NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Rugby / All Blacks

All Blacks: Depth sees coach calm in crisis

APNZ
20 Aug, 2013 05:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Coach Steve Hansen said yesterday that training ran smoothly with Slade and Taylor directing traffic. Photo / NZPA

Coach Steve Hansen said yesterday that training ran smoothly with Slade and Taylor directing traffic. Photo / NZPA

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Training camps leave All Blacks well placed to call on back-ups after first, second and third choices injured.

You build depth so when a crisis strikes you can navigate through the disaster.

Three pivots are unavailable for the All Blacks' Rugby Championship encounter with Australia at the Cake Tin in Wellington on Saturday night and there are few sides in the international game who could cope with such a fallout.

Dan Carter (calf), Aaron Cruden (knee) and Beauden Barrett (calf) will all watch from the stands as Tom Taylor or Colin Slade pulls on the No10 jersey for the All Blacks.

Cruden and Barrett were hurt in last Saturday's 47-29 win over the Wallabies in Sydney, while Carter was injured a fortnight ago.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The first-five situation is reminiscent of the 2011 World Cup when Stephen Donald, nicknamed "Beaver", was rustled up from whitebaiting to play in the tournament's final, where he kicked the match-winning penalty as the country's fourth-choice pivot.

Carter saw the funny side of the injury situation yesterday when he tweeted: "Does anyone know where Beaver is at the moment."

(He is currently with the Mitsubishi Dynoboars in Japan.)

For the past two years, the All Blacks have held wider training group camps and some people have questioned their timing and validity.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But it's hard to deny they have contributed to making this week an easier one for the All Blacks given Taylor has spent time with the side in the past, while Slade has 10 previous test appearances to his credit.

Coach Steve Hansen said yesterday that training ran smoothly with Slade and Taylor directing traffic.

"We've tried to create an environment where regardless of if you've played 117 tests or you've played none, that everyone's treated the same," Hansen said. "You might listen ... to the 117-test guy a little bit more than the zero-test guy when it comes to an idea but by and large if the team room needs cleaning, the 101-test guy can clean it just as well as the zero-test guy.

"I think that culture and that environment makes it easy for people to come in to because they know where they stand and they've got to just get on and do their job."

Discover more

Sport

'Accidental' drug infractions

19 Aug 11:22 PM
All Blacks

ABs: Business as usual despite injuries

20 Aug 02:57 AM
All Blacks

ABs injuries: Can they win?

20 Aug 12:45 AM
All Blacks

All Blacks: Panic over No 10? No way

20 Aug 05:30 PM

The proof will of course come on Saturday night. Slade never quite convinced in the black jersey from 2010-2011 and didn't experience a lot of highs during the 2013 Super rugby season with the Highlanders.

On the other hand, Taylor didn't start a game at first-five for the Crusaders this year as he found a home in the No12 jersey.

"Both players; I'm confident they've got the skills to do what we want them to do," Hansen said. "They're confident people and we've got Tom Taylor, he's a 90 per cent goalkicker and Colin's a pretty accomplished goalkicker too."

The All Blacks were also dealt an injury to their forward pack yesterday when lock Luke Romano was ruled out of the Rugby Championship due to a torn adductor tendon.

Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick are set to form the second-row duo for this weekend with Jeremy Thrush on the bench.

Hansen expected an inevitable Wallabies backlash this Saturday after last weekend's hiding.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I think they've only got one response possible. I think they'll come at us with everything they've got and they'll have a huge amount of intensity," he said. "I think they made a massive amount of unforced errors and if they get that out of their game then they're right in the performance so we have to improve our game to match that."

Meanwhile, All Blacks centre Conrad Smith was limited in training yesterday due to a sore ankle but Hansen expected him to be fit for Saturday.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from All Blacks

All Blacks

'Pretty unique': Robertson responds to controversial Springboks tactics

Premium
OpinionGregor Paul

Gregor Paul: How a Dutch teen could change the All Blacks' commercial game

Premium
All Blacks

All Blacks set for changes including possible debutant


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from All Blacks

'Pretty unique': Robertson responds to controversial Springboks tactics
All Blacks

'Pretty unique': Robertson responds to controversial Springboks tactics

The All Blacks coach has no issue with Rassie Erasmus' new innovations.

14 Jul 04:01 AM
Premium
Premium
Gregor Paul: How a Dutch teen could change the All Blacks' commercial game
Gregor Paul
OpinionGregor Paul

Gregor Paul: How a Dutch teen could change the All Blacks' commercial game

13 Jul 10:12 PM
Premium
Premium
All Blacks set for changes including possible debutant
All Blacks

All Blacks set for changes including possible debutant

13 Jul 06:56 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP