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World Cup auditions continue for All Blacks - Rugby Championship preview
After a dominant June series win against France, the All Blacks will be hoping to keep the Rugby Championship trophy and Bledisloe Cup locked up for another year as the 2019 World Cup edges closer.
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The All Blacks outscored their French mid-season opponents 127-38 over three tests and will be hoping for more of the same when they meet with Australia, South Africa and Argentina over the next few weeks.
Steve Hansen’s men will open their Rugby Championship campaign on a high, with the Christchurch-based Crusaders having secured another Super Rugby title and four of the five New Zealand franchises reaching the knockout stages of the competition.
The All Blacks’ first fixture of the Championship – against Australia in Sydney – will be where they make their mark and set the tone for the rest of the competition. Despite Australia emerging victorious in Brisbane the last time the two teams met, the last time they met in Sydney, the All Blacks romped to a 54-34 win. If the New Zealand side can find that second gear early on, they may end Australia’s Championship aspirations before they have a chance to get off the ground.
The schedule of the tournament serves to benefit the All Blacks, as – aside from their early visit to Sydney – they will spend the first half of the tournament at home. Their final fixture – the third Bledisloe Cup test – in Yokohama could prove decisive if Australia can defend their home turf in the opener. Outside of World Cup fixtures, the All Blacks have suffered two consecutive losses at a neutral venue. They lost to Ireland for the first time in their history at Chicago’s Soldier Field in 2016, and in 2010 they lost to Australia in Hong Kong.
With an Australian resurgence on the cards after a strong series against world number two Ireland and South Africa coming off a series victory against world number four England, performing on the road, especially towards the tail end of the competition, will be key for the All Blacks as they fight to retain their place atop rugby’s pecking order.
What has separated the All Blacks from the rest of the teams in the competition is their difference in problems. While the Wallabies and Springboks have concerns surrounding depth in key positions, one of the All Blacks’ biggest problems is that you can only have 15 men on the field at the same time. With the Rugby World Cup just over one year away, each minute on the field serves as an audition to get on the plane to Japan next year – especially for those on the fringes.
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Rookie Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus recently acknowledged his side don’t currently have the ideal level of depth that he would like, while it’s no secret that Australia’s lack of depth in the halves and midfield injury crisis has hamstrung their chances of success in the upcoming tournament. Argentina will also be going through an adjustment period of sorts as they move forward with new head coach Mario Ledesma.
For Steve Hansen’s All Blacks, the surplus of talent at a number of positions gives selectors a problem most wish they had.
At first five-eighth, Richie Mo’unga is nipping at the heels of the incumbent Beauden Barrett. The scintillating form of the Crusaders playmaker has fans and pundits calling for the 24-year-old to assume the All Blacks’ No. 10 jersey sooner rather than later, while the electrifying Damian McKenzie – recently named by SANZAAR as Super Rugby’s Player of the Season for the third successive year – continues to push his own case for the spot.
In the midfield, the All Blacks still pose a major threat despite missing the oft-injured Sonny Bill Williams for at least the first part of the campaign. Williams’ injury woes open the door for Crusaders centre Jack Goodhue – who led all Super Rugby backs in made tackles this year – to resume his formidable partnership with the rock-solid Ryan Crotty and potentially shore up a permanent spot in the national side. Hurricanes form midfielder Ngani Laumape, included as injury cover for Williams, will also be focused on building his portfolio in the black jersey as he pushes for World Cup selection.
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In the forward pack, the return of Kieran Read will serve as a huge boost as the captain grew from strength to strength at the tail end of the Crusaders’ Super Rugby season. Read will marshal many of the same troops from that title-winning group, with seven Crusaders forwards picked in the All Blacks squad, including five front rowers.
The area of most concern for the All Blacks from a selection standpoint is the back row. This stems from the omission of Vaea Fifita and inclusion of Jackson Hemopo. Fifita seems to have fallen out of favour after a drop in form and being used primarily as a lock by Chris Boyd at the Hurricanes. Hemopo – also used mainly at lock during the Super Rugby season – received the nod and will be used exclusively as a blindside flanker. After the departure of longtime workhorse Jerome Kaino, the No. 6 jersey is fairly open, though Liam Squire seems to have the tightest grip of any recent comer.
This tournament should clear things up for Hansen moving forward as he refines his World Cup group and tries to secure his sixth Rugby Championship title since the competition’s remodeling in 2012.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
In the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
1 Go to commentsI’d be fascinated to see what other candidates you all might have for the Lions captaincy role. Let me know, below 👍
1 Go to comments“ planning for the next cycle….” Sigh ill-advised language Elton old juice bean. Ppersonally glad you self-eliminated yourself, there were better players in the position around you.
3 Go to commentsRegardless of best in world etc. Lawes was outstanding against Leinster and has been all season. Looked like three try saving turnovers. His turnovers also contributed to NH scores. Immense performance.
2 Go to commentsDickson now considered the top ref in England it appears. Good that these series are getting one NH and one SH ref.
2 Go to commentsI don’t think any coach or selector would ever rely on Blackadder being available for selection. I didn’t think it would be possible but he has easily eclipsed Ennor as they most injured player of all time. IMO a symptom of today’s game where players are required to carry at least 10kg of extra mass from when they first hit the scene in their early 20s. Some players respond well to this, maybe due to genetics allowing them to recover faster, or not having reached their peak natural weight yet, but for others the constant training to maintain their weight eats away at recovery time and they spend most of their careers injured.
4 Go to commentsThanks for the lesson Nick! I presume that targeting gaps is situational because if a ball carrier straightens the line they can't be allowed a gap to run into? It feels like you need depth if you're going to pass it wide and plenty of variety - straight running, kicks just in behind, cross kicks etc. BTW what an incredible bench Toulouse had this week. People complain about Leinster being stacked but they need to be at the very highest level.
19 Go to comments2015 was by far the best team. They have had many good backlines over the years but the 2015 team was one of the few to have an absolute world class forward pack - all of them international quality. 6 ABs, 1 future English player, and one that would have gone on to ABs had he not been forced to retire due to concussion. This current team doesn’t have the same size and experience at lock, but providing they can keep this many talented young players (who have all significantly increased their profile this year) together for another 2 years they could eclipse the 2015 team.
2 Go to commentsAnd I’ve just seen RA has topped up the offer to Paisami and extended it beyond 3 years and he’s signed. Great news
78 Go to commentsInteresting watching Amaua starting to fire. No idea why he was pulled so early against the Reds.
4 Go to commentsNice to read something positive about Vunivalu; it doesn’t happen often. I despair for rugby in Oz. Unless some form of compensation for the teams producing players is devised, there is no obvious way for us to combat poachers coming to grab players in their prime with bigger pay cheques. A return to the SR crowds we were getting in 2010-2014 and a quadrupling of the TV deal would be a start but I don’t see how those things happen. Perhaps the government could be encouraged to deliver tax breaks like in Ireland?
78 Go to commentsI wasn’t aware that the blitz targeted space so, as usual, something learned from reading one of your articles, Nick. Watching the game live I attributed the Saints’ inaccuracy to their own mistakes and nerves. Perhaps some credit to the Leinster D.
19 Go to commentsGotta give it to you Graham, you support your players and team to the hilt. There may be strains of exaggeration laced throughout but gotta love the passionate parochialism.
2 Go to commentsNice one Nick. No doubt Vunivalu’s involvements and work rate are improving this year in attack, but I still think he is too raw on the defensive and backfield part of his game to be considered as a starter. Wales would just kick and run it to his side all night as the brumbies have done to good effect in the past. But, his size/power will keep him in the convo with Mark N leaving and Petaia’s injury record. Hunter definitely enjoying an injury-free run this season and being given the keys by Kiss - I have always been a fan of his. All I’d say is that his triple threat has been evident since 2020/21. I remember him making a grubber for a petaia try after the siren to beat the Brumbies in Canberra after the 80th minute in 2021. Lastly, Jock Campbell, who I know isn’t at the top of your list, I thought had alot of positive involvements in the saders game including both of Tim ryan’s tries and Mcreights
78 Go to commentsAg please, Pieter Stef Du Toit has played circles around this clown.
2 Go to commentsJust celebrating the Bok’s 1648th consecutive day as RWC champions. They are also the Qatar Airways Cup winners, which I know BennieBoy cares about a lot.
2 Go to commentsGood to here positive stories towards Aus Rugby. Although that might be the case, and highers up are right about Jordie, I wouldn’t stress trying to retain him. What I have seen of him in recent times is that he’s not using that something special. I feel there a better ‘something special’ options coming through that they won’t have to compete with league for, hell even in Kerevi and Paisami (isn’t it great to finally see his ability getting recognized, probably taking this article in isolation too much here).
78 Go to commentsgreat article! I wonder whether we will we see Ireland adopt the Nienaber blitz? All the teams who have tried it so far (SA included) have gone through significant teething problems in the first season; Ireland could possibly be in the unique position of being able to switch to a hard blitz in season 2 of a world cup cycle and already have so many players used to the system that it can be implemented seamlessly.
19 Go to commentsThey probably left another 20 on the field to be fair. Also - the officiating was… ordinary.
1 Go to commentsblackadder isnt a key player at all you cant say hes been the best player or a key all black when hes injured every week
4 Go to comments