Latest / Rugby Direct / Rugby Direct Episode 242: Five changes and a fresh look ABs
Transcript
- 0:09Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks at B.
- 0:12Speaker 1: Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio,
- 0:19Speaker 1: Straight down the Middle, Try get inside the game from
- 0:31Speaker 1: every end goal. It's Rugby Direct with Elliot Smith and
- 0:34Speaker 1: Liam Nabier, powered by News Talks ed B.
- 0:37Speaker 2: Welcome to Rugby Direct powered by Access Solutions, elevating you
- 0:41Speaker 2: and your business to.
- 0:42Speaker 3: A higher level. We are in.
- 0:45Speaker 2: Test Manchester City, Wellington, Napes and we're in my hotel room.
- 0:49Speaker 2: We need to record another edition of Rugby Direct on
- 0:52Speaker 2: a Thursday evening, which is becoming a regular thing. First
- 0:56Speaker 2: and foremost, I'm listening would have seen the team by now?
- 0:59Speaker 2: What did you make of that solution?
- 1:02Speaker 4: Great to be here in the capitol. First and foremost
- 1:04Speaker 4: isn't that we survived?
- 1:08Speaker 3: Were you fluent today?
- 1:09Speaker 4: What?
- 1:09Speaker 3: It's a bit more ropy than yesterday.
- 1:10Speaker 4: The All Blacks needed to do a couple of loops.
- 1:13Speaker 4: I think I went up to the carpety coast and
- 1:15Speaker 4: had to come back again. So yeah, I hope they
- 1:18Speaker 4: will hope for a smoothie ride this weekend. Look in
- 1:21Speaker 4: terms of the All Black selections, I can't still shake
- 1:24Speaker 4: the sense that it's a bit conservative that's not disrespect
- 1:30Speaker 4: to Italy. I just probably expected Dave Renny to go
- 1:33Speaker 4: away bit further and maybe that's a bit harsh. Maybe
- 1:37Speaker 4: that's my perspective on things. But they have made a
- 1:41Speaker 4: number of changes. I think it's eleven in the squad
- 1:44Speaker 4: five and the starting team, and I can understand where
- 1:48Speaker 4: they're coming from around building cohesion and combinations and getting
- 1:52Speaker 4: more clarity at this stage of the year under a
- 1:54Speaker 4: new management team. But there's just a few more elements.
- 2:00Speaker 4: I would have liked to have seen Anton signer, Josh
- 2:03Speaker 4: Moreby given a crack from the outset, Kyle Preston on
- 2:06Speaker 4: the bench. I don't particularly like the complexion of the bench,
- 2:11Speaker 4: but I can't understand the rationale. With a big tour
- 2:13Speaker 4: of South Africa and you're going to have those midweek games,
- 2:15Speaker 4: You're going to have a lot of time to give
- 2:17Speaker 4: players opportunities, aren't.
- 2:19Speaker 2: You You are indeed, yeah, I tend to think the
- 2:21Speaker 2: same vibe. I probably would have started Signa at blindside
- 2:24Speaker 2: this week. I think you can have a testing starting
- 2:28Speaker 2: test open side of Jacobson and Signa together Artie Savighert
- 2:33Speaker 2: at eight. I would have liked to see moreby in
- 2:37Speaker 2: the back three Finago would have been interesting to see
- 2:41Speaker 2: if he would have played a role. Didn't get coursed
- 2:44Speaker 2: have asked to Dave any earlier, but is this cald
- 2:47Speaker 2: Clark been moved out of the team.
- 2:49Speaker 3: Or is it horses for courses.
- 2:51Speaker 2: There's a few unanswered questions I suppose around it, but yeah,
- 2:55Speaker 2: I would have liked to see it. Just another step
- 2:57Speaker 2: taken forward from the all blacks around some of those selections.
- 3:01Speaker 2: And you know, Dave Rennie was quick to point out
- 3:04Speaker 2: that Cortez Ratama only had five six minutes or similar
- 3:07Speaker 2: off the bench in christ Church, which is true, but
- 3:10Speaker 2: again that's no reason why he couldn't start Preston this week.
- 3:13Speaker 2: We'll start righting or even and move Preston off the
- 3:17Speaker 2: bench and then you bring Royguard back in for the
- 3:19Speaker 2: Irish Test. I think though that could have been a
- 3:21Speaker 2: live option potentially. I do get the sense that they
- 3:24Speaker 2: are wanting, though, to give Reuben Love the best possible
- 3:27Speaker 2: start to twelve before they begin to tinker and move
- 3:30Speaker 2: players around him. And that's why again we're probably looking
- 3:33Speaker 2: at a Barrett at twelve and Royguard at nine rubbed
- 3:36Speaker 2: and some of those other combinations. So I tend to
- 3:39Speaker 2: agree that I probably would have gone a step further
- 3:41Speaker 2: than maybe Dave Rennie has. But I also think there's
- 3:44Speaker 2: a bit to like about this team as well. Love
- 3:46Speaker 2: gets another crack at ten. We also see Billy Proctor
- 3:50Speaker 2: out as thirteen. I'm still not sold on quint to
- 3:53Speaker 2: pirate at thirteen. I think there were a couple of
- 3:55Speaker 2: defensive moments last week where he was out of position.
- 3:59Speaker 3: I think that first try from memory was one.
- 4:01Speaker 2: Of them, whereas Billy Proctor very involved and his defense
- 4:06Speaker 2: is one of his real assets in a test match. So,
- 4:10Speaker 2: all in all, an interesting team, and it should been theory,
- 4:14Speaker 2: be good enough to beat Italy Italy comfortably in all honesty.
- 4:18Speaker 4: Yeah, I think so. And look, I can understand the
- 4:21Speaker 4: rationale around a quartet of Hurricanes in the back line.
- 4:24Speaker 4: Cameray Gard rubin Love is, as you say, retaining that
- 4:27Speaker 4: combination giving Love the best possible opportunity with Jeready Barrett
- 4:32Speaker 4: outside him, and then also with Leea Ricarda coming onto
- 4:37Speaker 4: the wing. I think if you look at players with
- 4:40Speaker 4: the most of the game here, you're looking at Lea
- 4:42Speaker 4: Ocara on the left wing, Billy Propter at center, Wallace
- 4:45Speaker 4: a Titi at six. I think if we draw down
- 4:50Speaker 4: into those three guys, who has the most of the
- 4:52Speaker 4: game for you.
- 4:54Speaker 2: I don't know that Walla City has the most again
- 4:56Speaker 2: because I think he is a vital part of the
- 4:57Speaker 2: All Blacks twenty three. I think Lucky was good last
- 5:01Speaker 2: week and the Titi is as good. I think they'll
- 5:05Speaker 2: probably form a combination this year where basically they might
- 5:08Speaker 2: end up starting fifty percent of the Test roughly by
- 5:11Speaker 2: and large and something the other will come off the bench.
- 5:14Speaker 2: I think Leroy card is an interesting one. Probably didn't
- 5:17Speaker 2: have the best back end of last year on their
- 5:19Speaker 2: end of year tour.
- 5:21Speaker 4: Faded, didn't he end and then didn't play a lot
- 5:24Speaker 4: of Super Ruguay this year, only came in at the back.
- 5:26Speaker 2: End injury wise. I am intrigued to see whether the
- 5:29Speaker 2: Rennie views him as an asset off the bench in
- 5:31Speaker 2: terms of what he can play, whether he sees him
- 5:34Speaker 2: as potentially a Test thirteen. He's played but there for
- 5:37Speaker 2: the Chiefs. He's played half back. He's obviously capable on
- 5:40Speaker 2: both wings, were seen at to Test level. So to me,
- 5:44Speaker 2: he's the you know, the pocket knife you put on
- 5:46Speaker 2: the bench potentially, if you're looking at maybe a six two,
- 5:48Speaker 2: but that's another step forward. But I think he's got
- 5:50Speaker 2: a bit to gain this weekend. And similarly, Billy Proctor.
- 5:53Speaker 2: I'm a big fan of Billy Proctor. We haven't seen
- 5:55Speaker 2: the best of him in an All Blacks Jersey as yet,
- 5:58Speaker 2: and Quinti Pie player is super rugby. I don't know
- 6:01Speaker 2: how you fit them all into a back line, but
- 6:03Speaker 2: I'm still, as I said before, not convinced that Quinta
- 6:05Speaker 2: Pie's best position at thirteen.
- 6:08Speaker 4: Billy's a very different prospect, isn't it. He's the best
- 6:12Speaker 4: distributing center that New Zealand has, I think, and we
- 6:15Speaker 4: saw that in Super Rugby. Josh Morby and fing ngon
- 6:19Speaker 4: Or four scored seventeen tries single season record each and
- 6:24Speaker 4: that's the reflection of what's happening inside them and the
- 6:27Speaker 4: pace and the width that the Hurricanes provided also, so
- 6:33Speaker 4: I think he's got the most Again. One of the
- 6:36Speaker 4: other big questions around this, I thought this week was
- 6:39Speaker 4: an ideal time to rest art a severe and it
- 6:42Speaker 4: was very interesting to hear Dave Rennie talk about the
- 6:45Speaker 4: prospect of Artie having a late start to South African tour.
- 6:50Speaker 4: That's come as a bit of a surprise. I thought,
- 6:54Speaker 4: if it wasn't this week, then maybe you look at
- 6:56Speaker 4: the Bleeders lows he's the new captain. How was sort
- 7:02Speaker 4: of put in the cart before the horse a little bit,
- 7:04Speaker 4: But that seems far from ideal to bring Savia. But later,
- 7:08Speaker 4: even though the All Blacks start with a match against
- 7:11Speaker 4: the Stormers in Cape.
- 7:12Speaker 3: Town, yeah there is a break.
- 7:14Speaker 4: You know.
- 7:14Speaker 2: It's similar to line series in the fact that the
- 7:16Speaker 2: first Test isn't until the twenty first of August, so
- 7:22Speaker 2: current there's New Zealand or South African time, but regardless,
- 7:25Speaker 2: it's sort of that weekend, so there's a few tour
- 7:28Speaker 2: games to get through and so you could possibly have
- 7:32Speaker 2: him missed the first couple come in the week before,
- 7:36Speaker 2: maybe plays that last tour match before the All Blacks
- 7:39Speaker 2: first Test, and you know is there and that that
- 7:42Speaker 2: basically gives them sort of essentially close to three weeks
- 7:45Speaker 2: off between next week's Test against Ireland, which I'm sure
- 7:48Speaker 2: they're not going to rest them for, and you know,
- 7:50Speaker 2: the tour game there. So maybe that's a possibility. But
- 7:54Speaker 2: I tend to agree with the original point that this
- 7:56Speaker 2: was probably set up quite nicely for Artie sa Viga
- 7:59Speaker 2: to have a week off. I get they're betting in
- 8:01Speaker 2: new combinations, the new leadership, everything around that, but you
- 8:06Speaker 2: could have had them either coming off the bench or
- 8:08Speaker 2: you know, none of the twenty three entirely.
- 8:10Speaker 4: He looked pretty battered and beat up last week. He
- 8:12Speaker 4: took a knock on the warm up, played through that
- 8:14Speaker 4: and then was beaten and bloodied. So he's played for
- 8:18Speaker 4: eighteen months. He is going to need a rest at
- 8:20Speaker 4: some point. I can see the rationale around that South
- 8:23Speaker 4: African window and maybe stepping out of the environment entirely.
- 8:27Speaker 4: But I thought this was an opportunity to go with
- 8:30Speaker 4: other people in the loose Ford trio. Another big takeaway
- 8:33Speaker 4: today there's four players I think a right that will
- 8:37Speaker 4: not feature in the first two weeks of Rennie's tenure.
- 8:40Speaker 4: Boden Barrett, Kyle Preston helped me out here, Simon Parker
- 8:45Speaker 4: and Patrick two Plotu and Rennie said today not necessarily,
- 8:50Speaker 4: as he held bent on playing everyone in his thirty
- 8:53Speaker 4: four man squad in this three test series. I thought
- 8:56Speaker 4: that that was very interesting. Most coaches would want to
- 9:00Speaker 4: give everyone game time, but maybe that is a reflection
- 9:05Speaker 4: of what's to come in South Africa. But you'd have
- 9:07Speaker 4: to think of like Boden Barrett would be absolutely being
- 9:10Speaker 4: down the door ittching for an opportunity looking over his shoulder.
- 9:13Speaker 4: Ye would be fascinating. If he's not used at all
- 9:16Speaker 4: in July.
- 9:17Speaker 2: Well absolutely, Look and this is two medi conferences or
- 9:21Speaker 2: two weekly media conferences in the row now that Dave
- 9:23Speaker 2: Rynny has been quick time to line just how valuable
- 9:25Speaker 2: Boden Barrett has been in this environment even though he's
- 9:27Speaker 2: not playing.
- 9:28Speaker 3: Last week he said it.
- 9:29Speaker 2: Before the first Test, he said it again today that
- 9:31Speaker 2: he was carving them up a couple of points and
- 9:33Speaker 2: their training today obviously he's acting as the ten for
- 9:37Speaker 2: Italy and the reposed training session. So I think he
- 9:41Speaker 2: gets an opportunity potentially next week. Maybe they look at
- 9:43Speaker 2: fullback for him starting in Edden Park, maybe comes off
- 9:47Speaker 2: the bench.
- 9:48Speaker 3: They having gone with.
- 9:49Speaker 2: A specialist playmaker on the bench in the first couple
- 9:52Speaker 2: of weeks, so that may be going slightly against the grain,
- 9:55Speaker 2: but I would be surprised if we don't see Boden
- 9:57Speaker 2: Barrett next week. Been battling a lot of injuries, I
- 10:02Speaker 2: mean that's the story unfortunately of his career is that
- 10:04Speaker 2: he's never quite been fully fitt. He's an absolute warrior
- 10:07Speaker 2: and a great player, but he's he's battling injuries, but
- 10:09Speaker 2: I think is a vital player. And then yeah, I
- 10:11Speaker 2: would have liked to see Preston this week. Absolutely. He
- 10:14Speaker 2: may get a chance next week. Depending on how long
- 10:17Speaker 2: Ratama gets this week, they may be more comfortable to
- 10:19Speaker 2: go We'll put Preston on the bench next week rather
- 10:21Speaker 2: than Royguard and Parker. Hard to know. He may be
- 10:25Speaker 2: the one unlucky one that doesn't doesn't quite get an
- 10:27Speaker 2: opportunity in this series.
- 10:28Speaker 4: Yeah, the other one just now think about Xavier new Mair,
- 10:33Speaker 4: George Bowers come on to the bench. They've gone with
- 10:35Speaker 4: Ethan de Grue and Tyrolomax because they respect highly Atalys
- 10:41Speaker 4: Scrum personally. I would have liked to have seen new
- 10:45Speaker 4: Mare go again. I thought he was very impressive off
- 10:48Speaker 4: the bench. He's that all court modern day prop and
- 10:52Speaker 4: I think he brings a lot more than a George Bauer.
- 10:55Speaker 4: So he's a final line decision. Yeah, but I think
- 10:59Speaker 4: new Mire is the future and you need to be
- 11:01Speaker 4: progressing those guys, so I would have gone that.
- 11:03Speaker 3: Well.
- 11:03Speaker 2: I suspect they'll revert back to the mix they had
- 11:07Speaker 2: last week for next week would be my thought that
- 11:10Speaker 2: loom Max probably drops back to the bench on Will
- 11:13Speaker 2: comes back in on the bench and maybe Naw me
- 11:17Speaker 2: on the bench as well. They're all hurricanes, but that
- 11:19Speaker 2: me again the newill comes back into the starting side.
- 11:22Speaker 2: Lonax hasn't had a lot of rugby really since September
- 11:24Speaker 2: of last year. He's been in and out, you know,
- 11:26Speaker 2: thumb injuries and various other bits he's had to have repaired.
- 11:30Speaker 2: So I can understand him hopefully getting fifty to fifty
- 11:33Speaker 2: five minutes under his belt on the again. Here's a
- 11:35Speaker 2: fun fact for you. This Saturday were the first time
- 11:38Speaker 2: that Luke Jacobson has started back to back All Blacks
- 11:42Speaker 2: tests in his career.
- 11:43Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that's the reflection of his career at
- 11:46Speaker 4: test level, isn't it. That's he's been selected by successive
- 11:51Speaker 4: All Black coaches but never sees that chance to say
- 11:56Speaker 4: I'm I'm a must have selection. And Dave Rennie today
- 12:00Speaker 4: and I think he's right. I'd agree with him. Last
- 12:03Speaker 4: week was Luke Jacobson's best test. He got a couple
- 12:05Speaker 4: of early penalties, but has worked great his defense front
- 12:10Speaker 4: on defense, his ability to clean bodies and provide that
- 12:14Speaker 4: quick rock ball, the slick off fload for Will Jordan's try. Look,
- 12:18Speaker 4: I wasn't a big fan of his selection and I
- 12:21Speaker 4: think he proved me and a number of other people
- 12:23Speaker 4: are wrong and he's been rewarded again with another.
- 12:26Speaker 2: Start he has men and look, I've still on this
- 12:27Speaker 2: podcast that you can never you know, I've always wanted
- 12:31Speaker 2: him to succeed the Test level, but never quite seen it.
- 12:33Speaker 2: But maybe we are beginning, and this early days, but
- 12:36Speaker 2: you know, if he can back it up again this week,
- 12:38Speaker 2: And as I said, I went through the stats before
- 12:40Speaker 2: he's played back to back weeks off the bench or
- 12:42Speaker 2: starting one week off the bench next week, but this
- 12:44Speaker 2: is the first time he's getting back to back starts
- 12:47Speaker 2: and maybe better lat than ever. It might be that
- 12:49Speaker 2: the kick start he needs to his Test career. So
- 12:52Speaker 2: that's the All Blacks twenty three. They should do a
- 12:55Speaker 2: job on this Italian team. Look on the davern he
- 12:58Speaker 2: was quick to point out the heat in Japan last week,
- 13:00Speaker 2: and it can be oppressive at.
- 13:02Speaker 3: This time of the year. We've seen that.
- 13:04Speaker 2: But Italy were really poor and really disappointing given the
- 13:09Speaker 2: moments they've had in the six Nations over the last
- 13:11Speaker 2: couple of seasons. I know they're missing Angkapuzzo who's back home,
- 13:15Speaker 2: and a couple of other players that weren't selected but
- 13:18Speaker 2: just didn't quite get going. And it's hard to see
- 13:21Speaker 2: twelve hour flights in New Zealand being the tonic they
- 13:24Speaker 2: need to everything for everything clicking them to.
- 13:26Speaker 4: Get Yeah, look at Italy's first test in New Zealand.
- 13:29Speaker 4: Since two thousand and nine, they have made a couple
- 13:31Speaker 4: of key changes at fullback, left wing and blindside flankers,
- 13:35Speaker 4: so it's a stronger team by the back end of
- 13:38Speaker 4: their year. They haven't got everyone in their squad, leaving
- 13:42Speaker 4: a couple behinds. It's going to be a tall order.
- 13:46Speaker 4: I would expect the All Blacks to put fifty plus
- 13:48Speaker 4: on this Italy team, particularly given the strength of the
- 13:51Speaker 4: All Black team, the combinations, the directives around prioritizing cohesion
- 13:56Speaker 4: over maybe fast tracking some of those rookies. I think
- 14:01Speaker 4: we see this All Black team taking another step up,
- 14:03Speaker 4: particularly on attack, and they need to make some big
- 14:06Speaker 4: shifts on defense as well. What about the Wellington who
- 14:10Speaker 4: doo h? Was it three from their last ten? I
- 14:13Speaker 4: think the last match here was that record defeats to
- 14:16Speaker 4: the box Does that play any part, Well, I.
- 14:19Speaker 2: Don't think it plays a part, But the more it
- 14:21Speaker 2: gets talked about, the more it is sort of in
- 14:23Speaker 2: the back of the mind. And there's no reason for
- 14:25Speaker 2: them to have been this bad and willing obviously it's
- 14:27Speaker 2: from Boxer are a very very good team, but it's
- 14:29Speaker 2: become almost comical how they found ways to lose and
- 14:34Speaker 2: conspire to play really badly in the Capitol. And you know,
- 14:38Speaker 2: I'm sure I listeners caught up with us as well
- 14:40Speaker 2: that they only arrived into Wellington today. Maybe that was
- 14:43Speaker 2: a factor in trying to change up some of the momentum.
- 14:45Speaker 2: This decision was made by the previous all Blacks coaching regime.
- 14:49Speaker 3: Maybe they did this to.
- 14:50Speaker 2: Basically try and shake off the Capital who do Whatever
- 14:53Speaker 2: it might have been, I can't see it happening on Saturday.
- 14:57Speaker 2: I think they should be far too good for this
- 14:59Speaker 2: Italian team. But it is quite a funny sideshow to
- 15:03Speaker 2: have this still going on, because really some of them,
- 15:06Speaker 2: you know, they shouldn't have lost half of them, if
- 15:08Speaker 2: not more.
- 15:10Speaker 4: It's funny they had prior to this run that she
- 15:11Speaker 4: had a great record in Wellington. I think it's a
- 15:15Speaker 4: bit of a non factor, particularly for Italy, and with
- 15:19Speaker 4: Dave Renny coming in as well. He's from Wellington coaching,
- 15:25Speaker 4: started coaching the Alpert Cults was a teacher and a publican,
- 15:30Speaker 4: won a provincial title with Wellington in two thousand, knows
- 15:33Speaker 4: this region well, so I think he feels entirely comfortable.
- 15:37Speaker 4: And I really don't even think the All Blacks will
- 15:39Speaker 4: touch on that this week.
- 15:40Speaker 2: No, I don't think so either. I think it'll be
- 15:43Speaker 2: left to the side of the discussion. So the All
- 15:46Speaker 2: Blacks Italy on Saturday afternoon two plus five sold out
- 15:50Speaker 2: crowds got there in the end with the locals and yeah,
- 15:55Speaker 2: great to see and hopefully the occasion matches it because
- 15:59Speaker 2: the last time there was a high profile rugby game
- 16:01Speaker 2: played in the Capitol, you know, we got ourselves entertained.
- 16:04Speaker 2: Maybe not if you're a Chiefs fan, but it was
- 16:06Speaker 2: assumably great occasion. So hopefully more of the same on
- 16:08Speaker 2: Saturday afternoon.
- 16:10Speaker 4: Yeah, we'll keep an eye out for trains and maybe
- 16:14Speaker 4: you can do some tooting. And you are on the
- 16:15Speaker 4: Hurricanes bandwagon now, so.
- 16:18Speaker 2: The only bandwagon I want, that white bait wagon that's
- 16:22Speaker 2: on the Viaduct, which we do need to go check
- 16:25Speaker 2: out instantly on Saturday morning at some point.
- 16:27Speaker 4: Yes, indeed, I can't wait for that.
- 16:29Speaker 3: That indeed, we'll do us. Rugby Director.
- 16:31Speaker 2: Quick update on the nation's championship Juicy Patch Saga. I
- 16:36Speaker 2: had a response from New Zealand Rugby and I was
- 16:40Speaker 2: told that they aren't required to wear them the badge,
- 16:43Speaker 2: so they're not wearing it at this point in time,
- 16:45Speaker 2: So there you go. I think they're the only ones
- 16:47Speaker 2: that didn't.
- 16:48Speaker 4: So yeah, fair enough in that infancy, isn't it It is?
- 16:50Speaker 2: Indeed yeh see guys, and there's no sponsor attached to
- 16:52Speaker 2: this competition. You I think cut always are just pulling
- 16:56Speaker 2: back until they're you know, back on solid ground and
- 17:00Speaker 2: not getting entangled. And other developments worldwide put it that way,
- 17:05Speaker 2: they will do us for Rugby Direct. We're back early
- 17:07Speaker 2: part of next week with the reaction to this Italy game.
- 17:10Speaker 2: We built up to Ireland as well thanks to Mark Kelly.
- 17:13Speaker 2: We're powered by Excess Solutions, elevating you and your business
- 17:16Speaker 2: to a higher level.
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