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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 209 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 210 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 210 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 210 days ago

Quickest guy on that field was Grant Williams

T
Toaster 210 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 208 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 210 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 210 days ago

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

R
Rooksie 210 days ago

Yes but not sure on BB or Dmac

T
Toaster 210 days ago

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

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JW 16 minutes ago
Razor has an about turn on All Blacks eligibility rules

Yep, another problem!


I think he would have, in the instance I mentioned, which wasn’t changing anything other than correctly applying todays eligibility quidelines. Which is an arbitrary construct, as the deal likely would have played out completely differently, but I just ‘allowed’ him to have 1 year sabbatically for his ‘loyalty’, rather than having some arbitrary number like 70 caps required.


So if Richie had a 3 year deal, and the first year he was allowed to use him still, I don’t think he’d really not transition to Dmac being his main 10, as he’s obviously the only one he can use for the following two years, therefore likely his only real option for the WC (very hard for Richie to overtake him in such a short time). Richie would purely be a security net in a situation like I proposition where there are only small changes to the eligibility.


The system is not working well enough though, as we don’t have the Rugby Championship or World Cup trophies, do we? Well on that last question, that’s all I’m really saying but I would not believe a word this author says, so it’s entirely a ‘what if’ discussion, but if the author is right and now they are actually going to be more flexible, I think that’s great yeah. Ultimately thought I think those two players were an anomaly signing their contracts and futures up so far ahead, especially of when they were performing. Both jumped at the opportunity of good contracts when their All Black prospects weren’t looking that bright.

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