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'What are we going to gain if we change?': Ian Foster talks All Blacks selections
Despite sitting on four straight losses heading into this weekend’s clash with the Springboks, All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has resisted making sweeping changes to the line-up that’s been largely utilised throughout the season to date.
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Three of the four changes made for Saturday’s fixture are significant, however, with Foster swapping out his starting props and also dropping Beauden Barrett to the bench with Richie Mo’unga taking his spot in the No 10 jersey.
Shannon Frizell’s elevation to the blindside flanker role in place of Akira Ioane rounds out the changes to the starting line-up, with uncapped 22-year-old tighthead Fletcher Newell also joining the bench for a potential Test debut and Codie Taylor taking over from Dane Coles as the reserve hooker.
“As a group of selectors, with Joe and I and then the coaches, we went through the same process we’d normally do at selection time,” Foster told media on Thursday after naming his squad.
“We felt both Tyrel and Ethan are in a really good position. I think, particularly Ethan coming in, it’s a great opportunity for him to switch from that bench (role). [He’s] a strong scrummager and so excited about that.
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“Shannon, I thought, having his experience but also he looked rearing to go off the bench.
“Richie’s trained really, really well and contributed massively behind the scenes. Particularly, just a chance to swap those two [him and Barrett] around. They were the ones that we went with. Did we consider others? Of course we did. But that’s where we got to.”
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Foster later added: “Clearly we’ve made some changes the last few weeks. I think we’ve been working really, really hard to bed those in and so when we look at the squad, we haven’t made wholesale changes but we’ve certainly made some pretty critical ones, we think, to add energy.
“There’s a lot of people who aren’t playing that you could argue deserve a right to play because they’ve been training hard, preparing well but it hasn’t been a start of the year that’s [allows for the team to] rotate a lot. It’s about growing the experience and that’s what we’re doing.”
Despite Will Jordan, Beauden Barrett and Jordie Barrett all finding themselves in the wars over the past week, all three will suit up on Saturday, with Jordan and Jordie Barrett holding their spots in the outside backs from last Saturday’s 26-10 defeat.
“[They’re] all good to go,” said Foster. “Will’s been whacked by a bit of a stomach bug so he hasn’t trained much but he’s done a lot of work behind the scenes.
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“He’ll get through a significant part of training today and we’ll just keep putting stuff in his mouth to get his energy right. He’s looking good.”
Although midfielders David Havili and Rieko Ioane struggled to assert themselves against the Springboks, Foster has retained that combo for Saturday and suggested that they will benefit from their tough run of games.
“I think sometimes you weigh up selection – you’ve got to look at ‘What are we going to gain if we change?’ Clearly we’ve got two midfielders at home in Anton [Lienert-Brown] and Jack [Goodhue] so we really believe this is a time for growing experience in this particular group,” said Foster.
“You tread that line at selection time: do you make wholesale changes or take the lessons from it? I’ve said that this group is still evolving. These experiences are actually gold for us. We don’t like not winning but the reality is we’re getting some clear markers against a very good team and I just trust the lessons that we take and put the onus back on us as a group to make sure that we accept those lessons, learn them and keep growing our awareness of the game. That’s what we’re banking on.”
Mo’unga, who looked sharp off the bench against the Springboks in Mbombela but while Foster asserted that the All Balcks need to up their kicking game at Ellis Park, that’s not behind the swap at first five-eighth.
“Like I said, he’s prepared well, trained well. Him and Beaudy have been massive behind the scenes anyway in terms of really working hard on the things that we want to achieve. I’m sure he’ll bring his own little flavour to it. It’s a matter of getting the balance between our kick, pass, run – we know that.
“Clearly last week we didn’t get any field position early and that really dampened us so we’ve just got to make sure we get some of that early against a team that kicks out of that space really well.”
Saturday’s match is due to kick off at 5:05pm SAST from Johannesburg.
Comments on RugbyPass
Jake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
34 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
34 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks 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?
86 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.
9 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?
34 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?
9 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!
9 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!
11 Go to comments