Latest / Rugby Direct / Rugby Direct Episode 243: All Blacks Win Big, But Are They Getting Better?

Transcript

Rugby Direct Episode 243: All Blacks Win Big, But Are They Getting Better? · Rugby Direct

0:09
Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks ed B.
0:12
Speaker 1: Follow this and our Wide Ranger podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
0:19
Speaker 2: Straight down the middle of Trumps, try.
0:28
Speaker 1: To get inside the game from every end goal. It's
0:32
Speaker 1: Rugby Direct with Elliott Smith and Liam Napier, powered by
0:36
Speaker 1: News Talks EDB.
0:37
Speaker 2: Welcome into Rugby Direct powered by Access Solutions, elevating you
0:41
Speaker 2: and your business to a higher level. Elliott Smith with
0:44
Speaker 2: me Liam Napier from The New Zealand Herald, as we
0:47
Speaker 2: reflect on the All Blacks win over Italy forty seven seventeen.
0:53
Speaker 2: Nape's first and foremost your your top line reactions to
0:57
Speaker 2: that game where the All Blacks won convincingly but also
1:02
Speaker 2: weirdly not convincingly.
1:04
Speaker 3: It's a great summary. E let's it's been a bit
1:07
Speaker 3: of a whirl windaw hasn't it come back from the
1:08
Speaker 3: capitol back in Auckland now. Look a lot to unpack
1:12
Speaker 3: from that game. First of all, I think nice to
1:15
Speaker 3: have early kickoff five pm, lots of families, lots of kids.
1:18
Speaker 3: It was a bit of a battle to sell it out.
1:20
Speaker 3: Italy are hard to sell them most other international teams,
1:24
Speaker 3: so that was really notable. And then from the All Blacks. Yeah,
1:27
Speaker 3: I think one really good quarter and a lot to
1:32
Speaker 3: improve otherwise. Look, Italy are the big movers of the
1:36
Speaker 3: six nations, but they were missing three of their starters
1:41
Speaker 3: and they're at the back end of the year. They
1:43
Speaker 3: come off successive losses to Japan and Wales. They were
1:48
Speaker 3: very resolute in defense, but I thought the All Blacks
1:52
Speaker 3: didn't adapt and had real trouble breaking through. They made
1:58
Speaker 3: some good adjustments after halftime, got some pay and then
2:00
Speaker 3: finished quite poorly as well. So all in all, I
2:03
Speaker 3: think they've really summed up well. And he said it
2:06
Speaker 3: was a pass, but he could tell he wasn't happy
2:08
Speaker 3: with the overall nature of that performance.
2:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was clunky, It was scratchy, wasn't it. And
2:13
Speaker 2: I think the All Blacks have a lot to work
2:15
Speaker 2: on head facing Irelands next week. I think it probably
2:20
Speaker 2: depends on your point of view on life in general,
2:22
Speaker 2: where you're a glass half full, glass half empty sort
2:25
Speaker 2: of person. I would probably classify it as a minor
2:30
Speaker 2: step back from the first week against France, because there
2:33
Speaker 2: were a lot of expectations that they would build on
2:35
Speaker 2: what worked well against France and continue to layer.
2:38
Speaker 3: That on, particularly having gone with a really strong team
2:43
Speaker 3: and not an experimental one.
2:45
Speaker 4: That's right.
2:45
Speaker 2: So you go, okay, well, these players have had another
2:47
Speaker 2: week in the saddle, another seven days to the ten
2:50
Speaker 2: they had before the first game against France, so they
2:52
Speaker 2: should be a bit clearer around some of the roles.
2:54
Speaker 2: I didn't really see that for long periods of the game.
2:58
Speaker 2: But when the All Blacks flicked the switch in that
3:00
Speaker 2: thirteen fourteen minutes after halftime, they were utterly lethal and
3:06
Speaker 2: a sign of what they can do when they everything
3:09
Speaker 2: does click for them, and they closed the game down
3:12
Speaker 2: and in the matter of thirteen to fourteen minutes with
3:14
Speaker 2: those four tries after the break, But as Dave Renny rude,
3:17
Speaker 2: they didn't kick on with it. And look, there are
3:20
Speaker 2: a couple of reasons potentially for that. There was a
3:22
Speaker 2: big long stoppage for Tomaso Allen, which took all the
3:24
Speaker 2: momentum out of a game that was already won by
3:26
Speaker 2: the All Blacks. But they were playing against fourteen for
3:29
Speaker 2: a long period of the back half of the game
3:32
Speaker 2: and didn't accelerate what was obviously going to be a win.
3:37
Speaker 2: So there was for me a lot to work on
3:40
Speaker 2: out of the game, and I think probably as set
3:41
Speaker 2: at the top. A minor step back from what we
3:43
Speaker 2: saw last week.
3:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think, look, this is a team that's in
3:47
Speaker 3: its infancy and growing pains are very evident, and from
3:51
Speaker 3: a game plan perspective, I think there has been quite
3:54
Speaker 3: significant change. You can see the All Blacks intent to
3:57
Speaker 3: retain the ball. They only kicked four times in the
3:59
Speaker 3: first half last week it was six. They made the
4:05
Speaker 3: I've got some stats here for you. They made three
4:07
Speaker 3: hundred and twelve passes, which is their most in the
4:10
Speaker 3: last fifteen years according to op the stats, and one
4:13
Speaker 3: hundred and eighty eight carries, which is also their fourth
4:16
Speaker 3: most in that same timeframe. So that tells you it
4:19
Speaker 3: speaks to the game plan, to the ball retention. But
4:23
Speaker 3: I just felt, particularly in that first half where the
4:26
Speaker 3: Italians were filling the field and defending really well chopped tackles,
4:31
Speaker 3: the All Blacks lacked variety and they did score that
4:34
Speaker 3: one try with the grubber kick, and it just seems
4:38
Speaker 3: a bit lateral, a bit predictable, and they didn't They
4:43
Speaker 3: didn't win the physical battle in the collisions, they weren't
4:45
Speaker 3: winning the breakdown, and they didn't generate enough go forward
4:48
Speaker 3: to allow them to go wide. So they made those
4:51
Speaker 3: adjustments after halftime, but against a better team, you want
4:54
Speaker 3: them to happen earlier.
4:56
Speaker 2: I think I think so too, and I don't think
4:59
Speaker 2: they switched. You know, we talk a lot about kicking
5:01
Speaker 2: and the All Blacks with the maybe run first or
5:03
Speaker 2: keep on hand mentality in the second In the first spel,
5:07
Speaker 2: that was crying out for some tactical kicking to try
5:09
Speaker 2: and put Italy on the back foot and disrupt the
5:11
Speaker 2: game they wanted to play. That wasn't really forthcoming from
5:14
Speaker 2: the All Blacks, and they seem to trust or believe
5:17
Speaker 2: that the smithod was going to work. And I suppose
5:20
Speaker 2: after halftime it did work, but I would have liked
5:22
Speaker 2: to see perhaps a.
5:23
Speaker 4: Bit more kicking.
5:25
Speaker 2: You know. Kicking sort of been painted as the evil
5:27
Speaker 2: art over the last few weeks, but I think there's
5:30
Speaker 2: still a room for it in a game plan and
5:32
Speaker 2: probably could have been unleashed in that first forty.
5:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, just when you're not getting that pay that go forwards,
5:37
Speaker 3: and maybe that speaks to the lack of dominant ball
5:41
Speaker 3: carriers that were that are in that All Black pack. Potentially,
5:44
Speaker 3: I think the All Blacks miss Peter Laco he was
5:48
Speaker 3: one of their better performers. I felt in the Test
5:50
Speaker 3: against France. He's not a massive guy, but his ball
5:53
Speaker 3: carrying is one of his real strengths. I thought Wallace
5:57
Speaker 3: a Titi had probably his worst test for the All Blacks,
6:00
Speaker 3: dropped a lot of pill and so yeah, that that
6:05
Speaker 3: twenty minute period after halftime, the All Blacks did make
6:08
Speaker 3: some adjustments, a little bit more tactical kicking, a lot
6:12
Speaker 3: more clinical with their skill execution in the first half
6:17
Speaker 3: as well. There are a few discipline issues. The scrum
6:19
Speaker 3: got pings and look the referee and the pedantic performance
6:23
Speaker 3: of the overarching TMO didn't help the nature of the spectacle.
6:28
Speaker 3: But they didn't get that quick ruck speed that they
6:30
Speaker 3: had in christ Church until the second half, and that's
6:36
Speaker 3: why I think you saw passes flying out over the
6:39
Speaker 3: touch line and a lot of inaccuracy because they were
6:43
Speaker 3: playing with men in their faces and they struggled to
6:45
Speaker 3: combat their Italian line speed.
6:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, Italy clearly worked out the way that the All
6:50
Speaker 2: Blacks were going to attack and from Italy side that
6:54
Speaker 2: I thought was really poor against Japan. You know, Dave
6:57
Speaker 2: Renny put it down to the heat on Thursday. Maybe
6:59
Speaker 2: that was a factor because they were a lot lot
7:02
Speaker 2: better though it was similar to the six nation side
7:04
Speaker 2: that we saw earlier in the year and perhaps with
7:07
Speaker 2: a little bit more class and claw in that first spell.
7:09
Speaker 2: They may have even been in front at halftime, but
7:11
Speaker 2: it wasn't to be. But I think they can probably
7:13
Speaker 2: hold their heads high a little bit from the way
7:16
Speaker 2: that the All Blacks or they put the pressure on
7:18
Speaker 2: the All Blacks, especially for the first forty or so
7:21
Speaker 2: minutes of the game. If you're an opposition team though,
7:24
Speaker 2: and say Ireland were watching that, the win watching that
7:27
Speaker 2: because they're about to play. But what would they have
7:29
Speaker 2: taken out is they prepare to play the All Blacks
7:31
Speaker 2: this week.
7:32
Speaker 3: I think the All Blacks attacking blueprints clear and if
7:35
Speaker 3: you can bring a bit of line speed, if you
7:36
Speaker 3: can put a bit of pressure on, if you can
7:38
Speaker 3: deny the All Blacks at quick ruck speed that go forward,
7:41
Speaker 3: then you frustrate them. So I think you'd be trying
7:44
Speaker 3: to do that. I think you'd still target the All
7:46
Speaker 3: Blacks in the air. There wasn't a huge amount of that,
7:50
Speaker 3: but the high ball the All Blacks the receiver are
7:53
Speaker 3: remember McKenzie dropping one, So I think Islam will still
7:56
Speaker 3: come for the all blacks in that department. And then look,
8:00
Speaker 3: you have to be aware of the all blacks streats,
8:03
Speaker 3: don't you, because when they do get it right, like
8:05
Speaker 3: you say, they are lethal. And we saw that with
8:08
Speaker 3: Will Jordan. Yeah, three tries, three tries record break in
8:12
Speaker 3: the evening and that really did happen in a flash.
8:16
Speaker 2: It did, and he had one of the first spell
8:18
Speaker 2: and then two bang bang very quickly to take the record.
8:21
Speaker 2: And you know, fifty tries as a phenomenal feat in
8:24
Speaker 2: test rug be.
8:25
Speaker 3: In fifty six tests, yeah, really is.
8:28
Speaker 2: He's not the highest New Zealand all time scorer, you know,
8:31
Speaker 2: a lot more days when those games were you know,
8:33
Speaker 2: the tour matches, various things, but to do it in
8:35
Speaker 2: test matches is quite the achievement. And look there are
8:38
Speaker 2: a club of six others that have reached fifty tries
8:42
Speaker 2: at tess Levely, obviously past Starkala who was an exceptional
8:45
Speaker 2: winger in his day as well. And you know, I
8:48
Speaker 2: think the record's sixty nine, so what twenty water catch
8:52
Speaker 2: and you wouldn't put it past him at this point.
8:54
Speaker 2: The strike right that he's got, as you said, and
8:57
Speaker 2: you know he's twenty eight now, you know, i'd think
8:59
Speaker 2: probably in the second third of his career, probably at
9:03
Speaker 2: this point in time. But he just showed his because
9:05
Speaker 2: quality and this moved back to the right wing over
9:07
Speaker 2: the last couple of you know, a lot of talk
9:09
Speaker 2: around whether he should play fullback or right wing. Five
9:12
Speaker 2: tries two weeks from the right wing just shows how
9:15
Speaker 2: lethal he is on the edge, but he also pops up.
9:18
Speaker 4: Around the park. These aren't just falling over the line
9:20
Speaker 4: for the tries.
9:21
Speaker 2: This is you know, Will Jordan having to go to
9:24
Speaker 2: work and set things up, and his acceleration I think
9:27
Speaker 2: is a second to none, and Will.
9:29
Speaker 3: Rugby acceleration anticipation I for a gap. You just think
9:34
Speaker 3: of the many moments we've seen him from sithing through
9:38
Speaker 3: on this occasion, I think he should be giving Josh
9:42
Speaker 3: Morby a birthday present because I felt Morby was a
9:45
Speaker 3: real game changer. He came on about thirty five minutes
9:49
Speaker 3: into that match when Lee Occarter departed. Sounds like an
9:52
Speaker 3: ac shoulder, which doesn't sound good for Lee. Ricarter had
9:55
Speaker 3: a disrupted year, but Morby, for me, on debut, rarely
9:59
Speaker 3: sees his chance. He was one of the best on display,
10:02
Speaker 3: I felt, and he really brought similar qualities to Jordan. Pace, anticipation,
10:09
Speaker 3: scything through on the edge, highly involved and certainly helped
10:13
Speaker 3: Jordan break that record.
10:14
Speaker 2: He did, and I think his time that he spent
10:18
Speaker 2: at fullback and will Jordan's the same, it does help
10:21
Speaker 2: them and seeing just the different ways that defenses operate
10:24
Speaker 2: where those gaps might be on the park, we'll be
10:28
Speaker 2: having to slot in on the left wing, which is
10:30
Speaker 2: probably a little bit unfamiliar for him, but you wouldn't
10:32
Speaker 2: have really known.
10:33
Speaker 4: I thought he was.
10:34
Speaker 2: Really really good. It's a remarkable story, isn't it. Given
10:37
Speaker 2: he went to France and was seemingly lost to New
10:41
Speaker 2: Zealand rugby, comes back and now on his day, on
10:44
Speaker 2: his birthday, makes his debut for the All Blacks. Has
10:47
Speaker 2: really put his hand up.
10:48
Speaker 3: We could almost categorize him as a journeyman. He played
10:50
Speaker 3: for Southland, Northland, the Hurricanes, that seemed like as a
10:54
Speaker 3: newer New Zealand career was over when he went to France.
10:56
Speaker 3: He cut that deal one year short to come back,
10:59
Speaker 3: had a breakout season with the Canes and even before
11:02
Speaker 3: he departed he did look to have those qualities but
11:06
Speaker 3: to do it this year in a championship winning squad
11:08
Speaker 3: and then to make your debut in that fashion, I
11:13
Speaker 3: think it was a real statement performance.
11:17
Speaker 2: It was, and look when he came back, it was like, Okay,
11:20
Speaker 2: that's a good pickup for the Hurricanes, but no one's
11:22
Speaker 2: thinking international level. This isn't a boost for the All Blacks.
11:25
Speaker 2: But it speaks to his ability this year and the
11:27
Speaker 2: way that he played that he was deserving opportunity and
11:31
Speaker 2: I thought took it as well. Anton Signa, I thought
11:33
Speaker 2: really added something when he came on at halftime with
11:35
Speaker 2: Luke Jacobson having a carf Nigol as well. He's not
11:38
Speaker 2: the biggest player on the park. I know he's had
11:41
Speaker 2: a little bit of size, but he's just got tenacity.
11:43
Speaker 2: He's got fight in them and he gets over the
11:46
Speaker 2: game line with a lot of his carries. He's always active,
11:49
Speaker 2: always involved in the game. And yeah, I think we'll
11:52
Speaker 2: see a lot more of Anton Signa in a Black jersey.
11:55
Speaker 3: It was nice to see him get an extended period
11:57
Speaker 3: of time rather than ten minutes at the end. Came on,
12:00
Speaker 3: like you said, straight after the break and look he
12:03
Speaker 3: at his parents, his brother and brothers and Leicester Fengenoku,
12:07
Speaker 3: who was his roommate at Nelson College when he came out,
12:10
Speaker 3: and he's on as a teenager from Germany, so very
12:13
Speaker 3: special night for him, and I agree, I think we'll
12:15
Speaker 3: see a lot more of him, I thought, Sam Dowry
12:18
Speaker 3: and Ethan the group was shown again for the All Blacks.
12:23
Speaker 3: Billy Proctor not his best test, missed that telling tackle
12:28
Speaker 3: on Menoncello early and there was one other pass which
12:31
Speaker 3: didn't stick. So yet to make that step up to
12:36
Speaker 3: test rugby, I think, and that center Jersey is probably
12:40
Speaker 3: quintupires to lose at this point in time.
12:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think.
12:42
Speaker 2: I said on Thursday, I'm not convinced that Quint to
12:45
Speaker 2: Pyre is a Test level thirteen, but jury's probably out
12:49
Speaker 2: on Billy Procter being at Test level thirteen as well.
12:51
Speaker 2: Just didn't quite click frohim. I think he threw that
12:53
Speaker 2: pass that went over the touch line from memory in
12:57
Speaker 2: the first spell it was. It was a clunky night,
12:59
Speaker 2: I thought from Billy Proctor. The thing about Billy Procter
13:02
Speaker 2: is he's always active in the game and even when
13:05
Speaker 2: he perhaps isn't playing well, he's got a lot of
13:07
Speaker 2: involved in It makes a lot of tackles. He's very
13:10
Speaker 2: very good defensively apart from that obviously obviously look but
13:13
Speaker 2: even when he's falling off tackles, it doesn't seem to
13:17
Speaker 2: bother him. He gets back in the game very very quickly,
13:19
Speaker 2: and I think that'll hold him in good Steed and
13:21
Speaker 2: David and he's All Blacks with that that biggest philosophy
13:24
Speaker 2: back in game go again. But again we're just not
13:26
Speaker 2: seeing that the quality of what we've seen at super
13:29
Speaker 2: rugby level for a few seasons now, of what he
13:31
Speaker 2: is capable of. So I think you'd probably look this
13:33
Speaker 2: week to go Quinta Pie comes back to thirteen.
13:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so. But I agree that thirteen and
13:39
Speaker 3: six still remain very contestable positions for the All Blacks.
13:43
Speaker 3: And that's probably been true for at least a year
13:47
Speaker 3: or two now.
13:48
Speaker 2: It is, and no one's has managed to lock it down,
13:51
Speaker 2: you know, probably get onto some team stuff in a
13:53
Speaker 2: moment or two round with the changes they might make
13:55
Speaker 2: for Ireland. But I think we've seen some players really outshone,
14:01
Speaker 2: you know that perhaps the other contenders in the Jersey,
14:03
Speaker 2: you know, Luke Jacobson is a shame. It was gonna
14:05
Speaker 2: be so Anton Signia for forty minutes. But it was
14:06
Speaker 2: also shame we didn't see Luke J. Gibson kick on
14:09
Speaker 2: for a bit more in that game, because I thought
14:11
Speaker 2: he had another pretty good opening forty minutes. I think
14:13
Speaker 2: he might have been pinged once, but.
14:15
Speaker 3: He was one of the all blacks bests in that
14:16
Speaker 3: first time.
14:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was really impressed by what he did. A
14:18
Speaker 2: lot of he made a couple of line breaks or
14:20
Speaker 2: half break opportunities, so I really liked what he did
14:25
Speaker 2: and is seemingly slotting and really nicely to that Dave
14:28
Speaker 2: any system. Rubin Love at ten second testing probably didn't
14:34
Speaker 2: shine too much, almost got yellow carded or did briefly.
14:39
Speaker 2: What did you make of rubin Love's second test at ten?
14:42
Speaker 3: I wouldn't say it was authoritative, didn't notice him a
14:47
Speaker 3: great deal. I think I think he can probably take
14:50
Speaker 3: a wee bit more control of the match. But I
14:53
Speaker 3: wouldn't say he was playing off the back foot. But
14:55
Speaker 3: he certainly certainly went on the front foot. And they
14:58
Speaker 3: didn't have that speed, that pace, that same tempo that
15:01
Speaker 3: they enjoyed and Christ it so a learning experience for him,
15:05
Speaker 3: but I think it wasn't a step forward on what
15:13
Speaker 3: we saw the previous week. You know, I think about
15:15
Speaker 3: him challenging the line at least a couple of times
15:17
Speaker 3: in christ Church and siding through and putting others away.
15:20
Speaker 3: There wasn't a great deal o that was there.
15:22
Speaker 4: No, there wasn't.
15:24
Speaker 2: I think he had that nice fifty to twenty two
15:27
Speaker 2: during the second spell. I thought he in the first
15:31
Speaker 2: game against Ransie didn't overplay his hand. I think this
15:34
Speaker 2: time maybe he underplayed his hand a little bit. And
15:36
Speaker 2: it's a fine balance I think for a ten at
15:38
Speaker 2: Test level, especially in U ten, to get that sense
15:41
Speaker 2: of managing the game. And perhaps that was a trickier
15:45
Speaker 2: game to manage given some of the disruptions and various
15:48
Speaker 2: other things. But I don't know if Yeah, Similarly, I
15:50
Speaker 2: don't know if it was a step forward. I don't
15:52
Speaker 2: know if it was a step backwards either. I thought
15:53
Speaker 2: it was just a fine performance that without rate going
15:56
Speaker 2: to any great heights. So we have Bill Blacks two
16:00
Speaker 2: from two now. Just a final thought on that game.
16:03
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if you got anything else, but the
16:06
Speaker 2: referrering I thought was one of the worst referring performances
16:10
Speaker 2: I've seen in a Test matchup that he completely lost
16:13
Speaker 2: control of that game in the last twenty minutes or so.
16:15
Speaker 2: Luke Ramos it was the first time he refereed to
16:16
Speaker 2: the All Blacks, second time referred Italy after controlling their
16:19
Speaker 2: Six Nations game against England earlier in the year. He
16:23
Speaker 2: is the boss on the field, not the TMO in
16:25
Speaker 2: the box. And this is the continuing problem in world
16:28
Speaker 2: rugby is that some bloke with a whole bunch of
16:31
Speaker 2: feeds gets to choose when to interrupt the game and
16:34
Speaker 2: Ben Whitehouse of Wales was the latest to do that
16:36
Speaker 2: and it has just become a blight on the game.
16:39
Speaker 2: It was the same in Australia, France, same in Japan, Ireland.
16:42
Speaker 2: These blokes interrupts. It's awful when they interrupt, but it's
16:45
Speaker 2: even worse when they get things wrong. And when they
16:48
Speaker 2: intervened on that Leroy Carter, Will Jordan try in the
16:51
Speaker 2: first spell incorrectly?
16:53
Speaker 4: What are you doing? Man?
16:55
Speaker 2: I just I It does my headden and I've spoken
16:58
Speaker 2: a million times. The people are probably second on the podcast,
17:00
Speaker 2: but we have to get rid of the TMO. I'm sorry.
17:02
Speaker 2: If you're not gonna get rid of it, it's try,
17:04
Speaker 2: no try or ex of foul play. It's just it's
17:07
Speaker 2: beyond a joke.
17:08
Speaker 3: Now, yeah, well this was absurd, just the level of interference,
17:12
Speaker 3: unnecessary interference. I'm with you to a point. I think
17:17
Speaker 3: it's needed for the Howler and World Rugby are meant
17:22
Speaker 3: to be taking it off site to an NRL bunker
17:25
Speaker 3: type situation, and you can only hope that's going to
17:28
Speaker 3: minimize the influence because this was a blight on the spectacle.
17:31
Speaker 3: It was already stop start and French refs, unfortunately do
17:35
Speaker 3: tend to be that way and the All Blacks seem
17:36
Speaker 3: to get these inexperienced refs quite often. But between the
17:44
Speaker 3: French ref and the TMO, it really did have a
17:48
Speaker 3: massive impact on the nature of that contest. So look, look,
17:55
Speaker 3: and the frustration is that Super Rugby's got this right
18:00
Speaker 3: and then you go to the elite part of rugby
18:03
Speaker 3: and it becomes a face. So it needs to be sorted.
18:08
Speaker 4: It does.
18:09
Speaker 2: I don't think would Rugby have any idea how to sort.
18:11
Speaker 2: I think that's the problem is that they have washed
18:13
Speaker 2: their hands of this because they've gone too far and
18:18
Speaker 2: they don't have to reel it back in, and they
18:19
Speaker 2: don't seem to have any interest in reeling it back
18:21
Speaker 2: in and they've appointed referee failed referees by and large,
18:24
Speaker 2: or people that have never refereed a rugby game to
18:26
Speaker 2: go sit in a box and watch a bunch of
18:28
Speaker 2: feeds in intervene, like when was the last time you
18:30
Speaker 2: saw Ben white House referee game? When was the last
18:32
Speaker 2: time you saw Murray's read vistas and referee game Bret Cohner.
18:36
Speaker 2: These blokes are full time tmos and yeah, it's a
18:38
Speaker 2: specialist skill because you've got to watch a lot of feeds.
18:41
Speaker 2: But they, you know, in terms of their actual involvement
18:44
Speaker 2: in a game, they don't have the feel for it.
18:45
Speaker 2: I don't think Luke Ramos had the field for it
18:47
Speaker 2: last night either, But these blokes don't know so rain toever,
18:51
Speaker 2: it just winds me up, and the sooner it changes,
18:56
Speaker 2: the better. Let's talk about potential All Blacks changes for
19:00
Speaker 2: the game against Ireland at Eden Park. I guess there's
19:06
Speaker 2: a few players that set out the game on the
19:07
Speaker 2: WEEKI and for a week the way through. Though.
19:11
Speaker 4: You know Cody Taylor will start at hooker.
19:12
Speaker 2: I presume props Ethan de Groot, Fletcher Yule humidly comes
19:18
Speaker 2: back into sight head.
19:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, potentially either way around. I think Tywer Olomax will
19:25
Speaker 3: be involved. Locks you would think Patrick Twoplo two will
19:29
Speaker 3: come back into the mix, but probably not in a
19:32
Speaker 3: starting capacity. Sam Dari's played really well to provide. That
19:35
Speaker 3: was his first match back the loose four composition. Peter
19:39
Speaker 3: Luckey's got to start for me somewhere.
19:41
Speaker 2: I think so. Yeah, he just had as a lot
19:44
Speaker 2: and I think it was notably missed last night. It
19:46
Speaker 2: wasn't helped by w was TD having a poor game,
19:50
Speaker 2: Luke Jacobson, Carf Nickel. It didn't sound serious. We'll probably
19:53
Speaker 2: find a little bit more about it on Monday, but
19:57
Speaker 2: you could change things around a little bit there. I guess, Look,
20:01
Speaker 2: if Jacobson's fail, I'm starting him again, but maybe you
20:03
Speaker 2: look at a signet. If he's not fit.
20:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would be surprised if they've really said that
20:09
Speaker 3: it was cramp. So if Jacobson's out, then he's pulling
20:13
Speaker 3: the wall over our eyes. But if Jacobson's fit, then
20:16
Speaker 3: I would expect it to be Ardi eight's, Jacobs seven
20:19
Speaker 3: and Lucky six. I don't think you changed the halves.
20:23
Speaker 3: Quincy Pie comes back at center, and probably Caleb Clark
20:27
Speaker 3: on the left wing, and I think Morby deserves another
20:32
Speaker 3: crack from the bench in the outside back department.
20:34
Speaker 2: Well, I thought Morby was excellent left I mean, did
20:37
Speaker 2: it do enough to have a crack at Eating Park.
20:39
Speaker 3: There's a real case for it. I think most teams
20:44
Speaker 3: like to have at least one power wing as a
20:47
Speaker 3: as a as a contrast. But look, Morbe was excellent
20:50
Speaker 3: and I wouldn't be shocked if he's rewarded with another start.
20:54
Speaker 3: And then there's other guys who haven't featured. Do they
20:56
Speaker 3: come back into the mix, Boden Barrett.
20:59
Speaker 2: Well, the way the All Blacks have compiled their bench
21:01
Speaker 2: over the last couple of weeks, ten suced with mckinziet
21:03
Speaker 2: fall back and love at ten that they don't think
21:05
Speaker 2: they need ten covers. So even Barrat has to come
21:08
Speaker 2: in and start presumably at fifteen or tim which I
21:12
Speaker 2: can't see them doing for this Test match. Or again,
21:14
Speaker 2: he's not in the twenty three, so maybe he switches
21:16
Speaker 2: with mackenzie and they bring Boden Barridon hasn't had a
21:19
Speaker 2: lot of rugby, it's been a while, but yes they're
21:21
Speaker 2: rugby at some point. So I've been intrigued to see
21:24
Speaker 2: what they do the I thought Antheline Brown added a
21:27
Speaker 2: lot off the bench last night as well, but I
21:28
Speaker 2: don't know that he's done enough to justify a starting
21:31
Speaker 2: Berth or a run on Berth alongside Jordi Barrett. Caleb
21:35
Speaker 2: Clark would be interesting. I don't think he had his
21:37
Speaker 2: best game against France last week, but he is under
21:41
Speaker 2: the high ball, one of the All Blacks best and
21:44
Speaker 2: he know he's Eaton Park very very well. And Ireland
21:46
Speaker 2: will kick at the All Blacks. You can guarantee that.
21:49
Speaker 3: Yep, they will. And other changes. I want to see
21:51
Speaker 3: Kyle Preston on the bench. I think he had a
21:55
Speaker 3: lot more. There's always going to be a massive drop
21:57
Speaker 3: off with roy Guards and he could play eighty minutes
22:01
Speaker 3: against Islands. But if you're going to bring on somebody,
22:04
Speaker 3: I think it should be Preston. I would also bring
22:06
Speaker 3: back new Mia and I suffer more as your other
22:10
Speaker 3: front row cover. I just felt like they added more
22:13
Speaker 3: in christ Church than what the All Blacks got off
22:17
Speaker 3: the bench.
22:17
Speaker 2: And Wellington, yeah, I think that Hurricanes loose. Sorry the
22:20
Speaker 2: Hurricanes front row. Whether you go yeah Newell off the
22:24
Speaker 2: bench or Lomax I think those three are the ideal
22:28
Speaker 2: bench players. And then you say Takeyoho byby Signa gets
22:32
Speaker 2: another crack and we'll be in the boutside back. So
22:34
Speaker 2: maybe there are minimal changes at best. And it's hard
22:38
Speaker 2: to see where these players we talked about on Thursday
22:39
Speaker 2: night after the team naming, but it's hard to see
22:42
Speaker 2: a Parker, A Barrett being selected. Preston maybe maybe, but
22:49
Speaker 2: I think there will be at least one or two
22:50
Speaker 2: players that don't get the nod for the scam at
22:54
Speaker 2: Eden Park and don't play any game any part in
22:56
Speaker 2: the series.
22:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, someone park is a big body. Maybe they potentially
23:00
Speaker 3: think he could bring some punch, but it would be
23:03
Speaker 3: pretty tough to not have Signa in the mix somewhere.
23:06
Speaker 3: What about Islands, This has been one of the great
23:10
Speaker 3: rivalries with the All Blacks over the past eleven years.
23:12
Speaker 3: I think that's six and five since twenty sixteen Islands
23:17
Speaker 3: breakthrough win in Chicago. The All Blacks had won the
23:20
Speaker 3: last three though, and the latest one of those was
23:23
Speaker 3: in Chicago last year. We were there. It was very convincing.
23:27
Speaker 3: They blew them away in the second half. I think
23:29
Speaker 3: from memory with another strong light flurry Cook Quarter blitz.
23:35
Speaker 3: Where do you see islands? As this was always going
23:39
Speaker 3: to be the All Black's toughest test of their three
23:41
Speaker 3: opening Nations Championship games, do you give them a worried
23:47
Speaker 3: um No?
23:48
Speaker 2: I thought that, Look, they made a few changes last
23:50
Speaker 2: night against Japan and Newcast, so I thought that was
23:52
Speaker 2: a bit clunky. I suspect they've probably been targeting this
23:56
Speaker 2: game against the All Blacks, though, and that makes them dangerous.
23:59
Speaker 2: They obviously been Australia last week. But I thought that
24:03
Speaker 2: I'm convincing against Japan, and maybe that was down to
24:06
Speaker 2: a few factors. It was a weird atmosphere Newcastle neutral territory,
24:10
Speaker 2: even though it was a supposed Jampanese home game. But
24:12
Speaker 2: they just took a while, and I think Japan had
24:14
Speaker 2: been not actually the big movies of the last couple
24:16
Speaker 2: of weeks. But you know, they beat Italy convincingly last
24:19
Speaker 2: week and we're hanging on twenty six to twenty down
24:22
Speaker 2: with about five to go, maybe a little bit longer,
24:24
Speaker 2: and Ireland get the late penalty and then late tried
24:28
Speaker 2: it to finish things off, but they were right in
24:30
Speaker 2: the mix, and you know, if the game had fallen
24:32
Speaker 2: a little bit differently, they could well have ended up
24:36
Speaker 2: with a narrow wind or a drawer or something like that.
24:39
Speaker 2: So I think Ireland will have to improve for Eden Park,
24:43
Speaker 2: the All Black says we've talked about for the last
24:44
Speaker 2: twenty odd Nerds will have to improve. But I don't
24:47
Speaker 2: feel the Ireland other threat that they were twenty twenty
24:51
Speaker 2: three and previously obviously twenty twenty two when they had
24:54
Speaker 2: that series win. Here they were playing some incredible rugby
24:57
Speaker 2: and I just don't think they're at that peak again.
25:01
Speaker 2: And there's gonna be the last game of their season,
25:03
Speaker 2: so whether they can get up for it, you know,
25:05
Speaker 2: one last shot, maybe they can. But I just don't
25:07
Speaker 2: know that they're quite where they were were. Is it
25:09
Speaker 2: say a couple of years ago.
25:10
Speaker 3: No, I think they peaked twenty three just prior to
25:15
Speaker 3: that World Cup, and the All Blacks were underdogs, massive
25:21
Speaker 3: underdogs for that quarterfinal at the World Cup because of
25:24
Speaker 3: the way that Island had played because of their rise.
25:27
Speaker 3: I don't know if they've regenerated enough since then or
25:31
Speaker 3: significantly evolved their game, but I do give them a
25:34
Speaker 3: red hot chance because of the fact that the All
25:38
Speaker 3: Blacks have a completely new coaching team that made a
25:41
Speaker 3: lot of changes. They yet to convince back at Fortressed
25:45
Speaker 3: and Park thirty two years fifty two games unbeaten. That
25:50
Speaker 3: certainly evokes a lot of confidence. So I expect the
25:53
Speaker 3: All Blacks to win, but I think this could be
25:55
Speaker 3: a very tight, tense, nervy match, similar to the one
25:59
Speaker 3: in christ Church.
26:00
Speaker 2: Well, there's one thing guarantee you over the last couple
26:02
Speaker 2: of weeks of the island will scored. The first try
26:04
Speaker 2: inside the first two or three minutes just become a
26:06
Speaker 2: at Arkill's Hill for the All Blacks terrible starf Yeah,
26:08
Speaker 2: and then to get that fixed for this game is actually,
26:11
Speaker 2: while we're talking about this, we see on our monitor
26:13
Speaker 2: two and a half minutes in Italy scoring. That's something
26:15
Speaker 2: they need to fix this week and Anti among has
26:18
Speaker 2: spoke about that when we spoke to them at the
26:19
Speaker 2: airport today. You know, they need to tidy a few
26:22
Speaker 2: things up. And forty seven to seventeen have been largely comfortable.
26:26
Speaker 2: Maybe you know there's a feeling of okay, they're on
26:29
Speaker 2: the march here. This just does add a little bit
26:31
Speaker 2: of tension that it was a clunky, scratchy performance and
26:34
Speaker 2: there's a bit to improve as they had to eat in.
26:35
Speaker 3: Part there is yeah, and look it's it's challenging to
26:39
Speaker 3: come in on ten days preparation for your opening tests
26:43
Speaker 3: with literally a whole new management team other than Jason
26:46
Speaker 3: Ryan to make widespread changes and so you don't expect
26:51
Speaker 3: the All Blacks to be completely polished at this point.
26:53
Speaker 3: And that's why I think there will be a bit
26:56
Speaker 3: of nerves around this game. The All Blacks have a
26:59
Speaker 3: lot to improve and Ireland will test them in several
27:03
Speaker 3: areas even if they aren't where they were a few
27:06
Speaker 3: years ago.
27:06
Speaker 2: Indeed, before we wrap things up here on Rugby Direct,
27:09
Speaker 2: so we touched on a couple of those games or
27:11
Speaker 2: Japan Ireland caught your eye over the last twenty four hours.
27:14
Speaker 2: Very very hard to sort of watch everything. I'm sure
27:15
Speaker 2: there'll be some people out there that have managed to
27:18
Speaker 2: watch everything at this point. I watched Australia France after
27:21
Speaker 2: getting back to the hotel last night, watched a lot
27:22
Speaker 2: of Japan Ireland. Australia were right in that test match
27:27
Speaker 2: until they weren't, and when they weren't, they completely lost
27:30
Speaker 2: the plot against a French team that just began to
27:33
Speaker 2: run rampant and send this with French teams when they
27:36
Speaker 2: get a sniff and this goes back, you know, forever
27:40
Speaker 2: in the French history. But I think back to some
27:42
Speaker 2: of those games, the nine to a nine and semi
27:43
Speaker 2: final against the All Blacks in the World Cup and
27:46
Speaker 2: various other things. When they're on they can take the
27:48
Speaker 2: game away from you and just start playing glows. Everything
27:50
Speaker 2: just starts sticking for them. And felt like they were
27:52
Speaker 2: doing that last night and just rolled over the top
27:54
Speaker 2: of the Australians.
27:56
Speaker 3: They did. Yes, the Wallabies let at halftime and then
27:59
Speaker 3: I think it was thirty to five that the points swing.
28:04
Speaker 3: Look Australian rugby, their depths a made major problem and
28:09
Speaker 3: we soought that's a starkly illustrated at first five you
28:12
Speaker 3: lose Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson, you throw in a
28:15
Speaker 3: Rockie and you finish with Jock Campbell at ten. That's
28:19
Speaker 3: a real indictment I think on your development and selection. Yeah.
28:28
Speaker 3: I worry for the Wallabies. They should have beaten probably
28:31
Speaker 3: all that. I felt like they blew it against Island
28:33
Speaker 3: in their opening game. Then they collapse against Front, a
28:37
Speaker 3: vastly stronger French team than the one that played the
28:39
Speaker 3: or Blecks to be fair. And I think France, as
28:43
Speaker 3: you say when they click, are exceptional and they're one
28:46
Speaker 3: of the best teams in the world and I could
28:49
Speaker 3: see them going really deep at the World Cup next year.
28:54
Speaker 3: So there's no embarrassment to lose to them. But it's
28:58
Speaker 3: a huge test now for the Wallabies against Italy and
29:00
Speaker 3: Perth this week. That won't be easy for them's last test. Yeah,
29:05
Speaker 3: and look, if Joe Schmitt can't turn around the Wallabies,
29:09
Speaker 3: what have they wont have They won one of their last.
29:10
Speaker 2: Ten records of Paul and I was looking at that earlier.
29:15
Speaker 2: He might end up having the worst record in the
29:18
Speaker 2: professional era for the Walleries, which is quite remarkable given
29:21
Speaker 2: the respect and the plaudits that he's had under his name.
29:25
Speaker 2: But he is just you know, it's just not working.
29:30
Speaker 2: It's just not working. I'm not sure I think Liz
29:32
Speaker 2: Kiss is going to be able to do it. But
29:33
Speaker 2: that lost not only past six tiers, they lost six
29:35
Speaker 2: in a row. There only went over that was that
29:38
Speaker 2: Scratchy went against Japan before they went on as part.
29:41
Speaker 4: Of the end of year tour.
29:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I saw it was a Christie do
29:47
Speaker 2: say it was Christie might have been some decent potentially
29:50
Speaker 2: saying that basically this run would have had any other
29:52
Speaker 2: will of his coach sacked.
29:54
Speaker 4: He's going anyway exactly.
29:55
Speaker 3: That's why. It's just not why the questions aren't being asked.
29:57
Speaker 3: But yeah, at least Kiss got a hell of a
30:01
Speaker 3: task to come in and take over that team with
30:03
Speaker 3: just over a year to the World Cup. The spring
30:06
Speaker 3: Box with a second string team beats a really informed
30:13
Speaker 3: Scottish outfit to push them really deep in that game.
30:19
Speaker 3: So I think that was notable for a number of reasons,
30:23
Speaker 3: for the fact that the Box can literally change their
30:25
Speaker 3: whole team and still beat a team that's in red hot.
30:28
Speaker 2: Form experimental team for the South Africans and they still beat,
30:32
Speaker 2: as you say, a good, a really good Scotland side.
30:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, with Von Russell coming back and one of the
30:39
Speaker 3: best nine ten to twelve combinations in the world, playing
30:41
Speaker 3: a great brand of rugby and unfortunately for Scotland, they
30:46
Speaker 3: seem to be able to push you know this top
30:48
Speaker 3: teams to the brink and not Finnish the job.
30:51
Speaker 4: It's the execution that lets them down and it did again.
30:54
Speaker 4: It was all backs last year. It was South Africa Argentina.
30:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, just make turning mistakes and that's probably what keeps
31:02
Speaker 2: them from being, you know, top four nation in the
31:06
Speaker 2: world at least, you know, in terms of who you
31:07
Speaker 2: think that the four teams are. I just don't think
31:09
Speaker 2: they're quite there as yet. They've just seen a bit
31:11
Speaker 2: more ruthless because they've certainly got the ingredients. They've got
31:14
Speaker 2: very good playmakers, great nineteen twelve combo, great outside backs.
31:18
Speaker 2: So we're good under the ball, but just let them
31:21
Speaker 2: down on the skills. Fiji woful against England in their
31:25
Speaker 2: home game at at Liverpool at Everton Stadium.
31:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, changing their coach looks like a getting rid of
31:31
Speaker 3: mcburn seems like a fastical, dumbfounding decision at this point,
31:38
Speaker 3: just as the nation's championship has undermined itself by taking
31:43
Speaker 3: the Japanese game to Newcastle and Fiji going to London
31:52
Speaker 3: or Everton. I understand the financials and they need to
31:56
Speaker 3: minimize travel, but at some point these nations are going
32:00
Speaker 3: to have to front and go and play Fiji and
32:03
Speaker 3: set aside some financial imperatives.
32:06
Speaker 2: Yes they do, and yeah, will that day come, I
32:10
Speaker 2: don't know, but it does challenge the integrity of the
32:12
Speaker 2: competition from day one when those sort of things are
32:14
Speaker 2: happening and you're forcing player. I mean it's it's it's
32:17
Speaker 2: already a globe trotting tournament. You were just impacting the
32:21
Speaker 2: I think the integrity by having these away.
32:23
Speaker 4: I mean that.
32:24
Speaker 2: I think I saw a tweet saying that the grand
32:26
Speaker 2: announcer at the Everton Stadium announced over the ten or
32:29
Speaker 2: that it was Fiji's biggest home crowd ever.
32:31
Speaker 4: Well, yes it is to it so.
32:33
Speaker 3: It's not exactly.
32:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a little bit fast scol like when the
32:38
Speaker 2: you know the I don't Christ's when the Warriors would
32:41
Speaker 2: have a game against the West Tigers, the West Tigers
32:43
Speaker 2: of the home team, and it's everyone's you know, all
32:45
Speaker 2: the bandages, there's the banners of the West Tigers.
32:48
Speaker 4: Well it's not really.
32:49
Speaker 2: A West Tigers home game, but I appreciate the thought
32:51
Speaker 2: none the less.
32:52
Speaker 4: That'll do us for Rugby Direct.
32:54
Speaker 2: We'll be back on Thursday, once we've got an all
32:55
Speaker 2: Blacks team for this big test at Eden Park. But Napes,
32:59
Speaker 2: thank you as always in another busy week.
33:01
Speaker 3: Awaits indeed look forward to it.
33:04
Speaker 4: Can't wait.
33:05
Speaker 2: That has been Rugby Directs powered by our friends Access
33:08
Speaker 2: Solutions slevrating you and your business to a higher level.
33:11
Speaker 2: I thanks to to our producer Mark Kelly. We'll see
33:13
Speaker 2: you Thursday.
33:14
Speaker 1: For more from News Talk st B, listen live on
33:17
Speaker 1: air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
33:20
Speaker 1: you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio