What's Ian Foster to do with Sam Cane, Ardie Savea and Dalton Papalii?
Sam Cane and Ardie Savea have both re-signed with New Zealand Rugby for the next four years and will undoubtedly remain key pieces of the All Blacks puzzle heading into the 2023 World Cup.
Two years into Ian Foster’s reign as head coach of the national side, however, the question still remains how best to utilise the two senior loose forwards.
It was a conundrum that Foster’s predecessor, Steve Hansen, was never really able to get to the bottom of.
Heading into the 2019 World Cup, Hansen seemingly settled on running Savea and Cane in tandem flanker roles, with the former setting up on the blindside and the latter packing down on the openside. With Kieran Read the first-choice number 8, it was the only strategy that allowed both players to take the field in the starting line-up.
However, come the fateful semi-final clash with England, that tactic was thrown out the window and Cane was dropped to the bench with second-rower Scott Barrett tasked with wearing the No 6 jersey in order to combat England’s lineout.
The plan backfired, New Zealand suffered a 19-7 defeat and the All Blacks were once again left to rue playing a man out of position in one of the biggest games of the four-year calendar.
Two years later, and it’s hard to gauge whether Foster – an assistant coach with the All Blacks in 2019 – is any wiser how to best utilise his cattle at this stage in his tenure.
With Read retiring from the international game following the World Cup, Savea has seemingly found a new home for himself at the back of the scrum; in the 12 tests that Savea has played over the past two seasons, nine of those were in the No 8 jersey.
Cane, meanwhile, hasn’t had quite as busy a two-year period thanks to the injury he sustained earlier this season that curtailed much of his All Blacks campaign.
Still, throughout 2020, Cane was regularly employed on the openside flank with Savea at number 8, and that’s the approach that was also used in the final game of this year’s test season against France.
"The thing is that no All Black really presented a compelling case this year, which was reflected in World Rugby’s own award nominees."
– Hamish Bidwell ahead of New Zealand Rugby's annual award night. https://t.co/aPHFQHYR54— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 7, 2021
Following last year’s campaign, questions would have rightfully been asked whether the number 8 role was actually the best for Savea, or whether he was being shifted to accommodate for Cane, the new All Blacks captain.
With Cane out of the picture for much of this year, however, Foster and his selectors didn’t shift Savea onto the openside flank, instead taking the opportunity to hand ample minutes to Dalton Papalii in the No 7 jersey.
Papalii was by many accounts one of the All Blacks’ most consistent players throughout 2021 and while Foster has ostensibly settled on how to best use Cane and Savea in tandem, he now has a new problem on his hands – where does Papalii fit into things moving forward? Will the 24-year-old be relegated to the reserves, or not even make the match-day squad next year?
Foster has noted that Papalii could fit into the team on the blindside flank, where he played much of his early professional rugby.
“If you look as his key strength, it’s probably his ability in the tackle and to be really forceful and dominant in that space,” Foster told Stuff last month.
“From our perspective, he would probably leave us with a shorter loose forward trio than you would potentially want, but he’s also pretty competent at lineout time. So the answer is yes. Long term I’d have no issues playing him [at blindside flanker].”
With Papalii, Cane and Savea all first and foremost openside flankers, would it really be feasible for the trio to line up together?
Perhaps if the likes of Akira Ioane, Luke Jacobson and Ethan Blackadder weren’t firing then the combination might make sense, but a specialist may be better employed on the blindside flank, if the option is available.
With the All Blacks calling upon a glut of loose forwards this year, the biggest challenge for Foster in 2022 could be narrowing down his selections and then determining once and for all who the three key men are to run out in the loose forwards moving forward.
Comments on RugbyPass
It couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
77 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to comments