Latest / Rugby Direct / Rugby Direct Episode 239: Rennie’s first roll of the dice - who makes the 23?

Transcript

Rugby Direct Episode 239: Rennie’s first roll of the dice - who makes the 23? · Rugby Direct

0:09
Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks ed B.
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Speaker 1: Follow this and our Wide Ranger podcast now on iHeartRadio
0:19
Speaker 1: straight down the middle of Drup Scot try get inside
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Speaker 1: the game from every end goal. It's Rugby Direct with
0:33
Speaker 1: Elliot Smith and Liam Napier powered by News Talks EDB.
0:37
Speaker 2: Welcome into Rugby Direct powered by Inns in Safety, Blackwood Shop,
0:41
Speaker 2: King g and you could score five thousand dollars. It
0:45
Speaker 2: is Test Week. Finally we have a built up to
0:48
Speaker 2: talk about the All Blacks and France. Elligott Smith with me,
0:52
Speaker 2: Liam Napiers always NPEs. Welcome to Test Week and look
0:57
Speaker 2: you're not here as yet, you will be soon, but
1:00
Speaker 2: welcome to the Garden City.
1:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, I expect you to be rolling out the red
1:03
Speaker 3: carp for Elliott's I guess great to have Test Rugby
1:07
Speaker 3: beck in you in your home city.
1:10
Speaker 2: It certainly is. Yeah, it's been a long time coming.
1:12
Speaker 2: Last rob Since to twenty twenty two Foster was coach.
1:16
Speaker 2: The anyone thought Scott Robinson was going to be the
1:18
Speaker 2: head coach for this one not to be. Dave Rennie
1:20
Speaker 2: is of course setting your Blacks have settled into the
1:23
Speaker 2: media week. I guess Nate's a lot of questions. We
1:26
Speaker 2: did the podcast obviously last week around the squad, but
1:30
Speaker 2: a lot of questions as to the makeup of the
1:32
Speaker 2: twenty three. What do you think the big questions are
1:36
Speaker 2: when Dave Rennie, Neil Barnes and Sir Graham Henry get
1:40
Speaker 2: around the selection table and try and figure this into
1:42
Speaker 2: a twenty three.
1:44
Speaker 3: There's a few talking points. There's always aren't there, Elliotts,
1:46
Speaker 3: I think it sounds like Will Jordan and to Boo
1:49
Speaker 3: vi foot and available. Certainly that was the indication that
1:52
Speaker 3: Dave Rennie gave yesterday on when the All Blacks arrived
1:58
Speaker 3: in christ Ships. So taken as reads, you would expect
2:03
Speaker 3: Will Jordan to start at fallback to Boovi in the
2:06
Speaker 3: second row. I think the big question marks are probably
2:08
Speaker 3: inside flanker first and first five. My take around the
2:14
Speaker 3: first five Ruben love. If not now then win. You've
2:18
Speaker 3: got Richie Muwanga hanging in the backgrounds. He's going to
2:21
Speaker 3: come back. He's likely to be given the keys. So
2:25
Speaker 3: Ruben loves the hot hands. He deserves a crack now.
2:30
Speaker 3: He's been sitting on ice for the best part of
2:33
Speaker 3: his well, his whole test career really he couldn't have
2:36
Speaker 3: done any more for the Hurricanes, so he deserves a
2:39
Speaker 3: crack at at first five for me. What about you?
2:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that the main ones are the similar
2:45
Speaker 2: ones you talk about. You can sort of zero in
2:48
Speaker 2: a few areas of the team. But I guess we're
2:51
Speaker 2: going into this with some assumed knowledge of how Dave
2:55
Speaker 2: Rinnie White wants to play, and we go, well, that's
2:57
Speaker 2: the first choice front row, that's the first choice locks.
3:00
Speaker 2: But that may not be the case under Dave Rinnie
3:04
Speaker 2: and so I guess if we zoom it on with you,
3:06
Speaker 2: I think Reuben Love has to start Test match this week.
3:09
Speaker 2: I think Cam broyguard at nine and then Jordi Barrett
3:11
Speaker 2: in twelve, and that gives Reuben Love not necessarily a
3:14
Speaker 2: safety blanket, but gives them the combinations from test level
3:19
Speaker 2: that he can utilize again sorry at super level, that
3:22
Speaker 2: he can utilize at test level. So I think that's
3:25
Speaker 2: something that they'll potentially look at. Blind side flanker, I
3:28
Speaker 2: guess is a really interesting one around which way they
3:31
Speaker 2: go there. Sounds like Satiti is good to go. Savia
3:35
Speaker 2: obviously will captain the side from open side flank, so
3:39
Speaker 2: there's a couple of questions there. Where are you leaning
3:41
Speaker 2: when it comes to that blind side flank is selection?
3:44
Speaker 3: Well, personally, earlier I would start Wallace to TT at six,
3:48
Speaker 3: and I'd actually put Peter Luckye at eight on form.
3:53
Speaker 3: I just I don't know how you could lead Peter
3:55
Speaker 3: Lukeye out of the starting team. I suspect they will
3:58
Speaker 3: go the other way, and I think they will have
4:01
Speaker 3: some worries about the height of that Looseiford trio when
4:06
Speaker 3: it comes to the line out, and that's they might
4:09
Speaker 3: might want a real abrasive presence and that could potentially
4:12
Speaker 3: see Simon Parker start at six, and then that allows
4:15
Speaker 3: you to put Lackeye on the bench and he covers
4:18
Speaker 3: all three loose for positions. So I think that's the
4:22
Speaker 3: way they'll go. But personally I'd be starting Lackeye, Yes.
4:25
Speaker 2: So would I. We had Jace Ryan speak at the
4:28
Speaker 2: media conference before and talk about how Wallace the TT
4:32
Speaker 2: is an eight in his eyes. But they've also gone
4:34
Speaker 2: to that subscription that they had last year around the
4:38
Speaker 2: fact that they believe that it's really only the scrum
4:41
Speaker 2: that these loose four positions do matter. I'm not sure
4:45
Speaker 2: necessarily subscribe to that but that's a view that seems
4:49
Speaker 2: to be more commonly held now in this all Black setup,
4:52
Speaker 2: I conside him going with Parker. Look, I don't think
4:54
Speaker 2: he hit the shot the lights out last year in
4:58
Speaker 2: terms of the All Blacks. But whether you know Neil
5:01
Speaker 2: Barnes and Jason Ryaning and tandem can get the best
5:04
Speaker 2: out of him. I guess that's a live conversation, isn't it.
5:07
Speaker 3: It is? Yeah, I think personally, I think a Luckeye
5:12
Speaker 3: is a t t severe combination screams the style of
5:17
Speaker 3: rugby that Dave Rennie would like to play, dynamic, offloading, pace, power.
5:23
Speaker 3: You've pretty much got it all. Maybe not the defensive
5:27
Speaker 3: steel that Parker. Perhaps springs and height at the line
5:31
Speaker 3: out is the other one, but if you want to
5:34
Speaker 3: be you know, Dave Rennie talks about optimistic and being
5:38
Speaker 3: attacking minded, and yes, he want to bring a lot
5:41
Speaker 3: of physicality to the breakdown and on defense as well,
5:45
Speaker 3: because he wants to drastically improve the All Blacks counter
5:49
Speaker 3: attack and turn over opportunities. But I thought Lucky was
5:53
Speaker 3: the best forward in Super rugby this year. Lucas Casey
5:57
Speaker 3: was outstanding towards the back end of the year, but Lucky.
5:59
Speaker 3: Just look at his performance in the final, so I
6:01
Speaker 3: think it will be really harsh call to leave him out.
6:04
Speaker 3: And look, he's the incumbent as well. I thought he
6:07
Speaker 3: did a really good job at the back end of
6:09
Speaker 3: last year for the All Blacks and a team that
6:12
Speaker 3: only put together its best and very fleeting moments, So
6:17
Speaker 3: I don't think you could leave him out there. The
6:19
Speaker 3: other talking points, Elliott's the midfield center, and I think
6:25
Speaker 3: we'll see finale and off or debut on the right
6:28
Speaker 3: wing as well with Caleb Clark.
6:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think in midfield to Pire, I think is
6:34
Speaker 2: the obvious choice. Jordy Barrett starting at twelve to Pire
6:37
Speaker 2: at thirteen. We saw him last year play a bit
6:40
Speaker 2: of thirteen outside Jordy Barrett, that combo began to feel
6:45
Speaker 2: like it was developing, and then there were a couple
6:47
Speaker 2: of injuries in the back end of last year. We
6:49
Speaker 2: didn't really get to see them out on the field
6:51
Speaker 2: maybe as often as we might have otherwise. So that's
6:54
Speaker 2: where i'd go. Billy Procer, I thought had very very
6:56
Speaker 2: good Super Rugby season. We haven't quite seen the best
6:59
Speaker 2: of him at Test level as yet. I think with
7:02
Speaker 2: the wings you mentioned the Caleb Clark very good exponent
7:05
Speaker 2: of the high ball. I think the jury's out on
7:08
Speaker 2: the him what he can do under the high ball,
7:11
Speaker 2: not something he was overly tested with this year, but
7:14
Speaker 2: I agree he's the full winger of the competition. And
7:17
Speaker 2: then you go back to fall back and it sounds
7:19
Speaker 2: like Will Jordan's going to be fit. So do you
7:20
Speaker 2: keep him at fifteen? Do you introduce him back on
7:23
Speaker 2: the bench given he hasn't had a lot of rugby recently,
7:25
Speaker 2: what do you look to do there?
7:27
Speaker 3: If Will Jordan's fitting available at stardom, I don't think
7:30
Speaker 3: there's much points keeping him on ice, but it is
7:33
Speaker 3: interesting to see where Dave Renny season fits, whether it
7:37
Speaker 3: is a fullback or wing. I think it will be
7:39
Speaker 3: full back. I think he's picked finger and off for
7:42
Speaker 3: and now's the time to find out whether he can
7:46
Speaker 3: translate that superrugby form into the Test arena, which, like
7:49
Speaker 3: you mentioned, is a different beast when it comes to
7:51
Speaker 3: kicking and strategy. So I'm sure Frants, if he does
7:56
Speaker 3: start on TESTABU will look to test him there. But this,
8:00
Speaker 3: as you know, is going to be played in a
8:03
Speaker 3: pristine stadium. Under it you can have a dry ball.
8:06
Speaker 3: It's going to be hard and fast, and so I
8:08
Speaker 3: think it'll suit the way that the All Blacks want
8:10
Speaker 3: to play. And look, France have some ballers as well.
8:13
Speaker 3: There's been a lot of talk about, you know, the
8:16
Speaker 3: team that they're going to send out, but I think
8:17
Speaker 3: this is a vastly stronger French team than what we
8:19
Speaker 3: saw last year, but predominantly because Bordeaux got knocked out
8:23
Speaker 3: of the top fourteen, the back to back European finalists,
8:27
Speaker 3: and I think there's eleven players in their squad, so
8:30
Speaker 3: this will be a real test for the All Blacks.
8:32
Speaker 3: First up, a couple of other questions for you who
8:35
Speaker 3: starts on the bench just stuff for armor or Somersony Takyaho.
8:40
Speaker 2: Well, that assumes that Cody Taylor starts at hooker, doesn't it.
8:43
Speaker 2: And again, going back to what I said before, this
8:45
Speaker 2: is assumed knowledge that we still believe Cody Taylor is
8:49
Speaker 2: the first choice hooker under a new coaching regime. He
8:53
Speaker 2: has been you know, going back to you know, last
8:57
Speaker 2: five six, seven plus years, he's been their number one hooker.
9:00
Speaker 2: But Oma had a very very good Super Rugby season.
9:03
Speaker 2: Is that an option to start or do you believe
9:06
Speaker 2: that Cody Taylor remains the number one.
9:08
Speaker 3: I think Taylor's the top dog for now. Rennie was
9:11
Speaker 3: fairly open about the fact that he was considered alongside
9:14
Speaker 3: Artie Savera's captain, So I think that tells you a
9:16
Speaker 3: lot about how Rennie views him, both from an experience
9:22
Speaker 3: and leadership point of view. So I think you need that,
9:25
Speaker 3: particularly in the first game of the year where the
9:27
Speaker 3: All Black scratch you. I agree with you. I think
9:29
Speaker 3: Alm Oiel was blockbusting, wasn't he? For the Hurricanes this year?
9:34
Speaker 3: SOMERSONI Takyaho was devastating off the back of the Chief
9:37
Speaker 3: small great ball carrier. So I think that's one type
9:43
Speaker 3: call and the other one. Let's just we're on the
9:45
Speaker 3: same page. We're saying Reuben Love starts, who knows if
9:48
Speaker 3: he does, But that leaves a choice between Damion McKenzie
9:51
Speaker 3: and Bowden Barrett. So which way do you go there?
9:53
Speaker 2: On the bench, I probably leaned towards Damien McKinsey. We
9:56
Speaker 2: saw what he could do against Scotland last year and
9:59
Speaker 2: how he turned the game on a dime. I think
10:02
Speaker 2: that's where he's at his best, is being able to
10:05
Speaker 2: go across the park and find space fine time. I'm
10:08
Speaker 2: against tiring defenses and I would probably lean towards having
10:13
Speaker 2: him here. Biden Barrett has impacted off the bench in
10:15
Speaker 2: his own way in the last few seasons. When Bringingst
10:17
Speaker 2: England in twenty four he turned the course of the
10:20
Speaker 2: game at Eden Park in the way of the All
10:25
Speaker 2: Blacks on that night. But I just think that Damian
10:27
Speaker 2: McKenzie offers a little bit more off the bench, and
10:29
Speaker 2: he didn't have his best night in that Super Ruggie Final.
10:32
Speaker 2: I think we can all agree, but I think you
10:34
Speaker 2: give him the backup option off the bench and the
10:37
Speaker 2: ability to look at him there what say you?
10:41
Speaker 3: I'm probably going Boden Barrett, but from a different lens.
10:44
Speaker 3: I think we need to find out where Boden Barrett's at,
10:47
Speaker 3: and I don't think the Blues is a fair reflection
10:50
Speaker 3: of his form, and I'd say the same about anyone
10:55
Speaker 3: in that team. Given the tail spinning form of the
10:58
Speaker 3: Blues five straight losses in the Caleb Clark heavily underutilized,
11:03
Speaker 3: wasn't he? But he'll probably start on the left wing,
11:05
Speaker 3: and I think we do need to find out where
11:07
Speaker 3: Boden Barrett's at. From a rugby perspective, So I'd quite
11:10
Speaker 3: like to see him get involved straight off the bat
11:13
Speaker 3: and assess, you know, his ability to challenge the line,
11:18
Speaker 3: to get involved, to be instinctive and have an impact.
11:23
Speaker 3: So I would probably go Damien. Sorry both Boden over Damien.
11:27
Speaker 2: I tend to se where you're coming from and the
11:30
Speaker 2: we do need to see where Boden fits. And maybe
11:32
Speaker 2: if you give Love the keys this week, you look
11:35
Speaker 2: to give Boden some game time next week again steadily
11:37
Speaker 2: and maybe change things up. I don't know, but I
11:41
Speaker 2: agree that that Love has to start. And then that
11:43
Speaker 2: bench is up for debate. And I can'tmember who was
11:45
Speaker 2: reading modem and gregor potentially and maybe at colleague Paul
11:48
Speaker 2: cully over at stuff around the bench, and traditionally in
11:52
Speaker 2: the last few years, they'll Black to be left behind
11:54
Speaker 2: on the bench. They've covered for all possible hypotheticals around
11:57
Speaker 2: the injury rather than rather around injuries, rather than looking
12:01
Speaker 2: for something that actually advances the All Blacks game plan
12:04
Speaker 2: and keeps them ticking over in that last twenty twenty
12:06
Speaker 2: five thirty minutes whatever it might be of a test match.
12:09
Speaker 2: Do you expect an immediate change in philosophy? Dear. I
12:12
Speaker 2: don't think they'll go a six or two bench this week,
12:14
Speaker 2: although it could be proven wrong come Thursday.
12:17
Speaker 3: No, look, I don't expect anything revolutionary. I think someone
12:21
Speaker 3: like Angelina Brown, who has played under Dave Renni in Japan.
12:26
Speaker 3: He's made a career out of covering second and center
12:31
Speaker 3: basically from the bench, and so I think that probably
12:33
Speaker 3: gives him the inside running over a Billy Proctor who
12:36
Speaker 3: doesn't necessarily strike you as a massive impact player. You've
12:41
Speaker 3: got to have your front row covered, you loose forwards.
12:45
Speaker 3: So look, I don't see anything revolutionary. The All Blacks
12:48
Speaker 3: have those type of players that can come on a
12:50
Speaker 3: Boden bear at Damian McKenzie. I think Kyle Preston is
12:56
Speaker 3: a bit of an ace up to sleeve. I think
12:59
Speaker 3: what we saw from him at the Crusaders this year
13:01
Speaker 3: has ability to lift the pace and tempo to kick
13:04
Speaker 3: off both feet. I expect him to get the nod.
13:07
Speaker 3: I would like to see him to get to get
13:09
Speaker 3: the nod a head of Cortes Ratma. The only other
13:12
Speaker 3: question for me Elliott is around tight head prop. Has
13:15
Speaker 3: Tyrell Lomax played enough rugby this year or do they
13:18
Speaker 3: go Fletch Newell.
13:20
Speaker 2: You're talking the starting side or the bench.
13:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, either way around.
13:24
Speaker 2: Look, I would probably go Lomax off the bench again,
13:28
Speaker 2: just the way that he closed out that Hurricane season
13:30
Speaker 2: long time on the sidelines. His last test was the
13:33
Speaker 2: Bleeder is low I think in Auckland's last year of
13:36
Speaker 2: memory Serves definitently didn't gone the end of view tour.
13:40
Speaker 2: I'd probably start Mule and give Lomax off the bench,
13:43
Speaker 2: just because of the weight of game time that he's
13:47
Speaker 2: had recently. I think Lomax, in terms of the actual rankings,
13:51
Speaker 2: if you were going to rank your tight head props
13:53
Speaker 2: in terms of the all blacks mix, is still probably
13:55
Speaker 2: head of Fletcher and Nule. But for this weekend, I'd
13:58
Speaker 2: probably start Newill put Lomax on the bench.
14:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's no doubt that Tyrell is still
14:05
Speaker 3: number one. I think he he's cancidents, a very world
14:10
Speaker 3: class scrummager. But he's played what three four games off
14:15
Speaker 3: the bench for the Hurricanes and their title charge, so
14:19
Speaker 3: perhaps lacking a bit of game time it is easier
14:21
Speaker 3: to manage I think workload off the bench. So interesting
14:25
Speaker 3: to see which way they go there.
14:28
Speaker 2: Just if we run this out there starting locks. Do
14:31
Speaker 2: you stand you suggested it'll be Vian Lord and too
14:34
Speaker 2: lots coming off the bench has done very very well
14:38
Speaker 2: in terms of we talk about their bench and pack.
14:39
Speaker 2: He's probably been you know, the kind of impact that
14:42
Speaker 2: the All Blacks have wanted off the bench in the
14:43
Speaker 2: last few years when he's been fit and had his opportunities.
14:47
Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely, I don't have any question marks about that.
14:49
Speaker 3: I think Josh Lords has been a massive mover in
14:52
Speaker 3: the past twelve eighteen months. He really stepped up for
14:55
Speaker 3: the All Blacks in Scott Barrett's absence last year and
15:01
Speaker 3: was superb at times in his repeat efforts for the Chiefs,
15:05
Speaker 3: making tackles, getting turnovers, charging down kicks. So I think
15:09
Speaker 3: that'll really appeal to Dave, Rennie and co.
15:11
Speaker 2: Absolutely. And so if we look at this close the
15:14
Speaker 2: loop on it to our twenty threes, how many debutantes
15:17
Speaker 2: do you have in your twenty three? Is it just
15:19
Speaker 2: FINIANNGG and Oval?
15:20
Speaker 3: I think so, Yeah. How many other potential rookies are there?
15:25
Speaker 2: Well, you can look at a Numa, a Moreby and
15:29
Speaker 2: the signa potentially Yeah.
15:32
Speaker 3: I don't think so.
15:33
Speaker 1: I mean.
15:36
Speaker 3: Maybe maybe new mire Goes close, but I think for
15:41
Speaker 3: a first test of the year, the Dave Rennie has
15:44
Speaker 3: only been on board with by the time kickoff for
15:47
Speaker 3: ten days. It's such a short runway. I think you
15:51
Speaker 3: largely go with the tried and true. Historically, the All
15:53
Speaker 3: Blacks are incredibly rusty first up. France have had a
15:57
Speaker 3: head out against largely second string English sides, but they've
16:03
Speaker 3: got combinations. I think they'll come over here as rank
16:07
Speaker 3: underdogs and they'll like that. We saw in Scott Robinson's tenure.
16:12
Speaker 3: You know how close those first tests were against England
16:16
Speaker 3: and France, very very scratchy. So I don't expect to
16:19
Speaker 3: see anything too out of the box in this first test.
16:23
Speaker 2: Selection wise, Okay, let's take a quick break here on rugby, Dirick,
16:26
Speaker 2: come back to the Final Four after this, you're back
16:30
Speaker 2: with a rugby direct time Now for the Final Four.
16:32
Speaker 2: Confirmation over the weekends that the ANZAC Day Test match
16:36
Speaker 2: is locked in in sunny Brisbane twenty twenty seven, twenty
16:40
Speaker 2: twenty nine, twenty thirty one. We have talked about this
16:43
Speaker 2: previously when it was mooted on the podcast. Now we
16:46
Speaker 2: have it set in stone. Liam, what's your reaction.
16:50
Speaker 3: Okay, I've come around a wee bit to the concept, Eliot.
16:52
Speaker 3: I think it will be well supported. I think Australia
16:54
Speaker 3: needs it. I think there'll be a lot of excitement
16:57
Speaker 3: around it, but it's it's not without a cost. It
17:02
Speaker 3: will reap great revenue for both New Zealand and Australia,
17:08
Speaker 3: but there's many spin offs something there. You're undermining Super
17:11
Speaker 3: Rugby that their argument is that it will actually build interest,
17:15
Speaker 3: but you are pulling the All Blacks and Wallabies from
17:20
Speaker 3: at least one fixture, possibly more depending on fatigue and injuries.
17:26
Speaker 3: You are having to move Superround, which was a great
17:29
Speaker 3: success on that weekends earlier this year in christ Church.
17:35
Speaker 3: So look, it'll be well supported, it'll be a great hit,
17:42
Speaker 3: but it is also a bit strange that it's every
17:44
Speaker 3: couple of years as well when New.
17:46
Speaker 2: Zealand Rugby don't think it would work in New Zealand
17:48
Speaker 2: is my understanding, and you get to be convinced of
17:50
Speaker 2: that concept. So I suppose you building Australia for a
17:55
Speaker 2: couple of cycles there, maybe look to bring it to
17:57
Speaker 2: New Zealand in twenty thirty two. Seems a long way
18:00
Speaker 2: off now, obviously, but maybe that's something you look at
18:04
Speaker 2: I think the jury's out. I think it'd be well supported.
18:06
Speaker 2: You put the All Blacks and Wallabies into a Test
18:08
Speaker 2: match and by and large ninety nine percent of the
18:12
Speaker 2: time it's going to sell out and it is going
18:14
Speaker 2: to be you know, open the coffers and get the
18:17
Speaker 2: revenue pumping and that sort of thing. I am less
18:20
Speaker 2: inclined to agree with the argument that it adds more
18:24
Speaker 2: to Super Rugby in the opening rounds because players will
18:26
Speaker 2: need to be informed. I think tried and True is
18:30
Speaker 2: probably going to win out here rather than blooding a
18:33
Speaker 2: debutante in April Test window players to be removed from
18:37
Speaker 2: Super Rugby, they won't play that weekend prior. I think
18:40
Speaker 2: that is weakening and already a compass, you know, which
18:45
Speaker 2: is already on shaky ground. You know, people talk about
18:47
Speaker 2: the NRL doing it. The NRL is pretty poor to
18:50
Speaker 2: watching those weeks. When though you take the best thirty
18:54
Speaker 2: four forty out of players out of the comp I
18:55
Speaker 2: don't think it's a winning argument. You know, you take
18:58
Speaker 2: your clearies, your Yo's to this goes Welsh's out of
19:03
Speaker 2: the NRL. It's a much much weaker product. You do
19:06
Speaker 2: that to Super Rugby and take the best thirty odd
19:09
Speaker 2: New Zealand players, best Dirty Ord Wallabies players. Yeah, you're
19:12
Speaker 2: going to get players opportunity, but it is actually good
19:14
Speaker 2: for the competition. I don't think so so for me.
19:17
Speaker 2: I think the jury is still out very much an
19:19
Speaker 2: Australian lead thing. I'm not sure why we're helping out
19:22
Speaker 2: Australia so much they are. You know, haven't done much
19:25
Speaker 2: in super rugby for a number of years now. I
19:27
Speaker 2: haven't won the bledders Low for twenty years. New Zealand
19:30
Speaker 2: seems to bend over backwards to help them out. I
19:32
Speaker 2: just don't get it.
19:33
Speaker 3: The other point, Earliert, is with those three games being
19:37
Speaker 3: confirmed for Brisbane sun Corp prior to the Chrush Chute
19:42
Speaker 3: Stadium build as the best rugby over bought or stadium
19:48
Speaker 3: in the world. So I don't have a problem with
19:50
Speaker 3: it being there. But if the Wallabies can't win the
19:52
Speaker 3: bledders Low in those years, they're never going to what
19:54
Speaker 3: it are they.
19:55
Speaker 2: Well, that's the other thing is that in Bledderslow Cup years,
19:58
Speaker 2: You're right they'll get two home games. So how on
20:01
Speaker 2: earth is that fear that goes against it the balance
20:03
Speaker 2: of the series. You know it should be alternating. If
20:06
Speaker 2: you're gon name with three much series, it should be
20:09
Speaker 2: New Zealand's has the two games one year in Australia,
20:12
Speaker 2: So with New Zealand's reluctance, I guess to have a
20:15
Speaker 2: game in their home market on Anzac Day. I think
20:18
Speaker 2: it does weaken the credibility of the Blitterslow. So if
20:21
Speaker 2: Australia wins it, there's going to have to be an
20:23
Speaker 2: asterix next to it, because they've had two games and
20:25
Speaker 2: there's no return for New Zealand And getting two in
20:28
Speaker 2: their own backyard. Surely, surely it has to be an
20:30
Speaker 2: Asterix against it. So you'd have to view it as
20:31
Speaker 2: a as a hollow Blitterslow upland wouldn't.
20:33
Speaker 3: You, Well, what's it been Nowlliot's.
20:36
Speaker 2: Twenty odd years. I guess you're going to find a
20:38
Speaker 2: way to get them the Blurters like up.
20:39
Speaker 3: Eventually, some sort of leg up correct some interest. Yeah, look, yeah,
20:45
Speaker 3: the jury's out. But it will be a cash cow
20:48
Speaker 3: and money talks in the modern professional age, doesn't.
20:50
Speaker 2: It It does. Indeed, the Maldi All Blacks beating Japan
20:53
Speaker 2: with they come from behind win this topic two in
20:56
Speaker 2: the final four, many would have given up the Ghosts
20:59
Speaker 2: at thirty one fourteen down and thought game over, Japan
21:02
Speaker 2: are going to win this, but the Mauldi All Black
21:04
Speaker 2: sparked a bit of a second half revival and from
21:08
Speaker 2: him to win at thirty eight thirty one. One great
21:11
Speaker 2: to see the Mouldy All Blakes out there and playing
21:13
Speaker 2: some rugby. But two, you know, they can be pretty
21:15
Speaker 2: proud of maybe their only game of the year and
21:19
Speaker 2: the performance they turned in, especially after halftime.
21:22
Speaker 3: It's pretty difficult, I think, to bring a team together
21:25
Speaker 3: like that in such a short space at time, and
21:27
Speaker 3: that was probably a reflection of their start, very scratchy,
21:31
Speaker 3: a couple of yellow cards, completely on the back foot,
21:33
Speaker 3: but they showed a lot of spirit, didn't They somebody
21:35
Speaker 3: Allison's debut as head coach, and they scored some brilliant
21:39
Speaker 3: tries to come back and finish that game. So they
21:42
Speaker 3: can be pretty proud of that comeback.
21:44
Speaker 2: It's weird they're not only playing, only playing one game.
21:47
Speaker 2: I know that the Nation's Championship obviously starts this weekend
21:49
Speaker 2: and this has been the issue for the Maldi All Blakes.
21:52
Speaker 2: Everyone wants to see them out in the park. It's
21:53
Speaker 2: a question of who and they actually play, given the
21:56
Speaker 2: way that Tess rugby is these days and how the
21:59
Speaker 2: windows are so tight. But yeah, quite disappointing that it
22:03
Speaker 2: is their only game of the season at this point.
22:06
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if they get anything else in the
22:07
Speaker 2: pipeline believe so, but good start for Tombody Ellison. In
22:12
Speaker 2: the end, topic number three, farewell to Mwana Pacifica. We
22:16
Speaker 2: knew this was coming legand confirmation came aroutes on Wednesday
22:21
Speaker 2: that it was done or done for Mwana Pacifica and
22:24
Speaker 2: the rescue bids weren't going to come to pass. I
22:28
Speaker 2: guess we've talked about this a number of times on
22:30
Speaker 2: the podcast, but where does it leave Super Rugby for
22:33
Speaker 2: next year? I guess the idea of Mowana as a whole.
22:35
Speaker 2: Can it be revived?
22:38
Speaker 3: Look, I think there'll be hope, but history probably shows
22:42
Speaker 3: that when teams like this go under, no matter what
22:45
Speaker 3: the circumstances, it's incredibly hard to get them back. And
22:49
Speaker 3: it was that short rue way. I think the salvage
22:53
Speaker 3: bid from Winston Peters and the Tonguan and Sarmon governments
22:57
Speaker 3: collectively that just didn't have enough time to build the
23:01
Speaker 3: necessary capital to convince News Yellen Rugby that they could
23:05
Speaker 3: be a viable financial entity because that's essentially what's required,
23:11
Speaker 3: not just on the field but off the field. So
23:14
Speaker 3: it's a sad maybe final nail for Wana and looks
23:19
Speaker 3: a lot of their players are already moving on. And
23:24
Speaker 3: what it means for Super Agua next year. We talked
23:26
Speaker 3: a wee bit about the likely formats on the previous pot.
23:30
Speaker 3: I expect that to probably proceed now and there will
23:34
Speaker 3: be plenty of question marks over a ten team competition,
23:38
Speaker 3: probably sticking with a top six finals format. And the
23:41
Speaker 3: other big question is around Artis Severe's future and the
23:45
Speaker 3: likelihood that he probably ends up at the Blues.
23:48
Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, it's a one season thing for Adi. I
23:51
Speaker 2: suspect he won't be in New Zealand rugby beyond twenty
23:53
Speaker 2: twenty seven. Was from twenty eight twenty eight onwards. One
23:57
Speaker 2: season the Blues probably feels about right. The Hurricanes have
24:00
Speaker 2: openly said they won't be able to get in there.
24:02
Speaker 2: We're going to talk back caller last week's so you're
24:04
Speaker 2: thinking that, you know, maybe you could apply the you know,
24:07
Speaker 2: the magic spring that he applied to more one up
24:09
Speaker 2: PACIFICA last year and get the Highlanders into the top
24:12
Speaker 2: six or around the top six, but I don't see
24:14
Speaker 2: that happening. You'd love to see him in the Crusaders jersey.
24:18
Speaker 2: You know, Crusader's lost a few midfielders, so Leicester fining
24:21
Speaker 2: and look, he's probably have to move back into the midfield.
24:24
Speaker 2: So maybe there is an opening there an open side,
24:26
Speaker 2: but no, all roads point to the Blues, don't they
24:28
Speaker 2: for Ardisa via the natural fettle though they just had
24:32
Speaker 2: their open side flanker and Anton Segner probably going forward
24:35
Speaker 2: and long term being named in the All Blacks, but
24:38
Speaker 2: he obviously can play both six and eight as required.
24:42
Speaker 2: Super rugby format ten teams doesn't work long term. I
24:46
Speaker 2: don't think they're gonna have to figure out a way
24:48
Speaker 2: around that, but we'll see how it unfolds over the
24:52
Speaker 2: next week while that format jus be known soon and time. Finally,
24:56
Speaker 2: our topic four, the nation's championship as the whole obviously
24:59
Speaker 2: starts this weekend the All Blacks in France, but the
25:01
Speaker 2: Wilby's in Ireland, South Africa, England some blockbuster fixtures to
25:06
Speaker 2: open things up. But as a holy and do you
25:08
Speaker 2: think this concept is going to work?
25:12
Speaker 3: Well, we talked earlier about the INXEC test Elliott and
25:16
Speaker 3: why that's going ahead, and it's because money talks, and
25:19
Speaker 3: that's ultimately what the Nation's Championship will come down to.
25:22
Speaker 3: I quite like the format in that I think when
25:25
Speaker 3: you play three tests against the team. We saw this
25:27
Speaker 3: against France when they sent out a weekend side last year,
25:31
Speaker 3: it can become a bit stale by the third test.
25:34
Speaker 3: Interest ways, the All Blacks are putting out their second stringers,
25:38
Speaker 3: so the real meaning around it gets questioned. So I
25:41
Speaker 3: like the fact that you do play three different teams
25:44
Speaker 3: in July, but the format as a whole look, there's
25:49
Speaker 3: big question marks about Guitar's long term sponsorship. The whole
25:53
Speaker 3: point of this Nation's Championship concept is the builds, meaning
25:58
Speaker 3: and revenue that can be sold collectively to broadcasters to
26:03
Speaker 3: prop up and give national unions a big windfall so
26:08
Speaker 3: they can find a big sponsor to come on boards.
26:12
Speaker 3: I think there's big question marks around it, and in
26:14
Speaker 3: terms of the interests, it sounds like the spring Box
26:18
Speaker 3: in England's at Alice Park won't sell out, so I
26:22
Speaker 3: think that's a bit of an indication of their ticket
26:25
Speaker 3: prices over there be people waiting for the All Blacks arrival,
26:29
Speaker 3: but also the fact that the Nation's Championship is definitely
26:32
Speaker 3: yet to capture the imagination.
26:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so too. And Johannesburg is getting three
26:38
Speaker 2: tests this year obviously Alis Park this weekend and then
26:41
Speaker 2: two in the Greatest Rivalry Series. So there's probably too
26:45
Speaker 2: much of a good thing when it comes to having
26:47
Speaker 2: the spring Box on turf and everything, at least from
26:50
Speaker 2: a South Africa and New Zealand perspective, has been pointing
26:52
Speaker 2: towards the Greatest Rivalry Series rather than the Nation's Championship series,
26:58
Speaker 2: and perhaps it's a little bit natural. I've got reservations about it.
27:01
Speaker 2: You know, you've got Japan playing home games in Newcastle
27:04
Speaker 2: next week, You've got Fiji playing home games in Liverpool.
27:08
Speaker 2: That is probably against what this was envisioned a few
27:12
Speaker 2: years ago. Obviously, travel is a huge barrier, especially coming
27:15
Speaker 2: from the North, because you know, countries are so far
27:19
Speaker 2: apart here in the Southern Hemisphere in terms of rugby nations.
27:22
Speaker 2: When the All Blacks go north, you know that they're
27:23
Speaker 2: jumping on a train or they're jumping on a quick
27:25
Speaker 2: flight over to a different country. So that does change
27:29
Speaker 2: things a little bit, but I've got reservations as to
27:32
Speaker 2: whether this is going to work long term, so we'll
27:35
Speaker 2: white and see, but you know, it does give a
27:37
Speaker 2: little bit more meaning to some of these fixtures in
27:41
Speaker 2: the July window. That'll do us for Rugby Direct to
27:44
Speaker 2: open things up. We'll be back later in the week
27:46
Speaker 2: once we have an All Blacks team to look at
27:48
Speaker 2: and maybe a French team as well. In fire things
27:52
Speaker 2: through to the Rugby Direct mail bag as well Rugby
27:54
Speaker 2: Direct at NEWSTALKZB dot co dot in Z. I think
27:58
Speaker 2: we've got a couple in there. We'll try and get
27:59
Speaker 2: to on Tuesday. But that has been Rugby Director thanks
28:03
Speaker 2: to Mark Kelly and we are powered by in Zisaky
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