'You can't take too many risks': Pundits project areas of concern for All Blacks XV
Pundits on The Breakdown pinpointed the Halfback selections for the All Blacks XV as an area where selection will determine the true purpose of the newly instated New Zealand secondary team.
With veteran halfbacks TJ Perenara and Brad Weber missing out on All Black selection so far this season, their inclusion in the XV side could bring critical leadership to the development team.
On the other hand, promoting those players to the All Blacks while relegating the likes of Folau Fakatava could give the young halfback more playing time, after only seeing 10 minutes of action so far this international season.
The direction that selectors will take when recruiting the All Blacks XV remains somewhat of a mystery, so to put some context to the situation, ex-All Black halfback Justin Marshall shared his overview of the situation:
“Importantly,” Marshall said. “What we need to make sure that people are aware of, is this is basically an All Blacks selection, so the All Blacks selectors are selecting it.
“Leon (McDonald)’s coaching it, he said that he’ll sit in on (selection) and he might have a little bit of input into some players but that’s a side that they (Ian Foster and co) are selecting so they will be looking for players that they want to see more of, some players that they’ve seen enough of might be unlucky, and then it’s how far do they go development and youth-wise?”
Sir John Kirwan was adamant the selections should favour playing time for fringe All Blacks who would likely be injury cover for next year’s World Cup.
“Do you send some of your All Blacks, numbers 30 to 36 that have been in and around the squad and haven’t played?” Kirwan said. “(Stephen) Perofeta comes to mind straight away, Fakatava…
“There’s two games, do you play them at nine and ten because you need them to actually play some footy at the highest level or are you going to take them on the Northern tour and they’re going to sit on the bench or not play?
“Otherwise, do you take some experience and a whole lot of young guys? I think they’ll be thinking of the World Cup so we might see some of the guys that’ll be disappointed not to make the All Blacks squad.”
Kirwan also shared a little “whisper” he’d heard regarding selection:
“(I) don’t know a lot about this young man but Levi Aumua, I’ve heard that he got the envelope under the door; ‘don’t name yourself available for Samoa or Fiji because we’ve got some sights on you’.”
“You could also take someone like TJ Perenara just to be the great leader that he is and make sure that they understand the importance and the responsibility of winning in that jersey, because it won’t be easy.”
While Kirwan expressed excitement for the opportunity created by an extra travelling team, he wasn’t convinced naming it the All Blacks XV was the right direction to take as far as maximising the development potential for the squad.
“I would rather they went away as the Baabaa’s (Barbarians) because you do have that All Black brand on their chest which means you can’t take too many risks.”
Mils Muliaina agreed the midfield was an area of concern for the All Blacks that the coaches should look to address in the All Blacks XV.
“I think if you look at it from an All Black point of view, where are the positions they want to see?
“For me, it’s guys in the midfield, because we’ve been hurt a lot, we still haven’t realised who’s going to cover the centre position should Rieko Ioane go down so that’s an area where they gotta bolster up in some sort of way and say ‘well we’ll pick someone that we think we want to go and see them before the Rugby World Cup’.
“Halfback’s probably another one, you know that third spot, who gets that because there’s so much competition so if you’re picking a (Finlay) Christie and an Aaron Smith for the All Blacks and Fakatava is obviously the third halfback, do you send Fakatava and someone totally different as opposed to sending a Brad Weber?
“I think you leave the likes of Brad Weber and TJ Perenara behind.
“Those guys don’t necessarily need to play themselves into the All Blacks, I think you give them that time off to then really energise for next year.
“They’ve seen enough of them, they know their experience so let’s see these (younger) guys.
“Then, I think there’s a mixture, of the future and that for me really is key.
“I think in terms of a Rugby World Cup, the All Black coaches will be thinking particularly centre is going to be our biggest issue and we’ve had to try and find a couple of pairs.”
Justin Marshall then shifted focus to beyond the World Cup, knowing that there will inevitably be a number of current All Blacks retiring or taking contracts overseas.
“I’m thinking of players that can play at Rugby World Cup should we need them or are going to be All Blacks post World Cup, because we’re going to have an exodus, there’s no doubt about it, always happens and quite a lot of these All Blacks are well into their 30’s.
“So, I totally agree with what Mils said, I would go down the pathway of putting TJ (Perenara) or Brad Weber in the All Blacks on the end-of-year tour and I would put Fakatava and Perofeta into that 15.
“They still – because they’re in the UK, should there be injuries – (can) slot into the All Blacks should they be needed.
“You know what Brad Weber’s going to give you but we haven’t seen enough of Fakatava, we haven’t seen enough of Perofeta, they need game time in big stadiums like in Tottenham Hot Spur Stadium against good opposition like the Barbarians and Irish 15.
“So, I would go down that pathway but I’d also take someone like Fabian Holland, this guy was monumental last night and he’s been developing brilliantly, he’s in the system, he’s a big man and we need big, strong ball carriers and I think he’s the type of player that could be one of those bolters they take along.
“The other one I just want to speak about is – along the Perofeta, Fakatava line -is Damian McKenzie, he’s suffering a little bit from that Japan syndrome, he’s not quite back to where he was in my mind.
“He’s probably better to go into that All Blacks XV and get game time, I don’t know whether it’s at 10 or 15 but we need to find out where he sits for the All Blacks come next year and that might not be anywhere but it might be ‘man we forgot how good this guy is’.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
6 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
6 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
6 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
6 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
6 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to comments