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Why the All Blacks just can't seem to leave out Rieko Ioane
Rieko Ioane has been a busy man this year.
After starting all 14 of the Blues’ matches throughout Super Rugby – including their Trans-Tasman final against the Hurricanes, the wing-cum-centre is now set to play his tenth game of the All Blacks‘ international campaign when he runs out against the Springboks on Saturday night.
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Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie have also been named for their tenth appearances in the black jersey for 2021 but half of each of their showings have come off the bench. Ioane, by contrast, will make his ninth start on Saturday.
The 24-year-old is in nearing career-best form, having struggled throughout 2019 and 2020 after first making a name for himself against the British and Irish Lions in 2017.
That lull in form was, as explained by Foster a few weeks ago, very much a product of some lingering injury issues.
“He’s as sharp as I’ve seen him,” the All Blacks head coach said at the time.
“He had a calf injury that really impacted him in 2019, it slowed him down a little bit. I think he came back in 2020 and now this year, as sharp as I’ve seen.”
While the young outside back has made it known that he now prefers to play in the No 13 jersey, he’s looked just as dangerous in his old spot out on the left wing this year, where half of his run-on roles have come throughout the season.
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That’s also where he’ll start this weekend, with Anton Lienert-Brown making a long-awaited return from injury to slot in at centre.
With plenty of wing options in the squad, including George Bridge, Sevu Reece, Will Jordan, Braydon Ennor and Jordie Barrett, Ioane’s continual selection in the match-day side is somewhat curious after Foster made it clear earlier in the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship campaign that in an ideal world, no player would feature in all five matches played in Australia.
“The answer’s no, I don’t anticipate someone playing five in a row,” Foster said in advance of NZ’s first match with Argentina. “But with the combinations and the ramifications of injuries and travel and quarantining, I certainly wouldn’t bet against it.”
While Ioane’s form has made him difficult to leave out of the side, those injury ramifications have also ultimately played a part.
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Lienert-Brown has missed the past three tests with a frustrating hamstring strain and with the only other centre option in the squad, Braydon Ennor, undercooked from his own injury issues throughout the earlier part of the year, the burden naturally fell on Ioane.
It hasn't happened overnight, but Akira and Rieko Ioane are finally delivering on all that potential that was so obvious from their formative years of professional rugby. #AllBlacks #AUSvNZL
?? Gregor Paulhttps://t.co/sXwpx81YLo
— RugbyPass+ (@RugbyPassPlus) September 6, 2021
“He’s a back three and a midfield cover and [while] we’ve had the likes of Braydon Ennor [to pick from], he’s been here [but] hasn’t played much rugby this year because of Covid and quarantining, we weren’t able to give him a guy for Canterbury that he needed before we came over,” Foster said.
“And then with Anton’s ongoing injury over what we thought was going to be one week, turned out to be three weeks. So it has increased the workload on Rieko, there’s no doubt about that. We’re very mindful of that but it’s more a consequence of a couple of other variables in the squad rather than just wanting to play him every week.
“But, to be fair to him, he’s actually done it pretty well. We’ve taken him off early once, I think, in order to try to save his batteries but he’s ready to go.”
With Bridge and Jordan perhaps not performing to the standard that was desired last weekend, and Barret firmly entrenched in the fullback jersey, that leaves only Ioane as a match-fit option on the left wing.
Ioane, like many of his teammates, perhaps wasn’t at his best in the first game with the Springboks but this week’s rematch gives the dangerous ball-runner the opportunity to make amends.
Saturday’s match kicks off at 8:05pm AEST from CBUS Super Stadium on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Comments on RugbyPass
NZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
22 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
22 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
22 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
22 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt 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.
28 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 🤐
22 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….
28 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….
22 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….
90 Go to comments