Which props will emerge unscathed from All Blacks' battle for the front row?
Ian Foster has somewhat of a conundrum on his hands.
While elder heads Nepo Laulala, Ofa Tuungafasi, Karl Tu’inukuafe and Angus Ta’avao were all selected in the front row for the All Blacks‘ July series with Ireland, injuries and a change in tack saw the former three absent from the more recent trip to South Africa.
30-year-old George Bower – in his second year as an All Black – started the season as the side’s first-choice loosehead prop in the absence of the sidelined Joe Moody while Laulala and Tuungafasi shared starting duties on the tighthead side of the scrum throughout July.
Bower was again employed in the No 1 jersey in the first leg of the South African tour with the experienced Ta’avao partnering him in the front-row but after a middling performance in Mbombela, coach Foster decided to change things up by handing spots in the match-day 23 to Ethan de Groot, Tyrel Lomax and Fletcher Newell – three players who weren’t even included in the squad for July.
All in all, nine props have been handed opportunities throughout the All Blacks’ opening five Tests of the season – and nine props certainly won’t be required for the remainder of The Rugby Championship, which will see NZ take on Argentina and Australia over the coming four matches.
Injuries to Laulala and Tuungafasi paved the way for the inexperienced duo of Lomax and the uncapped Newell to feature against the Springboks but the former two will make their returns to the field for their respective provincial sides this weekend and, as such, should be available to take on Los Pumas in Christchurch on August 27. As such, Foster will need to make the call whether to stick with the new breed of props or revert to the more experienced options.
Had Foster fallen on his sword and been replaced, a new coach may have been able to put loyalty aside and opt for the younger models but that’s probably less likely with the status quo being maintained. Perhaps the biggest fault Foster has shown throughout his tenure in charge of the All Blacks is his commitment to sticking with incumbents (both players and coaches) when there’s been an obvious need for change.
Hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho was used off the bench in the opening two matches of the season when it was clear to all and sundry that he should have been Foster’s first-choice hooker and it came as a surprise to no one when the 25-year-old was one of the best players throughout the two Springboks clashes. His elevation into the No 2 jersey came far too late and the same could be said for the promotions of Ethan de Groot and Fletcher Newell, who Foster was almost forced to play after injuries prevented him from sticking with the tried and tested.
The likes of De Groot and Newell are young and still not yet entirely proven but they’re also clearly long-term options in the All Blacks scrum. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not ready to be regularly playing big Test matches, however.
“For [De Groot and Lomax] to start in that test match, without a doubt the biggest Test that they’ve had in their careers, to perform the way they did was awesome,” said All Blacks captain Sam Cane following the 35-22 win in Johannesburg.
“I’m really stoked for those guys, it makes for some really healthy competition going forward.”
Foster was equally as pleased for the young props: “There was some new players in [the pack] that were pretty special. Ethan de Groot is not brand new but I was really proud of his game today. Tyrel Lomax, first start in a big test for him and the likes of a Fletcher Newell, a superb young man, what a place to play your debut.”
Now, however, comes the real challenge for Foster, selector Joe Schmidt and forwards coach Jason Ryan: determining whether to revert back to the old brigade and send the new kids on the block back to provincial rugby for the remainder of the season, or to invest in youth.
“That’s a good question,” Foster said on Sunday when asked how they would tread moving forward. “[It] just keeps the pressure on – including [on] us as selectors.”
With Laulala and Tuungafasi both nearing the half-century mark for Test caps, they’ll likely find themselves favoured ahead of the affable Angus Ta’avao, who may well have played his last match in black earlier this month. On the loosehead side of the scrum, the situation is less cloudy with only three specialists in the squad after Karl Tu’inukuafe was omitted from the squad for the Rugby Championship. With the All Blacks XV set for their inaugural tour later this year, it could be that Foster opts to travel with an enlarged squad in November but then offloads newbie Newell for the second-string games before making a call early next year.
It’s a good position for the All Blacks to be in but it means some tough decisions need to be made in the near future – and that’s not necessarily something at which Ian Foster flourishes.
Comments on RugbyPass
Bulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally 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…
2 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.
7 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.
45 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? 😂
45 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 comments