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Rugby News: ABs greats back Cane after 'garbage' attack, Wallabies reflect on Arundell impact, Boks' insane depth

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6th July, 2022
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Former All Blacks skipper Kieran Read and Josh Kronfeld have jumped to the defence of All Blacks captain Sam Cane after a scathing review of his performance against Ireland.

Stuart Barnes, writing in The Times, opined that Cane should be dropped from the side if they were to win the World Cup next year.

Barnes said Cane “may be a fine leader of rugby players but he is not good enough to play for the All Blacks”.

The New Zealand Herald took offence, huffily including this gem in their report.

“Barnes, whose playing career peaked when he captained a midweek Lions team that were beaten 29-17 by Hawke’s Bay in 1993, said Cane had missed a tackle on midfielder Garry Ringrose that put Ireland in a scoring position.”

UK writer Mick Cleary joins Brett McKay and Harry Jones to talk about the weekend’s huge internationals

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In his piece, Barnes highlighted a defensive mishap by the All Blacks skipper on Ireland centre Garry Ringrose, which resulted in the Irish working their way into a try-scoring position, as a blunder that Savea would not have made.

“Savea, 28, would not have missed that tackle,” Barnes opined. “Cane, 30, doesn’t shift a ruck, nor does he pressurise the ball-carrier with the sort of breathtaking hit he himself suffered at the shoulders of Ringrose earlier in the match.”

Barnes added that Cane “makes his share of tackles but none of them are destructive”. The ABs captain did make one bone -rattling hit on Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong in the hosts win on Saturday.

“On the evidence of [Saturday’s] game, if New Zealand are to find their best back-row blend before next year’s World Cup, the hard call has to be made, with Cane relegated to the bench or jettisoned completely,” Barnes wrote.

“Cane may be New Zealand’s unsung hero. The trouble is, there is simply not enough to sing about.”

Sam Cane of the All Blacks runs the ball

Sam Cane. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

The column has provoked a furious response.

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“I tell you what, a guy like Sam is bloody needed in Test footy,” Read told Stuff.

“A lot of people probably don’t understand the arts of the breakdown, and being in position on defence, and getting off the line, and forcing them to play behind the advantage line, and hussling a ruck.

“And all that stuff, that’s his game. And I kind of think he’s actually built for Test rugby. That’s the type of player you need. Because, we all know, hey, it can be all good on the front foot, you can throw in all these other guys, but when push coes to shove, the likes of Sam, it’s his kind of game that’s really needed.

“What you don’t see on TV is that work off the ball… all that stuff that commentators don’t really talk about. It’s a pretty important part of the game, and that’s the kind of stuff coaches reward than the special stuff sometimes.

“Someone who’s writing on the other side of the world making up some garbage to sell a newspaper… you’ve got [to have] higher standards on yourself as an individual.”

Former No.7 Kronfeld told Stuff: “I reckon we all just need to let him do his thing and back off,” Kronfeld told Stuff.

“If he’s letting the side down, then, sure, we can ask some questions.

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“As people from the outside, we’re always wanting, expecting, to see that sheer brilliance that we often see. And when we don’t see it all the time we’re going, ‘Oh, he’s not playing well’, but actually, no, it’s not that at all.

“I think we’re just too quick to point the finger. Give him a chance, mate. One game in.

“I think for Mr Barnes, it’s an opportunity to get some rating for his column, simple as that. And it’s an easy target at the moment.”

‘Cursing more than screaming’

After Australia conceded two late tries but hung on for a two point win over England in Perth, Dave Rennie revealed one of his assistants was screaming in his ear near the climax.

Defence coach Matt Taylor owned up on Wednesday.

“I was probably cursing more than screaming,” Taylor said. “I was disappointed more than anything because to defend with 14 men for as long as we did and do a reasonable job to concede those  two tries late in the game, as a defence coach, you’re not too pleased, but it’s just a timely reminder.”

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One of those tries was scored by England’s wunderkind Henry Arundell and England coach Eddie Jones is being urged to fast track him into the starting team in Brisbane.

Henry Arundell of England runs to score a scores a try during game one of the international test match series between the Australian Wallabies and England at Optus Stadium on July 02, 2022 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Will Russell - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Henry Arundell (Photo by Will Russell – RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Taylor said the Wallabies had scouted the youngster while Wallabies assistant Petrus du Plessis was getting updates on him from friends in England.

“We all knew how good a player he was,” Taylor said of the London Irish flier.

“We knew he had really good pace. I think when you look at that try we probably sat back on him a little bit, sat on our heels, and I think at the final moment when Andrew Kellaway and Noah came across, because they were sitting on the heels a little bit, he had a bit of momentum into the tackle.

“He’s a powerful athlete and a quick man so he finished really well. It’s a good reminder to us that you’ve got to be 100% zoned right to the end of the Test match.

“You look at all their players. They’re all really good and it was only two years ago they were in a World Cup final.  So it’s not only him but a lot of players ensuring that we need to be on our game.

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While Taylor was cursing on Saturday night, Dave Rennie maintained his calmness and Taylor revealed the impact that was having on the Wallabies.

“Dave’s a great man to work with and to just hang around with and have a beer or have a yarn,” Taylor said.

“He’s very measured. He doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. Takes things as they come. The osmosis of him being very calm probably promotes through the group.

“He’s also very good at the clarity within the team. We have a lot of walk and talk scenarios with the players and they’ve got to adapt. The fruit of that over the last few years came out on the weekend where we were able to adapt and adjust and then get on with it without any panic at all.”

Underhill set for return

Sam Underhill is poised to fill the void in England’s back row created by Tom Curry’s tour-ending concussion for Saturday’s do-or-die second Test against Australia in Brisbane.

Underhill was overlooked altogether for the 30-28 defeat at Optus Stadium in Perth but is winning the race to be selected at openside flanker ahead of Lewis Ludlam and Jack Willis.

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The 25-year-old was a star of the 2019 World Cup but since Japan he has been limited to winning only 13 caps due to concussion, COVID, illness and injury, making just one appearance in the recent Six Nations.

Now he is poised to lead the defensive stand at Suncorp Stadium as England look to take the series to a decider, with Ludlam expected to continue on the bench.

“Sam’s work rate on and off the ball are excellent. He’s a really good defender, particularly with his chop tackles,” defence coach Anthony Seibold, who joined fellow Australian Eddie Jones’ coaching team in the autumn, said.

“He’s played at a high level. I’m thinking of New Zealand at Twickenham in 2018 and, watching his performances at the World Cup from afar, he was a standout for me.”

Teenage sensation Arundell is also in serious contention to replace Joe Cokanasiga on the left wing following his stunning seven-minute try-scoring cameo in the first Test.

It was hoped that Jonny May would be available, but he has yet to train fully as he continues his recovery from COVID and now faces a battle to be fit for the climax to the series in Sydney.

Six years ago England produced a remarkable act of defiance in the second Test in Melbourne to take an unassailable lead in a series they went on to win 3-0, and it is felt that a similar effort will be needed to subdue the Wallabies on Saturday.

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“You look at our leaders like Courtney Lawes, Owen Farrell and Ellis Genge – you want to go to war with those guys. You do,” former South Sydney and Brisbane NRL coach Seibold said.

“I know Owen spoke about how this is an opportunity for us. I do think we’ve got some guys in our group who are up for this and that’s the exciting thing.”

Veteran prop Mako Vunipola has called on England to empty the tanks at a venue where Australia have won their last 10 Tests.

“It’s time for us to show what we’re about as a team. We’ve got nowhere to hide,” Vunipola said.

“We’ve got our backs against the wall and now we’ve got to go out there and put our best foot forward.”

ABs won’t rush back trio

All Blacks captain Sam Cane said there is no pressure on Will Jordan, David Havili and Jack Goodhue to return for Saturday’s second Test against Ireland after all three missed the series opener due to COVID-19.

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The trio were absent for the hosts’ 42-19 win over the Irish in Auckland last weekend but trained on Tuesday ahead of the second match in the three-Test series in Dunedin.

“There is absolutely no pressure from players, management, coaches or anyone for them to rush back,” Cane said.

“They were on a bike yesterday with some sort of heart-rate monitor measuring how they respond to exercise.

“So all the precautions are being taken there. The last thing anyone would want is to risk them getting long COVID.

“There’s no pressure and they’ll have a few boxes to tick during the week to even be available I think.”

The All Blacks camp was hit by the COVID outbreak in the build-up to the first Test, with coach Ian Foster among those to test positive.

Forward Sam Whitelock has already been ruled out of the second test with a self-reported concussion while fellow lock Tupou Vaa’i will miss the game after a positive COVID test. 

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Boks B to face Wales shows incredible depth

South Africa have named a new captain, plus two uncapped players in their starting line-up and a further four among the replacements as coach Jacques Nienaber announced wholesale changes for the second Test against Wales in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Handre Pollard, who returns to the squad after not featuring in the narrow 32-29 first-Test win in Pretoria at the weekend, will take over the captaincy from Siya Kolisi as Nienaber keeps just one player from Saturday’s starting XV.

Winger Kurt-Lee Arendse and loose forward Evan Roos, named the best player of the recent United Rugby Championship where he helped the Stormers to victory, will start, while Ntuthuko Mchunu (prop), Ruan Nortje (lock), Deon Fourie (loose forward) and Grant Williams (scrumhalf) could make their debuts off the bench.

Nienaber kept only four players from the match-day 23 for the first Test as he looks to give more international experience to squad members.

Eben Etzebeth, who will earn his 99th cap for South Africa on Saturday, is the only player to start again while hooker Malcolm Marx, prop Vincent Koch and utility back Damian Willemse are on the bench.

“We said from the outset that we needed to strike a balance between giving our talented young players an opportunity to show what they can do at international level, and winning,” said Nienaber on Tuesday.

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“If one looks at the balance between players who have played at this level and those who have performed consistently well for their franchises and clubs, I think we have a nice balance in this squad.

“A number of these players have been with us for a few seasons, while others travelled with us last season to Australia for the Rugby Championship and the year-end tour, and then there are a few new faces who showed during the season that they have the potential to rise to this level of the game, so we are excited to see what they can do on Saturday,” the coach added.

Meanwhile, South Africa will play Tests against Ireland, France, Italy and England later this year on a month-long northern hemisphere tour.

The Springboks will play Ireland in Dublin on November 5, France in Marseille on November12, Italy on November 19 at a venue still to be finalised and England at Twickenham one week later, SA Rugby said on Tuesday.

They have also arranged a match for a South African Select XV against the Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate on November 17 and are attempting to organise two more games for the midweek selection.

South Africa have an expansive 42-man squad for this month’s three-Test home series against Wales and will likely take a similar number of players into their Rugby Championship assignments against New Zealand, Australia and Argentina in August and September.

Together with the four end-of-year internationals, the Springboks will play a total of 13 Tests this year. 

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Team to play Wales in second Test:

Warrick Gelant, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi, Handre Pollard, Jaden Hendrikse, Evan Roos, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marcell Coetzee, Marvin Orie, Eben Etzebeth, Trevor Nyakane, Joseph Dweba, Thomas du Toit. Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Vincent Koch, Ruan Nortje, Rynhardt Elstadt, Deon Fourie, Grant Williams, Damian Willemse.

(With agencies)

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