, dynamic, ball-winning lock that Jackson wants to see in his pack come RWC 2019.
Those who missed the cut, such as wing Sinoti Sinoti, and locks Joe Tekori and Auckland’s Fa’atiga Lemalu, may all still come into calculations next year.
‘The door’s not closed on anyone. But I have a way we want to play the game. It’s about relentless work ethic. We’re going to hang in there and play until the 80th minute. To play that way, you’ve got to be in condition. It’s not just about the guys who have been there before,” declares Jackson.
Funnily enough, one of those who has been there, done that, is loose forward Faifili Levave, now 32, and straight from Wellington club rugby via Japan. Jackson rates him highly and Levave was one of the first he called for this tour.
The hope is that this group return to their franchise or club, spread the word about how the Manu has a good thing going and Jackson can then call on a large group of players from which to plan his assault on RWC 2019. Among the coaching group is Rogers, scrum coach Ben Afeaki and former Wallaby Chris Latham, who provides the continuity with the Tafua regime.
Jackson has forged a solid reputation with Counties Manukau, North Harbour and the Blues, despite the 2018 output of the latter. He is as well qualified as any to guide Manu Samoa back to the heights they have known only sporadically since the glory days of 1991.
Comments on RugbyPass
Totally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
1 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
5 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
36 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
36 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to commentsThis 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”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
4 Go to commentsBut 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.
36 Go to commentsIt could be coincidental or prescient that the All Blacks most dominant period under Steve Hansen was when the Crusaders had their least successful period under Todd Blackadder and then the positions reversed when Razor took over the Crusaders.
36 Go to commentsDefinitely sound read everybodyexpects immediate results these days, I don't think any team would travel well at all having lost three of the most important game changers in the game,compiled with the massive injury list they are now carrying, good to see a different more in depth perspective of a coaches history.
3 Go to commentsSinckler is a really big loss for English rugby.
2 Go to commentsThanks 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
36 Go to commentsNo way. If you are trying to picture New Zealand rugby with an All Blacks mindset, there have been two factors instrumental to the decline of NZ rugby to date. Those are the horror that the Blues have become and, probably more so, the fixture that the Crusaders became. I don’t think it was healthy to have one team so dominant for so long, both for lack of proper representation of players from outside that environment and on the over reliance on players from within it. If you are another international side, like Ireland for example, sure. You can copy paste something succinct from one level to the next and experience a huge increase in standards, but ultimately you will not be maximizing it, which is what you need to perform to the level the ABs do. Added to that is the apathy that develops in the whole game as a result of one sides dominance. NZ, Super, and Championship rugby should all experience a boom as a result of things balancing out. That said, there is a lot of bad news happening in NZ rugby recently, and I’m not sure the game can be handled well enough here to postpone the always-there feeling of inevitable decline of rugby.
36 Go to comments