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Opinion
There was a collective nationwide intake of breath last on Thursday as Ian Foster named his side for the last match of The Rugby Championship.
While the Bledisloe Cup had been retained, the business of winning the overall competition was still firmly up in the air and there were a few names in that match day 23 that were not expected to be there.
Scott Barrett was given a well-earned rest, no risks were taken with captain Sam Cane and his blindside partner Shannon Frizell, while hooking revelation Samisoni Taukei’aho started from the pine, the shortage at second five-eighth required Jordie Barrett to step forward from his custodian role, and the bench featured two rapidly being forgotten props and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
It was quickly apparent that coach Foster and team were using this final game to give those either underplayed or of varying form lines the opportunity to gain themselves a ticket for the End of Year Tour.
You can question many things about Foster, but his loyalty is not one of them. He said at the start of this international season he would more pick and stick, and while that has been turned on its head on form and game plan, giving a run to the players in the squad for most of the year in this final game was an action in keeping with his approach.
Before assessing those firmly in the crosshairs, the game of Jordie Barrett cannot be let slide without special mention.
(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
It seems for two years now the argument has been, do the All Blacks need a big ball carrier in the 12 shirt or a player of broader skills that David Havili has so successfully brought?
Well, Jordie Barrett delivered the full package, the narrow runs he has made as a decoy in recent weeks were done with the ball this outing, he kept his head up around the kicking and distribution aspects of his game and all in all gave the coaching team something serious to think about before they head off north. He was that good, and poor old Bernard Foley will now remember why making coin in the Japanese League looked like a such a good idea.
Of those playing under a little more pressure, Dalton Papali’i showed up the best. He has been in seriously disappointing form when given minutes in the black jersey this year and really needed a big one. His tackle work rate was back: 18 without a miss, a pest without being great at defensive breakdowns and better than he has been at offensive ruck time.
What impressed most was with Australia using five-man lineouts, Papali’i appeared to be designated tackler on Rob Valetini in the midfield and he did a good job keeping him off the gain line eliminating a big Wallaby weapon from the week before.
Now third-ranked rake, Cody Taylor can be pleased in the main with his efforts although two wobbly lineouts didn’t help his overall performance. Really good with ball in hand and his decision making was back to his normal levels while not incurring a single missed tackle and of course getting on the scoresheet always helps.
He will be safe and secure in the squad, from both a game day delivery perspective and perhaps the rather large gap to the next contender.
Akira Ioane starting in the 6 shirt needed a big one after not imposing himself physically on game this year.
Quick sidebar to note the change in tone from the coaches this year. While still politely hidden and cloaked in coach speak, Ioane needed to match the physical effort seen from the Australians the week before and to some extent he did. He largely stayed narrow, made the tackles he had to, but the big defensive carries and the work at ruck time still come up short.
In a position where two Cantabrians are to return from injury and there is a surplus of talent tearing it up in the NPC he may well miss out on the big dance in a month’s time.
Only one of Ofa Tu’ungafasi or Nepo Laulaula is likely to get a boarding pass as third-choice tighthead behind the magically transformed Tyrel Lomax, whose narrow ball carrying gave the Australian loose forwards all sorts of issues, and country boy newbie Fletcher Newell. I am not sure we saw enough off the bench to be making a call.
The casebook of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck may well be a published mystery in the future. Coach Foster gave quite the list of work when he was released back to the Auckland NPC side and having watched four of those performances at that level I am not sure he is hitting his brief.
Interestingly, the lack of structure in the NPC has strained his best feature from his Super Rugby games, his defence. This game was in the bag relatively early but still RTS did get not get much of a run off the bench when time certainly allowed.
If one looks at the skillset required to play in the 12 jersey for this new All Black structure he does look like something of a square peg looking for a home and the lack of a kicking game also does him no favours. The decision to run him in the midfield rather than on a flank is starting to look like an ask that is unfair on the player.
Purely on form and skillset he isn’t on the plane, but do the All Blacks consider the amount of time (and a considerable amount of money invested) to be a greater determinant than those calling for elevation from the park, with Alex Nankivill and Thomas Umunga-Jensen prominent among them? The return of Anton Lienert-Brown takes one touring slot, and maybe the injury to Quinn Tupaea saves RTS this time.
A quick word on the overall All Black performance and it’s worthy of greater focus than I am going to give it here.
The attention to detail, the 80-minute focus, the goal line defence which was just heroic on occasion and the tone of coach and captain for the day, where the word physicality has replaced the word tempo, both before and post-game, bode well for the current direction of this side and its make up.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.