Sonny Bill Williams isn't that old is he? Photo / Getty Images and FaceApp
Sonny Bill Williams isn't that old is he? Photo / Getty Images and FaceApp
The blows keep coming.
Getting ripped apart by the Wallabies in Perth was tough enough for the All Blacks and their nation of supporters.
But the Daily Telegraph has offered no respite, using Faceapp to publish photos which turn current All Black stars into old men.
Having been blown offthe park in Bledisloe One, the paper is now pensioning Kieran Read and co. off before the decider at Eden Park on Saturday night.
Sonny Bill Williams, Sam Whitelock and Read all get the photo treatment, under a headline "Wallabies warned not to take All Blacks' senior citizens lightly".
By the looks of it, you could almost imagine some of New Zealand's greatest footballers getting to Eden Park on a free bus pass and sneaking scones and flasks of tea into the ground.
The gag is reminiscent of the Telegraph's lead up work to the 2015 World Cup final, when it labelled Richie McCaw the 'Richetty Grub' who was the "master of the dark arts of breakdown cheating".
As the latest story notes, the Wallabies' match day squad are lively young pups compared to the All Black side which capitulated in Perth.
It helpfully lists the All Blacks in the over 30s club: SBW (34), Kieran Read (33), Ben Smith (33), Dane Coles (32), Owen Franks (31), Matt Todd (31), Sam Whitelock (30), Aaron Smith (30), Joe Moody (30).
The Wallabies have 10 players over 30 in their squad, but most of them have become fringe selections as coach Michael Cheika turns to younger performers.
The age gap may narrow when the All Black side is revealed by Steve Hansen, who must surely wield the axe to deal with underperforming veterans.
The Telegraph noted the All Blacks response to the Perth defeat, quoting SBW as saying: "Last week they came to play, they came with that fire, and we're going to have to match that this week if we're any chance of holding that Bledisloe."
And Whitelock reckoned: "No one wants to be part of the team that has to let them take it, so it's on the group of guys we have here at the moment to make sure that doesn't happen."
Sam Whitelock and Kieran Read as mocked by the Daily Telegraph via FaceApp.
But if they do need extra motivation, SBW, Whitelock and co. need only check out the Telegraph story which also notes Ben Smith's loss of form.
SBW is portrayed as a rather impressive old man, but the Faceapp treatment for Whitelock and Read is not so favourable.
The ruggedly handsome Whitelock gets a shabby makeover while the great rugby warhorse Read has a haunted look.
