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OPINION:
It’s starting to feel possible that the All Blacks might be all about redemption this year.
That’s the theme that’s threatening to break out, given the number of players in their squad who have something to prove, having been slighted at some stage in their past.
Top of thelist to pull off one of the great redemption stories is rejected fullback Shaun Stevenson.
Having not initially been selected in the All Blacks Rugby Championship squad, he now finds himself in Mendoza, possibly in line to make his test debut against the Pumas on Sunday morning.
He’s still a bit of a long shot to make the 23 given the presence of Richie Mo’unga, Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett, but it does feel like opportunity is going to come his way and that he’s going to grab it when it does.
Stevenson, just by the way he’s played, presents as someone who will relish the pace and intensity of test rugby and far from overwhelm him, it may be the sort of empowering force he needs to bring the best out of himself.
Can Chiefs fullback Shaun Stevenson take his Super Rugby Pacific form into the test arena? Photo / Photosport
He should also know that he has the nation behind him, for his omission drew as much criticism in Christchurch and Auckland as it did in Hamilton.
Stevenson is a player everyone liked watching this year and the All Blacks’ assessment of him as someone lacking defensive clout was universally seen as a little harsh, given he’s by no means the only aspiring footballer in the back three with question marks hanging over his tackling.
What excites is that these redemptive tales often prove to be an enduring force for players and if Stevenson can get himself on the field in Argentina and show what’s he’s all about, it’s possible that burning desire to keep proving himself will sweep him all the way to the World Cup.
New Zealand’s World Cup history is full of unlikely heroes - players who were unwanted then unexpectedly recalled and who went on to make telling contributions.
And it can be a powerful force having the team loaded with people who are motivated by a deeper, personal need to prove themselves.
In a less dramatic way, Rieko Ioane is chasing his own redemption story this year.
He was a rising superstar in 2017 and 2018 - an automatic choice on the All Blacks wing where he seemingly could score tries from anywhere.
Then, come 2019, he couldn’t find his confidence, pace or abrasiveness and instead of announcing himself as the deadliest wing on the planet at the World Cup, he barely featured.
Now he’s got a chance to go to France and let everyone know what they missed in 2019 and the second coming of Ioane, as a centre, could be one of the great World Cup stories.
Rieko Ioane during an All Blacks training session. Photo / Photosport
His likely midfield partner, Jordie Barrett, is in a similar position in that he too didn’t have much of a role in 2019.
Much like Ioane, Barrett stormed into test rugby in 2017 with a brave and brilliant performance against the British and Irish Lions that suggested he would be a ruthless international force by the World Cup.
But he struggled to build on that miraculous start and his career feels like it might still be waiting to take off.
In fact, there are even some who doubt it will ever will and presumably he’ll be looking at France 2023 as his moment to establish himself as one of the game’s best No 12s.
This list could also include Luke Jacobson, the concrete-shouldered loose forward who was picked to play in 2019 but had to withdraw from the tournament almost as soon as he landed in Japan.
Jacobson’s been in the wilderness since 2019, but here is now, right on cue, ready to do in 2023 what he wasn’t able to four years ago.
And redemption is quite definitely the storyline that coach Ian Foster and most of his management team are chasing in 2023.
Foster and most of his staff are leaving after the World Cup. They were not wanted by their employer.
That’s the long and short of it, even if New Zealand Rugby do continue to insist that Foster never applied to retain his own job and that’s why he won’t be in it next year.
Everyone knows what happened and why Scott Robertson has been appointed to take over next year, and the feelings of hurt, rejection and resentment that must be stored up within Foster and many of his management team could yet prove to be one of the most powerful forces the All Blacks have at their disposal when they kick off their test programme this Sunday.
