The All Blacks are set to leave Perth for the third Bledisloe Cup match after previously being held back on player welfare grounds.
Phil Gifford looks at four talking points about battles on and off the rugby field.
Getting all the dirty linen out in public
Rugby Australia Chief Executive Andy Marinos. Photo / Getty Images
We live in an age of communication. Zoom, Skype, email, texts, WhatsApp, even, as a last resort, boring old-fashioned phone calls. So, the public outcry from acrossthe Tasman about the All Blacks not flying to Perth, with coach Dave Rennie "bloody angry" and Rugby Australia's CEO Andy Marinos "incredibly disappointed" was truly weird.
The suggestion that New Zealand Rugby's decision was a bolt from the blue to the Aussies was, in blunt terms, hard to believe.
Marinos is a weathered veteran of rugby politics. He made his way to his job via high-level jobs with the Welsh Rugby Union, and then the South African Rugby Union. How much of a rat's nest was South African rugby when Marinos was the Springboks manager in 2007? One of their players, Luke Watson, whose father fearlessly opposed apartheid in the 1970s, said that when he was given his Springbok jersey it was "hard to not vomit on it". His captain John Smit called Watson a "cancerous influence" in the squad.
Marinos hasn't thrived as a professional administrator by being a fool, so it'll be fascinating to see what the long game is that he's playing when he alienates New Zealand Rugby.
Perhaps the bizarre grandstanding plays to Marinos' base in Sydney, drawing attention away from what could be a grim series for the Wallabies.
Right now it's hard to see the benefits of him blaming an individual, in this case NZR chief executive Mark Robinson, for changes and cancellations, when the real villain is essentially Covid-19.
Yes, this is the one to hope for
The Springboks have shown a mixed bag in 2021. Photo / Getty Images
After the abysmal series with the Lions, I may not have been the only one not especially concerned about seeing the Springboks again in 2021. So, it was a very pleasant surprise to see passages of exciting rugby breaking out during their 29-10 win over Argentina in Gqeberha (previously Port Elizabeth).
Could it be that the kick-chase-maul-kick-chase-maul South African tactics against the Lions were actually a reaction to playing a team whose own playbook barely got from A to B?
A 15-3, all penalty goal, scoreline at halftime in Gqeberha certainly indicates a dour 40 minutes. In fact, even if rookie English referee Karl Dickson was close to setting a world test record for penalties against a visiting team, with the count after 30 minutes running a staggering 12-3 in favour of South Africa, not only were the Springboks running onto the ball from depth, but also chances for penalty goals were being turned down in favour of kicking for an attacking lineout.
Who knows? If there ever is a game with the Boks this year, whether it's at Twickenham, Wembley, Brisbane, Cape Town, Chicago or Scott Base, old conservative Springbok habits may return. But either way, there's no doubt that in the southern hemisphere there are two teams that have the edge at the moment, the Boks and the All Blacks.
So, how good do the Springboks look?
Handre Pollard taking penalty goals has been a common option for the Springboks in 2021. Photo / Getty Images
Very good, but not invincible.
If the All Blacks had been ahead 29-3 with 25 minutes to play against the Pumas, and then gone scoreless while conceding a converted try as the Boks did in Gqeberha, Kiwi doom sayers would be lamenting the fact that because of Covid-19 they couldn't march with flaming torches and pitchforks to New Zealand Rugby's headquarters.
The foundation for the Boks' success lies with a powerful pack; excellent at scrum time, potent at the breakdown, and only a little fragile when throwing to the back of the lineout.
But with a few exceptions, most notably dynamic hooker Malcolm Marx, their big men aren't as athletic as the likes of Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Akira Ioane. One of many fascinations for a rugby tragic would be to see whether the All Black forwards could be there and gone before the heavyweights in green could do much damage at the breakdowns.
Sticking with the 1st XV
The All Blacks impressed in their most recent win over Australia. Photo / Photosport
In passing, it's now clear what Ian Foster and his selectors see as the best All Black team, barring injury and shock results. Who knows exactly how many tests there will now be, but in a year which will end with contract negotiations for Foster, it'd be amazing if there was any more experimentation, given how well the second test against the Wallabies at Eden Park went.
