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Will Jordan on whether he’d beat Boks Kolbe and Arendse in 100m dash

Will Jordan of New Zealand in action during the Castle Lager Rugby Championship match between South Africa and New Zealand at Emirates Airline Park on August 31, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

13 tortoises are roaming the gardens behind the All Blacks’ team hotel in Cape Town. Tortoises with numbers two, three and seven were spotted trekking across the grass on Tuesday afternoon before Will Jordan sat down for an interview.

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It just made sense that the first question asked of Jordan had to do with the reptiles, with the All Blacks competing against each other to be the first person to take a selfie with all 13. For those wondering, Beauden Barrett was among those “looking for a photo” on Monday.

This playful competition among the nation’s best male rugby-playing talent mirrors their far more serious preparation for the Springboks. Just as some players are looking to win the tortoise challenge, each All Black is also competing for a spot in the starting side.

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Jordan started on the right wing last weekend opposite Kurt-Lee Arendse, and two-time Rugby World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe wore No. 14 on the right edge for the Boks. Those three men are some of the fastest athletes in Test rugby at the moment.

Whether it’s standing tall in defence, changing the game with a try or leaping up to claim a high ball, Jordan is constantly in competition with the world’s best. But, when asked whether he’d beat Arendse and Kolbe in a 100-metre dash, the All Black couldn’t help but smile.

“I don’t know. I guess it’d be interesting,” Jordan told RugbyPass.

“It’s always hard to tell on a rugby field. You don’t get too many opportunities to open up and see the top-end pace.

“They’re certainly pretty quick, particularly off the mark. Over a 100, not sure. Maybe someone will get an intercept this week and we’ll find out.”

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Other than the trio of Jordan, Arendse and Kolbe, there are a lot of great wingers around the rugby world. Scotland has Duban van der Merwe who has scored some freakish tries, Ireland has James Lowe, and Damian Penaud almost always stands out for France.

But, if you were to keep writing down names of the world’s best wingers, it’d be pretty hard to look past all four speedsters currently in New Zealand’s squad. Jordan started in the No. 14 jersey last week while Caleb Clarke lined up on the left edge.

On the bench, last year’s World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year, Mark Tele’a, looked to add impact after being named as the team’s final reserve. Tele’a has a habit of breaking tackles and scoring stunning tries in both Super Rugby Pacific and at Test level.

Finally, Sevu Reece is a bit of a forgotten force within the All Blacks. The 27-year-old missed last year’s Rugby World Cup through injury, and while he returned to the Test arena for the first four All Blacks Tests of the year, it won’t be easy for the flyer to return to the First XV.

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“It’s good fun. There’s some real characters out there on the wing,” Jordan explained.

“Sevu’s a guy I’ve played a lot with and brings a lot of energy and power to the position, and I thought against England he was fantastic.

“Obviously, Mark over the last couple of years has really nailed his opportunities at Test footy. Such a hard man to tackle – breaks defenders at will.

Match Summary

4
Penalty Goals
1
3
Tries
4
2
Conversions
2
0
Drop Goals
0
106
Carries
100
3
Line Breaks
7
12
Turnovers Lost
15
7
Turnovers Won
3

“Caleb, I’ve been really impressed with him over the last few weeks. Probably struggled a little bit last year, didn’t get as many opportunities as he wanted, but this year’s been fantastic. Two tries on the weekend but the stuff he did in the air, competing there, winning us the ball back, and such a great carry off first phase.

“It’s great. The good thing is we’ve all good different skill sets so we all bring something different to the table and it does certainly push you to keep performing well because you know if you don’t there’s someone there ready to go.”

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Comments

13 Comments
G
GrahamVF 211 days ago

Easy peasy mate. All you have to do to beat Cheslin is run the 100m faster than 10.7. That's his official time in an athletics meeting. Don't forget his cousin broke Johnson's 4oom record and is still the WR holder for the 400m. Don't think the Barrett boys have that kind of speed pedigree.

G
GM 211 days ago

It's the out-of-hand kicking that is a worry with Jordan. Allied to the fact that you'd then probably have a back three in Tele'a, Jordan and Clarke without a recognised kicker amongst them. On the other hand, some of BB's kicks have been lamentable, so maybe there's not that much to lose by giving him a shot. I can see someone like Nana-Seturo, who has a James Lowe-like left boot, replacing a Sevu Reece for the northern tour.

T
Toaster 211 days ago

I’d like to see Narawa play again

Dropped like a sack of spuds


Now killing it at centre for BOP

B
BM 211 days ago

Quickest guy on that field was Grant Williams

T
Toaster 211 days ago

Well Mounga ran down Kolbe for a start


TBF I couldn’t believe Jordies pace

Kriel who is quick and KLA couldn’t catch him

D
DA 210 days ago

corner flagging, different angle and one player with a ball avoiding players and one not. So for a start baseless comment

T
Terry24 212 days ago

Jordan is correct: the two SA wings probably quicker off the mark but he might be close in top speed which might take him a bit longer to reach. It's not just a matter acceleration or of top speed, its a matter of having the strenght/endurance to run very fast with all the other running, tackling etc going on in the legs.

That's why 100 metre sprinters are not rugby wingers. In the old days a winger/back might even have had the aerobic appearance of a 1500m runner as the aerobic requirement was much larger compared to physical power.

D
DP 212 days ago

Put this guy at 15 and Dmac/Barrett at 10.

R
Rooksie 211 days ago

Yes but not sure on BB or Dmac

T
Toaster 211 days ago

It probably will happen but I’m still worried about Jordan at FB

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I
IkeaBoy 39 minutes ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

Pep didn’t win the ECL in 2009. It was 2008 with Barca. The gap between wins ignores the finals contested. 2 in 2 years with his City Triumph. The most recent put him in the elite company of managers to have won it with multiple clubs. Yet more late career success and history.


His time with City - a lower win ratio compared to Bayern Munich as you say - includes a 100 PT season. A feat that will likely never be surpassed. I appreciate you don’t follow soccer too closely but even casual fans refer to the sport in ‘pre and post Pep’ terms and all because of what he has achieved and is continuing to achieve, late career. There is a reason that even U10’s play out from the back now at every level of the game. That’s also a fairly recent development.


How refreshing to return to rugby on a rugby forum.


Ireland won a long over due slam in 2009. The last embers of a golden generation was kicked on by a handful of young new players and a new senior coach. Kiss was brought in as defence coach and was the reason they won it. They’d the best defence in the game at the time. He all but invented the choke tackle. Fittingly they backed it up in the next world cup in their 2011 pool match against… Australia. The instantly iconic image of Will Genia getting rag-dolled by Stephen Ferris.


His career since has even included director of rugby positions. He would have an extremely good idea of where the game is at and where it is going in addition to governance experience and dealings. Not least in Oz were many of the players will have come via or across Rugby League pathways.


Gatland isn’t a valid coach to compare too. He only ever over-achieved and was barely schools level without Shaun Edwards at club or test level. His return to Wales simply exposed his limitations and a chaotic union. It wasn’t age.


Schmidt is open to staying involved in a remote capacity which I think deserves more attention. It would be a brain drain to lose him. He stepped in to coach the ABs in the first 2022 test against Ireland when Foster was laid out with Covid. They mullered Ireland 42-19. He was still heavily involved in the RWC 2023 quarter final. Same story.


Look at the talent that would be discarded in Schmidt and Kiss if your age Nazism was applied.

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f
fl 1 hour ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

“He won a ECL and a domestic treble at the beginning of his career.”

He won 2 ECLs at the beginning of his career (2009, 2011). Since then he’s won 1 in 15 years.


“He then won 3 leagues on the bounce later in his career”

He won 3 leagues on the bounce at the start of his career too - (2009, 2010, 2011).


If we’re judging him by champions league wins, he peaked in his late 30s, early 40s. If we’re judging him by domestic titles he’s stayed pretty consistent over his career. If we’re judging him by overall win rate he peaked at Bayern, and was better at Barcelona than at City. So no, he hasn’t gotten better by every measure.


“You mentioned coaches were older around the mid-2010’s compared to the mid-2000’s. Robson was well above the average age you’ve given for those periods even in the 90’s when in his pomp.”

Robson was 63-64 when he was at Barcelona, so he wasn’t very old. But yeah, he was slightly above the average age of 60 I gave for the top 4 premier league coaches in 2015, and quite a bit above the averages for 2005 and 2025.


“Also, comparing coaches - and their experiences, achievements - at different ages is unstable. It’s not a valid way to compare and tends to torpedo your own logic when you do compare them on equal terms. I can see why you don’t like doing it.”

Well my logic certainly hasn’t been torpedoed. Currently the most successful premier league coaches right now are younger than they were ten years ago. You can throw all the nuance at it that you want, but that fact won’t change. It’s not even clear what comparing managers “on equal terms” would even mean, or why it would be relevant to anything I’ve said.


“You still haven’t answered why Kiss could be a risker appointment?”

Because I’ve been talking to you about football managers. If you want to change the subject then great - I care a lot more about rugby than I do football.

But wrt Kiss, I don’t agree that 25 years experience is actually that useful, given what a different sport rugby was 25 years ago. Obviously in theory more experience can never be a bad thing, but I think 10 years of coaching experience is actually more than enough these days. Erasmus had been a coach for 13 years when he got the SA top job. Andy Farrell had been a coach for 9 when he got the Ireland job. I don’t think anyone would say that either of them were lacking in experience.


Now - what about coaches who do have 25+ years experience? The clearest example of that would be Eddie Jones, who started coaching 31 years ago. He did pretty well everywhere he worked until around 2021 (when he was 61), when results with England hit a sharp decline. He similarly oversaw a terrible run with Australia, and currently isn’t doing a great job with Japan.

Another example is Warren Gatland, who also started coaching full-time 31 years ago, after 5 years as a player-coach. Gatland did pretty well everywhere he went until 2020 (when he was 56), when he did a relatively poor job with the Chiefs, before doing a pretty poor job with the Lions, and then overseeing a genuine disaster with Wales. There are very few other examples, as most coaches retire or step back into lesser roles when they enter their 60s. Mick Byrne actually has 34 years experience in coaching (but only 23 years coaching in rugby) and at 66 he’s the oldest coach of a top 10 side, and he’s actually doing really well. He goes to show that you can continue to be a good coach well into your 60s, but he seems like an outlier.


So the point is - right now, Les Kiss looks like a pretty reliable option, but 5 years ago so did Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland before they went on to prove that coaches often decline as they get older. If Australia want Kiss as a short term appointment to take over after Schmidt leaves in the summer, I don’t think that would be a terrible idea - but NB wanted Kiss as a long term appointment starting in 2027! That’s a massive risk, given the chance that his aptitude will begin to decline.


Its kind of analagous to how players decline. We know (for example) that a fly-half can still be world class at 38, but we also know that most fly-halves peak in their mid-to-late 20s, so it is generally considered a risk to build your game plan around someone much older than that.

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