On the eve of their Rugby World Cup final, All Blacks and Springboks players and coaches exchange final words before history is made Sunday morning. Video / NZ Herald, SNTV
Editorial
EDITORIAL
What a way to bow out of the game.
As the curtain closes on another Rugby World Cup, so too does it end another era in All Blacks history.
The team are heading into a period of major change.
Of Ian Foster’s selected squad for the final, atleast seven will not feature for the side in 2024, along with some outside the match-day 23, while Foster himself ends his tenure at the helm with this tournament.
For some, it will end a long, celebrated career in the black jersey.
Sam Whitelock made his All Blacks debut in 2010. He will end the Rugby World Cup in France having put his body on the line in the black jersey in 153 tests.
Whitelock went into the tournament in France having already experienced the metallic taste of World Cup glory twice - in 2011 and 2015 - as well as the disappointment of an early tournament exit.
He’s experienced all the highs and lows of All Blacks rugby for more than a decade, and a new chapter in his career will begin as this one ends, after signing on to play for Pau in France next season.
His long-time locking partner Brodie Retallick is a man who has personified the term “engine room” in his career of more than 100 tests since his 2012 debut. After a previous sabbatical in Japan, Retallick will return to the Land of the Rising Sun on a three-year contract.
Brodie Retallick catches a lineout ball during the Rugby World Cup quarter-final match against Ireland at Stade de France. Photo / AP
He’ll be in good company, with arguably the All Blacks’ greatest-ever halfback Aaron Smith also signing a long-term deal to play in Japan.
Like Retallick, Smith debuted in the black jersey in 2012 and quickly became an easy selection in test teams.
The most-capped New Zealand halfback of all time, Smith continued to be the clear top choice in the position this year, but will hand the reins to the next generation in 2024.
Dane Coles is another who debuted in 2012 and has become synonymous with All Blacks rugby throughout his career; his skillset, pace and knack of popping up on the wing to finish off tries establishing him as the country’s top hooker for a long time.
Now 36, Coles has hung up his boots, playing his 90th - and final - All Blacks test in the quarter-final win over Ireland.
In those four stalwarts of the game alone, the 2024 All Blacks will be without the experience of more than 400 tests.
But they’re not the only ones who will step away from the black jersey following the Cup. Nepo Laulala will head to Toulouse after the World Cup, while Beauden Barrett is heading to Japan for 2024. Barrett hasn’t yet closed the door on his All Blacks future.
Also missing in 2024 will be Richie Mo’unga, Shannon Frizell and Leicester Fainga’anuku, who have all signed deals with clubs offshore that will make them ineligible for New Zealand selection. Father Time is not yet looming in the shadows for that trio, and a possible All Blacks return down the road is certainly not off the table, though it is cloudier than the several players who have sabbatical options in 2024.
Behind the scenes, a new coaching staff will see changes at the helm with Foster, Greg Feek, Scott McLeod and Joe Schmidt making way for a new coaching group, while mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka and team manager Darren Shand will not be continuing in their roles either.
The All Blacks machine will roll on, but it will be different; New Zealand Rugby appointing a new coach prior to the World Cup for the first time a sign that the times they are a-changin’.
For all the nostalgia, the rollercoaster of test rugby, the trials and tribulations of a 2022 season that had fans and pundits calling for heads to roll, to now be able to put the final full stop on this chapter in All Blacks rugby on this stage, against this opponent - Hollywood writers couldn’t have scripted it better.
