New All Blacks and Blues sensation Hoskins Sotutu joins the show.
OPINION:
After three years of being told he was too slow, soft, lacking application, dedication and a work ethic, Akira Ioane might find his test debut to be considerably less daunting than his fellow new caps do.
The 25-year-old has suffered a degree of public humiliation that few experience intheir quest to make the All Blacks and the ordeal he has faced in overcoming his documented range of shortcomings provides the basis to believe he'll deliver the steely-edged football he's been asked to on debut.
His journey to the All Blacks No 6 jersey would have broken those of a lesser constitution and goodness knows there would have been times that Ioane thought he was going to succumb en route – lose the last remnants of faith in himself to which he was clinging.
The last three years came close to breaking him and 16 months ago, no one would have backed him to get off the canvas after former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen dealt some memorably harsh public home truths as to why Ioane hadn't made the World Cup squad.
Ioane was the riddle that Hansen couldn't solve. And he wanted to ever since he saw Ioane burst into Super Rugby in 2015 by scoring a try only the most freakish and brilliant of athletes could have conjured.
Even at 19, Ioane looked purpose-built for test football – a 1.96m, 115kg ball playing loose forward who was good enough to make the New Zealand Sevens team that played in the Olympics.
New Zealand Maori All Blacks Akira Ioane scores against the USA Eagles, during their test match held at Toyota Park stadium, Chicago. 4 November 2016. Photo / Brett Phibbs.
Of course he'd piqued Hansen's interest and of course the then All Blacks coach could see the impact Ioane could make in the test arena – the incredible things he could do with the ball and defences he could terrorise.
But Ioane was an illusion. Behind the dazzle, there was little substance to his work, no graft, no impact – just little flashes of potential that kept everyone interested for a while before the memory would fade again.
By July last year, after endless attempts to cajole the best out of Ioane, Hansen gave up.
He laid out Ioane's faults as if he was trying to flog them at a car boot sale – there they were, in plain view for everyone to poke and prod almost wary that they were infectious.
In no particular order, Hansen suggested Ioane didn't have the appropriate conditioning. He lacked discipline off the field, probably more than he did on it, but only just.
He was a scrag tackler – something almost sinful for an aspiring blindside flanker to be and worst of all, Ioane was prone to lingering in the deck, a tell-tale sign he was either inherently lazy or simply nowhere fit enough.
With that pronouncement, Hansen said Ioane had to go away and fix himself because he'd run out of patience.
It was a damning indictment and for the next six months Ioane wasn't sure he even wanted to keep playing rugby. Just as Hansen was sick of him, Ioane was sick of the game and his constant ability to disappoint those he wanted to impress.
The love had gone. His natural enthusiasm had dried up and Ioane reached the summer break, relieved he could stop playing and with a bit of time to consider whether he would actually go back to pre-season with the Blues.
He had half a thought about taking up a trade and told his dad, who entertained that train of thought by asking his son whether he really had any idea what a nine-to-five job entailed.
Blues loose forward Akira Ioane, during The British and Irish Lions second tour match against the Blues at Eden Park, Auckland. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Before Ioane junior could reply, Ioane senior answered the question for him and a few weeks later the former was training with the Blues and rekindling his love of the game.
And just as Neitschze said, what hadn't killed Ioane had made him stronger and when he was unleashed in Super Rugby Aotearoa, he was a different player. Truly, a different player.
It was as if he spent games running around with a checklist of all the areas in which had to improve and one by one, week by week, he would tick them off.
It was a stunning transformation. One that required a depth of mental strength that demands respect.
It took courage, perseverance and a quite impressive resolve by Ioane to soak up all the hurt, all the criticism and rid himself of so many flaws.
After a journey like that, playing the Wallabies could well be the easy bit. The pressure and expectation that comes on debut – Ioane has already fought and won a mental battle of much higher intensity and magnitude.
