All Blacks players sing the New Zealand national anthem during The Rugby Championship match between the South Africa Springboks and New Zealand All Blacks. Photo / Getty Images.
All Blacks players sing the New Zealand national anthem during The Rugby Championship match between the South Africa Springboks and New Zealand All Blacks. Photo / Getty Images.
OPINION:
Three areas need special attention if the All Blacks are to wreck the party in Paris and beat France in the first game of next year's World Cup.
An ideal time to start to addressing them is against an Irish side who will arrive in New Zealand in sixweeks with a realistic hope of winning the three-test series.
One of those areas is the midfield where the All Blacks haven't yet found a way to consistently win the collision on attack the way Ma'a Nonu did so brilliantly in 2015.
The second is having an enforcer who can make constantly effective head-on, torso height tackles (or, as they're scarily now known, choke tackles) the way Jerome Kaino did so brilliantly in two World Cups.
The third area is making sure All Blacks props are agile enough to get up quickly from breakdowns to be back on defence and stop inside runs.
With all three sectors in mind, here's the All Black team I'd like to see running onto Eden Park to face Ireland on July 2.
Ireland's Jack Conan and James Ryan celebrate as Ronan Kelleher scores a try against the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Fullback: Will Jordan He's in the right place at the right time too often for it not to be a touch of genius. Add in his pace, and fearlessness in the air, and you've got a fullback who stands comparison to the great Christian Cullen.
Wing: Caleb Clarke In a crowded field Clarke appeals for his speed, his strength, and the fact in 2020 he showed how comfortably he can make the jump from Super Rugby to test matches.
Centre: Rieko Ioane He's more than quick enough, and his passing abilities hark back to his schoolboy days in the midfield. His positioning on defence is the only quibble, and the longer he plays in the 13 jersey the better that should become.
Second-five: Jordie Barrett There needs to be a daring selection at second-five, which means either Barrett or Roger Tuivasa-Sheck head the queue. Barrett has the strength, skills, and rugby nous for the midfield, and he offers the best goal-kicking in the country. Oh, and he's also a giant. He edges out Tuivasa-Sheck, a stunning talent, who must be in the squad.
Wing: Sevu Reece A firecracker, with many of the attributes that made Bryan Habana a legend for the Springboks.
First-five: Beauden Barrett A close call with Richie Mo'unga but Barrett has thrived under Leon MacDonald at the Blues.
Halfback: Aaron Smith An all-time great, and you don't discard them easily. I'd make it a package deal with Folau Fakatava on the bench ready to unleash late in the game.
All Blacks performing the haka before the Rugby Championship match between Argentina v New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
No 8: Ardie Savea He's smaller than the men we usually see in this jersey, but as a Sydney writer noted this week, when the going gets tough he "plays with a ferocity that is almost otherwordly."
Flanker: Sam Cane (captain) Relentless, accurate, and a tackling machine.
Flanker: Akira Ioane The tightest contest in the 15. Ioane just heads off Ethan Blackadder and Dalton Papalii. Blackadder has an amazing work rate, and Papalii is tough. But Ioane offers a startling ability to break the line, and the size to be a devastating defender.
Lock: Brodie Retallick He arrived in the All Blacks a decade ago as basically the finished product. Class is forever.
Lock: Sam Whitelock At 33 he's near the end of a great career, but he's still passionate. Eight minutes from the end of the Crusaders-Brumbies game in Canberra, he chased Brumbies wing Tom Wright so hard for 50 metres that Whitelock gave himself the chance of a miracle save over the line. Amongst the new guys, I hope Josh Lord gets a big shot this year. He plays with frenetic enthusiasm.
Props: George Bower and Ethan De Groot Crusader Bower has played 11 tests, and Highlander De Groot just four, three as a sub. But both show signs of the sharp edge that Joe Moody at his best brought to the All Black table. Bower especially looks nimble, which, with the way the game's being played now, is as essential as being massive.
Hooker: Codie Taylor There are some hugely promising young hookers like Asafo Aumua and Samisoni Taukei'aho, but this is one spot where veterans, in this case Taylor and Dane Coles, still look eager and dynamic.
