All Blacks coach Ian Foster names his first squad of the year next week. Photo / Getty Images
All Blacks coach Ian Foster names his first squad of the year next week. Photo / Getty Images
OPINION:
We’ve made it to the start of the Super Rugby playoffs, which means we’re only a few weeks away from the announcement of the All Blacks squad for the Rugby Championship. Tim Brightwell finds reasons to worry.
Will Ian Foster stick to his core selection traits: 1.) Consistency. Consistency.Consistency; 2.) Get as many good players on the pitch as possible; 3.) Out of position isn’t out of the question.
Hookers
In the mix: Dane Coles, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Codie Taylor.
What to worry about: Taylor has been a cornerstone in the front row this RWC cycle, accounting for 44 per cent of the playing minutes in the position. When Taukei’aho came into the squad he seemed the perfect off-the-bench player, with an explosive style complementing the workingman game of Taylor. But Taukei’aho’s performances over the past two years make him a bolter for the starting spot. Taylor has averaged 45 minutes a match, but does his style suit the need for a high-impact substitute?
Worry-O-Meter: An elderly relative calls – they’ve joined a great investment scheme and they reckon they can get you in on it too. 4/10
All Black Dane Coles. Photo / Dean Purcell
Props
In the mix: Tamaiti Williams, Ethan de Groot, Nepo Laulala, George Bower, Angus Ta’avao, Tyrel Lomax, Aiden Ross, Ofa Tu’ungafasi
What to worry about: It’s been a weird four years at prop. Players like Bower and de Groot have become fixtures in the squad while experiments like Ta’avao‚ Karl Tu’inukuafe and Atu Moli perhaps haven’t quite paid off. Between a slimmed down international calendar and a below-strength Super Rugby competition, we’ve got a generation of props with little international experience against top scrummaging – like, for instance, the teams you’d expect to see at the business end of the World Cup. The absence of the oft-injured Joe Moody, Fletcher Newell and Alex Hodgman is going to put a lot of pressure on this new crop of talent. Do the old guard have enough gas left in the tank for 60 good minutes ?
Worry-O-Meter: A 2am phonecall from your child when you thought they were asleep. 9/10
Locks & loosies
In the mix: Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Tupou Vaa’i, Samuel Whitelock, Sam Cane, Shannon Frizell, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali’i, Ardie Savea, Hoskins Sotutu, Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobsen
What to worry about: We still don’t have a No 6 bobbing along in the same state we were at the last World Cup, with Scott Barrett doing double duty as our best option at 6 and the natural replacement lock. In the past four years, we’ve been waiting for Frizzell, Ioane or Sotutu to grab the 6 jersey with both hands – one of those three has been at blindside for 74 per cent of the match time during this World Cup cycle. Ioane might be preferred ahead of the likes of Blackadder or Jacobsen. Other options? Roll the dice with Papali’i or give it to Barrett, living up to the other Fozzy maxim: “Out of position isn’t out of the question.”
Worry-O-Meter: “The boss wouldn’t have put their credit card on the bar if they didn’t mean for us to smash it.” 6/10
The commentators' usual method of simply referring to the surname does not work with the Barrett brothers, from left, Jordie, Scott and Beauden. Photo / NZME
Halfbacks
In the mix: Finlay Christie, Brad Weber, Aaron Smith, Cam Roigard, Folau Fakatava
What to worry about: There’s a crapshoot behind Smith to figure out who’s the next best halfback. Cameron Roigard has put his hand up for bolter position in the squad with a great season for the Canes, while Weber and Christie have both had solid seasons in well-performing sides. Fakatava has returned from injury early but is still not back to his best. It’ll come down to form v class: Roigard is an attacking ace: his nine tries this season matches the total try count for Smith and Fakatava over the past four years, and is only four tries behind Weber over the same period. However a new gun is shining, Fozzy famously backs his guys.
Worry-O-Meter: “We’re old mates from school; the wedding dress-code is more of a guideline, right?” 3/10
First five-eighths
In the mix: Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo’unga, Damien Mackenzie
What to worry about: It’s déjà vu all over again. Beaden Barrett is great at a lot of things – but doesn’t always look his best in a No 10 jersey. Would he be the best first five in this squad? Is he even the best first five in the Blues? Yet he’s played more minutes at the position in the current RWC cycle than anyone else, wearing the No 10 jersey in just over 60 per cent of tests. In the RWC squad, he’s likely to be shuffled back to fullback. He wouldn’t be the best fullback in this squad, and not even the best Barrett at the position. Fozzie will want to get playmakers on the field, and with Damien Mackenzie back in the mix, expect to see all shots fired.
Worry-O-Meter: “This toll text from NZTA looks pretty legit.” 7/10
Midfielders
In the mix: Braydon Ennor, David Havili, Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Levi Aumua
What to worry about: The David Havili injury will force Fozzy to try untested combinations. fans might want to see the pairing of Barrett and Ioane, but the experience of ALB and Ioane might be a more logical option. They’ve played alongside each other twice, while Barrett and Ioane have run out together three times. Five games to figure out a key partnership? We’re a long way from the days of Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith.
Worry-O-Meter: “It’s all good, I watched a YouTube video on how to rewire toasters.” 9/10
Braydon Ennor of the Crusaders in action during the Super Rugby Pacific Round 2 match between the Canterbury Crusaders and the Otago Highlanders at AAMI Park in Melbourne, Friday, March 3, 2023. Photo / Photosport
Outside backs
In the mix: Mark Telea, Caleb Clarke, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Will Jordan, Shaun Stevenson, Beauden Barrett
What to worry about: Some of the outside flyers have been in sharp Super Rugby form, and Kiwi names dominate the try-scoring list, Telea, Fainga’anuku and Stevenson being particularly sharp, with 11 tries apiece. Throw in Barrett, Clarke and Jordan and the options are impressive. But Super Rugby form has seldom translated to international success in this World Cup cycle.
Worry-O-Meter: “The kids will be fine, what could possibly go wrong?” 3/10
