KEY POINTS:
It looks like the All Blacks will select, as predicted, a team with a specialist No 7 in Daniel Braid to combat the Wallaby loose forwards for Saturday's match - but that's just one element in what will be a really interesting encounter.
If it is so, I
agree with the selection just as I agreed with the Adam Thompson-Jerome Kaino-Rodney So'oialo loose trio to play against the Boks - even though I didn't think Rodney's appearance at 7 was totally successful. He'll move back to No 8, I would say, and I predict Kaino will be on the bench or left out of the 22 altogether after a poor showing following his very good match in the first test.
Many people, including me, are looking hugely forward to seeing the first Deans-Henry ... whoops, I mean Wallabies-All Blacks ... test of the season. On the plus side, the All Blacks should have Ali Williams and Brad Thorn back at lock and that will be a real boost for them up front.
There's nothing against Anthony Boric or Kevin O'Neill in that statement. Boric has shown why the selectors chose him, I think. He showed enough in the Super 14 and in his first tests to suggest he has a good future. He's a bit like Williams was when he first came into the All Blacks - mobile, a bit coltish and raw but good material for improvement.
O'Neill has come a long way since he wasn't wanted by Canterbury and the Crusaders. I don't think he will ever be a great All Black lock - he'll be more of a workman, really.
But I can't explain why Jason Eaton wasn't in the All Black squad, at least. Fair enough, Graham Henry said Eaton wasn't playing well enough. He certainly didn't have a great Super 14.
But neither did Sione Lauaki and they are persisting with him - and he is making strides because of the coaching job they are doing on him.
Why not do that with Eaton? They plainly think he has the raw material otherwise they wouldn't have selected him originally; although I do agree that maybe Eaton hasn't done all that much after his first tour.
There's another coaching job that needs to be done - at halfback. Andy Ellis got shown up a bit by Ricky Januarie's energetic game last weekend and Ellis was only average, I thought. He is also starting to take steps with the ball before passing and he looks a much better halfback when he just delivers the ball from a crouch before running.
Having said that, he also needs more of a running game, I believe; to be more of a threat to defences around the fringes. Some people said Jimmy Cowan should have come on, but I think Januarie would have made Cowan look silly. In fact, I think the All Black subbing was off the mark last weekend. Andrew Hore was having a fine game at hooker, carrying the ball up well and maintaining possession - but Keven Mealamu (a fine player, don't get me wrong) was off the pace in comparison.
I can't explain why Hore was taking the kickoffs in that game but, when he went off, there was no communication, Mealamu didn't field the kick-off, the ball went out and from that the Boks forced a scrum where they scored that try.
I think the All Black coaches have to stop blaming the players and take responsibility to get that stuff right. There is no point subbing a player like Hore when he is playing like that. The coaches also have to do a coaching job on players like Ellis and Eaton - if they want depth.
I know Robbie Deans' eyes will have lit up at several things he will have noticed about the All Blacks. I reckon he will try a Crusaders-style approach on Saturday. He won't be overly worried about their scrum. The Wallaby props are fine when they just try to prop the scrum - as opposed to trying to out-scrummage their marker. That's when they come a cropper but, if they play just to survive, they generally do okay.
If the Wallabies can gain parity up front, Robbie will be figuring they will have the firepower and the creativity to win. I hear the Wallabies are responding to his approach - and that makes them dangerous.
