Ian Foster has rung the changes for his side's clash with the Wallabies. Photo / Getty
Ian Foster has rung the changes for his side's clash with the Wallabies. Photo / Getty
By Liam Napier in Dunedin
In their ascent to the verge of the pinnacle prize the All Blacks have climbed many notable hurdles - to the point the depth of last year’s struggles are fast fading.
Their transformation is far from complete, though. The task of continuing that growth isdecidedly more difficult this afternoon, in the final pre-World Cup home test, after rolling the selection dice.
At this juncture the All Blacks ushering in 12 starting changes for a rematch with Wallabies that, if we’re honest, carries minimal implications, is entirely understandable.
Before Monday’s World Cup squad reveal Leicester Fainga’anuku and Shaun Stevenson must have their chances in the back three. Why select rookie loose forward Samipeni Finau and second five-eighth Dallas McLeod if you are not going to give them a crack? In a high tempo test under the Dunedin roof the All Blacks need to assess whether Nepo Laulala can hack the pace. With competition for deputy halfback spots fierce, Finlay Christie has everything to prove too in his fourth start.
For all those selection pressure points the tradeoff could come with cohesion challenges. While the All Blacks pack, with record-breaking locking firm Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick reuniting and Sam Cane returning from injury to join Ardie Savea and Finau in the loose forwards, should dominate the vastly inexperienced Wallabies tight five, the backline may battle to immediately gel.
With front-foot ball, Damian McKenzie will hope to unleash the lethal back three of Fainga’anuku, Stevenson and Will Jordan but All Blacks coach Ian Foster knows his new backline, missing its first-choice midfield and playmakers, could endure a few shaky moments.
“It feels quite exciting. We don’t do a lot of wholesale changes just for the sake of it,” Foster said. “If you look at the last three or four tests we’ve drip-fed opportunities. The backline combination is new, I get that, but they have trained a lot together. If we make a few early mistakes the key is we adapt quickly and get into the groove we want to.”
The Wallabies, who trained in the Mosgiel sleet midweek, are hardly an imposing prospect following three straight losses but they should, in theory at least, have a head start on cohesion after making three changes to last week’s team. Their scrum that was shunted from pillar to post in the 38-7 Melbourne defeat could again be exposed, though, after losing two tighthead props to injury and overall confidence appears at a near-all-time low.
Conversely, a patchy performance won’t derail the All Blacks’ World Cup campaign. Not with so many starters absent or on the bench. Yet given their progression this year, and with much tougher tests on the horizon, Foster is demanding this revamped group maintains revived standards.
“It’s at a point we know we can’t stop. I’ve got no doubt we have to lift it higher,” Foster said. “The key in this business is not to get too down when you have a loss and not get too high when you have a win because often the truth is somewhere in the middle. We’ve got to keep taking steps. There’s no doubt we’re growing confidence in parts of our game that are really important for us later in the year.
“We’ve got the bigger picture in mind about where we want to be and the exciting thing for us is the World Cup starts with a big game. We need to be at a high point going into that. This series of five games it’s been critical we get up to speed quickly.”
Aaron Smith is among the veterans playing their final home test. Photo / Getty
Fourteen months ago in their last visit to Dunedin the second test loss to Ireland sparked a collapse that shook the All Blacks to their core.
Cane has been front and centre through the resurrection since but he, too, realises now is no time for complacency.
“We know where we’re at right now is not going to be good enough later in the year and every time we take the field is a chance to take a step forward, get better, and get to where we want to get to,” Cane said. “The squad is in a really good spot and we see that by the selectors being bold and making a lot of changes. We’re pretty eager to make sure last week wasn’t a one-off good performance. We want to go again.”
As the World Cup opener against France in Paris inches ever closer – now just two tests away – Foster is imploring the All Blacks fringe squad prospects to banish the unique layer of added complexity that comes with their last chance to impress. Rookies Finau, McLeod and Stevenson have enough to contemplate on debut let alone the quest to crack the Cup squad.
“That’s the challenge of test matches. If you look too far ahead you get tripped up anyway. We’re keen on short-term focuses. Preparing for a test match, particularly against the Wallabies, if you start thinking about what might happen afterwards you miss the opportunity and excitement in front of you,” Foster said.
“I’ve got no doubt there’s a lot of noise around players but the squad has been effective at zeroing in on what we need to get right. There’s always a competitive tension. This week is no different. Everyone else talks about the future. The goal in here is to talk about the present.”
That present is poignant for departing servants Aaron Smith, Richie Mo’unga, Whitelock, Retallick, Laulala and Dane Coles, all of whom will play their final tests in New Zealand. So, too, for the majority of the All Blacks coaching staff. While Foster insists that emotion will be set aside, that is another subconscious motivator driving the All Blacks revival.
