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Rugby Direct - Episode 142 · Rugby Direct

0:09
Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from news Talks EDB. Follow
0:12
Speaker 1: this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
0:17
Speaker 1: Yet inside the game from every angle. It's Rugby Direct
0:21
Speaker 1: with Elliot Smith powered by news talks ITB.
0:24
Speaker 2: Welcome in to Rugby Direct powered by Fourklift Solutions, lifting
0:27
Speaker 2: you and your business to a high level. After a
0:30
Speaker 2: week where we were rested and rotated out of the
0:33
Speaker 2: podcast line up, Liam, we are back, refreshed and ready
0:36
Speaker 2: to go and there is plenty to dig into in
0:39
Speaker 2: the rugby world. As always, Greetings once again.
0:43
Speaker 3: Greetings, yes, and congratulations are in order for the elliotts
0:49
Speaker 3: Smith family. Yes, your sister a new addition to the world.
0:53
Speaker 3: Congratulations on being an uncle to young Imagen. So it
0:57
Speaker 3: must have been a special occasion and crush church very special.
1:00
Speaker 2: Yes, lovely to meet me Imagen and very very exciting
1:03
Speaker 2: times for us. So it's been a pretty special week.
1:05
Speaker 2: So good to having you podcast listener as well. I'm
1:07
Speaker 2: sure it's Jesus to get them young and on the
1:11
Speaker 2: podcast train with rag the Direct.
1:12
Speaker 3: Look, there's Rugby Direct fans mini populated out in the community.
1:17
Speaker 3: I was at a birthday party over the weekend Japanese theme.
1:21
Speaker 3: There were summer wrestling Tipanyaki and met some fans of
1:25
Speaker 3: the Pods. Shout out to Miles Andrews. Unfortunately he's another
1:30
Speaker 3: christ Church bloke. He attended the Razor did a fundraiser
1:36
Speaker 3: at the Summer Rugby Club which she attended and turned
1:40
Speaker 3: up to this party as a karate kid and we
1:43
Speaker 3: just happened to be in the same outfit and he
1:45
Speaker 3: was telling me what a fan is of the Pod, So, oh,
1:48
Speaker 3: they just can't get away from it, mate, There's fans everywhere.
1:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, I believe Scott Robinson did do that thing in Sumner.
1:55
Speaker 2: A good friend of mine, Daniel Bell, was doing them singh.
1:59
Speaker 2: So I'm intrigued to hear what raisors thoughts were on that.
2:01
Speaker 2: But well, a week you going out, Razor selected his
2:06
Speaker 2: all Blacks and all Blacks of Fiends squads and a
2:07
Speaker 2: little bit from his selectors and clad McMillan in the
2:11
Speaker 2: as well. I guess it's been a week you've had
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Speaker 2: the chance to let it soak him. What were the
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Speaker 2: takeaways for you from that all black squad?
2:19
Speaker 3: Well, I guess probably one of the most predictable Northern
2:24
Speaker 3: tour squads in history. There weren't a lot of headline
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Speaker 3: takeaways were there. Cam Ruga great to see him back
2:30
Speaker 3: and well first of all to come back and what
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Speaker 3: an impression he's made straight off the back. Came off
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Speaker 3: the bench for Counties, scored two tries, one with a
2:40
Speaker 3: trademark dummy and then started last weekend and Wellington as
2:45
Speaker 3: Counties lost their quarter final. So the one change to
2:49
Speaker 3: the squads, I.
2:52
Speaker 4: Wrote something for the Heralds last week.
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Speaker 3: My hope was that that squad would be more picked
3:01
Speaker 3: with developments, not necessarily front and center, but more more
3:08
Speaker 3: of casting ahead to the future. Guys like Peter Luckeye
3:12
Speaker 3: I wanted to see in that squads. No hope them
3:17
Speaker 3: I would have had in there over TJ. Peanara, but
3:19
Speaker 3: Rays has been very consistent and conservative for me in
3:23
Speaker 3: terms of maintaining that level of experience and carrying guys
3:28
Speaker 3: as long as he wants, and I guess it probably
3:32
Speaker 3: reflects that he's feeling the heat that doesn't he because
3:34
Speaker 3: it is going to be a very grueling stretch this
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Speaker 3: India tour, the England's, France and Ireland those three tests
3:43
Speaker 3: and fifteen days currently six and three, so there's no
3:46
Speaker 3: regal room in terms of results, and for me, that
3:49
Speaker 3: squad really did reflect the fact he's feeling that the
3:52
Speaker 3: heats in his first year as head coached.
3:54
Speaker 2: Well, I don't think he feels he's got the rope
3:56
Speaker 2: to be able to bring out at Peter Luckeye, or
3:58
Speaker 2: to be able to bring in some younger players and
4:00
Speaker 2: get them on the road to twenty twenty seven. It's
4:02
Speaker 2: focused on the here and now and winning these test matches.
4:05
Speaker 2: And you know, we'll probably touch on it a wee
4:07
Speaker 2: bit later. But the French, with the sounding that they
4:11
Speaker 2: won't send a top squad down to New Zealand next year,
4:14
Speaker 2: perhaps gives them the opportunity to bring in some of
4:16
Speaker 2: those players next year, perhaps earlier than they may have considered.
4:20
Speaker 2: So maybe they're sort of balancing those two things out.
4:22
Speaker 2: But I just don't think there's the rope there to
4:25
Speaker 2: be tinkering with too many selections. And I think you're right,
4:29
Speaker 2: there is the pressure that comes with the All Blacks
4:31
Speaker 2: job and the pressure that with having three losses already
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Speaker 2: in this tenure is feeling. So I don't think it
4:39
Speaker 2: was a surprise that there weren't many changes. Peter luck
4:42
Speaker 2: I said, a good season for Wellington before that the Hurricanes.
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Speaker 2: He could have been a player that comes in, but
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Speaker 2: I just don't think there was too much room to
4:48
Speaker 2: bring in too many other players. And that's where I
4:50
Speaker 2: suppose you look at the All Blacks fifteen and go, well,
4:52
Speaker 2: if there's injuries, these are the players that are going
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Speaker 2: to be called in, and the All Blacks fifteen squad
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Speaker 2: with a wee bit of a nod to the future,
5:00
Speaker 2: but at times also a look back as well. You know,
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Speaker 2: Ricky Ricketteally is somehow not in the top six hookers
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Speaker 2: in the country, which is stagger and you go, okay, well,
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Speaker 2: maybe they're looking to the future. But then Kurt Eckland,
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Speaker 2: who's older than Rocky Rittelly, is in the squad. They
5:14
Speaker 2: gone with you. Bridie McCallister out of the Crusader's Bradley
5:17
Speaker 2: Slater out of Tartanaki, Rocky Rocketell he's Taranaki teammate as well,
5:21
Speaker 2: So there are some eyebrow raising selections there as well.
5:24
Speaker 2: But if you're Ricky Ricottelly, you're probably going, well, how
5:28
Speaker 2: am I not in the top six sockers in the
5:29
Speaker 2: country when I started for the Super Rugby Champions.
5:32
Speaker 4: That's it.
5:33
Speaker 3: And Eklund on the bench for the whole of the
5:37
Speaker 3: Blues championship. The Blues lineout was by far and away
5:40
Speaker 3: the best in the competition. I think it was eighty
5:42
Speaker 3: nine percent this year. You know, he's not a damaging
5:47
Speaker 3: ball carrier by any stretcher, Ricktell. He probably lacks a
5:50
Speaker 3: bit of punch with ball in hands, but he's busy.
5:54
Speaker 3: His lineout throwing is very effective, and that is an
5:57
Speaker 3: area of concern for the All Blacks. Behind Cody Taylor,
6:01
Speaker 3: George Bell and Asafa Armore not noted lineout throwers, and
6:09
Speaker 3: yeah behind them, I think Bradley Slater deputizes for Rica
6:13
Speaker 3: Telly in Tartanucky, so that was one very perplexing selection.
6:18
Speaker 3: Other guys that are unlucky to miss the cat Braden
6:20
Speaker 3: Yossi very good for the Hurricanes this year and has
6:23
Speaker 3: performed well for a struggling mun Or two falal Fuckatava.
6:28
Speaker 3: The aor Blecks fifteen only have two half backs. He's
6:31
Speaker 3: gone backwards in quite a big way, but I thought
6:34
Speaker 3: has actually performed quite well for Hawk's Bay this year
6:37
Speaker 3: and then the midfield to a degree as well. Daniel
6:40
Speaker 3: Rohn has been very good for Taranuki but look, I
6:44
Speaker 3: think it's fair to say that the All Blacks coaching
6:48
Speaker 3: team raiser largely packed the All Blacks fifteen, and that's
6:52
Speaker 3: what you'd expect, And I am intrigued to see how
6:57
Speaker 3: those squads interact, how many players shift in between those
7:01
Speaker 3: two teams, and probably what effect that has on the
7:05
Speaker 3: or Blecks fifteen more than anything, because the All Blacks
7:08
Speaker 3: of name thirty six players coming and going can be
7:11
Speaker 3: a bit destabilizing, particularly when you're only going to be
7:14
Speaker 3: in You're only playing two matches with the All Blacks fifteen.
7:18
Speaker 3: So just how many of those players go to Japan
7:21
Speaker 3: and get mixed and match throughout that tour.
7:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, indeed, that's the interesting thing. And what chances they get.
7:28
Speaker 2: It's obviously only two games, so you'd suspect that everyone's
7:31
Speaker 2: probably going to get one start. Maybe if you look
7:34
Speaker 2: at that, perhaps apart from the props and hookers in
7:36
Speaker 2: front rows, they're probably likely to mix and match some
7:39
Speaker 2: of those selections for the Monster game and the Georgia game.
7:43
Speaker 2: No Jacob brother my Tovurki Neepkins question whether he would
7:46
Speaker 2: have hopefully been there. I think he's been very very
7:47
Speaker 2: good for Taranaki this year before he suffered that neck injury,
7:51
Speaker 2: which sounds pretty serious and lucky it was caught as
7:55
Speaker 2: well by the doctors. After that ran fairly shield challenge
7:58
Speaker 2: against Tasman the week prior. He missed out on the squad,
8:01
Speaker 2: but we don't know whether he would have been in there,
8:03
Speaker 2: Shawn Stevenson. The drums are beating. It's you know, a
8:06
Speaker 2: lot of rumors going around at the moment that he's
8:08
Speaker 2: Warriors bound in twenty twenty five. This could be his
8:12
Speaker 2: last hourrah in rugby union as well. Nothing confirmed on
8:15
Speaker 2: that front as well, But it's an intriguing squad because
8:18
Speaker 2: the mixed match of players of youth I said before,
8:20
Speaker 2: but also some of those players that have been in
8:22
Speaker 2: the All Blacks in modern adawa and then come out
8:24
Speaker 2: of it again, you know Dallas McLeod in last year
8:30
Speaker 2: out again. So Brandon also can consider himself very very unlucky.
8:35
Speaker 2: But there is a lot of depth at loose Ford
8:38
Speaker 2: at the moment as a whole, not necessarily in specific jusies,
8:42
Speaker 2: but I think if you go look at the loose
8:44
Speaker 2: Ford stocks that are pretty deep in New Zealand rugby
8:46
Speaker 2: at the moment, and some of that Braden you'll say
8:48
Speaker 2: has missed out in Hoskin. So Tutu, who I don't know,
8:51
Speaker 2: has actually had a great MPC. In all honesty is
8:54
Speaker 2: has made the cart and you know there's a lot
8:55
Speaker 2: of questions around that too.
8:57
Speaker 4: Yeah, Hoskins too.
8:59
Speaker 3: A lot of talk about him, isn't there with a
9:01
Speaker 3: kid at Iwana putting up his Instagram posts saying basically
9:06
Speaker 3: should deflict to England's and look that the avenue is
9:10
Speaker 3: open to him. He hasn't played for the All Blacks
9:12
Speaker 3: now for what two years, and so could very well
9:16
Speaker 3: be eligible for England or feed you down the line.
9:20
Speaker 3: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the
9:22
Speaker 3: All Blacks fifteen is not a capture team now, so
9:25
Speaker 3: it doesn't affect his eligibility. It's a wee bit of
9:31
Speaker 3: a step forward for Hoskins making this team because he
9:33
Speaker 3: didn't last year the All Blacks fifteen. But I really
9:39
Speaker 3: don't see him cracking that All Blacks team anytime soon.
9:43
Speaker 3: From the conversations I've had behind the scenes, I think
9:47
Speaker 3: they the All Blecks haven't been impressed like you with
9:50
Speaker 3: what he's done during the NPC, and they wanted to
9:54
Speaker 3: see more of the feedback around what he does off
9:57
Speaker 3: the ball has worked great despite being the Super Rugby
10:01
Speaker 3: MVP this year. So a step forward and making this team,
10:05
Speaker 3: but I don't think it's going to enough be enough
10:07
Speaker 3: to keep him and his on rugby. Just a couple
10:10
Speaker 3: of other quick points there. Kenny Naholo really rewarded for form.
10:15
Speaker 3: He's been in great touch for Tartanuki, very consistent, strong
10:19
Speaker 3: over the ball, big presence in the finishing department and
10:23
Speaker 3: Josh Jacob very much the future at number ten.
10:27
Speaker 4: He is tough man.
10:29
Speaker 3: He took so much punishment at the weekend for Tartanuki
10:34
Speaker 3: when they went down Ta Wakato in their quarter final.
10:37
Speaker 4: Was battered, he was bloodied.
10:38
Speaker 3: He challenges the line and he's probably gone up or
10:42
Speaker 3: rung with Bret Cameron's injury. Potentially but very interesting prospect.
10:48
Speaker 3: Josh Jacob. My understanding was the Crusaders approached him and
10:51
Speaker 3: he turned them down, which is interesting because he you'd
10:57
Speaker 3: think he would have gone straight in to start there.
10:59
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely the talent that he shone last year in
11:03
Speaker 2: the NBC in twenty twenty three, but then has built
11:06
Speaker 2: on that in twenty twenty four. I guess the big
11:08
Speaker 2: challenge it's a big step up from in PC. Didn't
11:11
Speaker 2: get a lot of opportunities at super rugby level this year,
11:14
Speaker 2: but to go to attract the All Blacks League this
11:17
Speaker 2: election on basically on the basis of MPC form and
11:19
Speaker 2: go right, we want to see you in an All
11:21
Speaker 2: Blacks fifteen environment playing months to playing Georgia, I think
11:24
Speaker 2: is a big statement about where they see him and
11:28
Speaker 2: what kind of path they see potentially for him in
11:31
Speaker 2: higher honors. The question I was, as you said, turn
11:33
Speaker 2: down the Crusaders, he's at the Chiefs. How much game
11:38
Speaker 2: time are you going to get behind Damian McKenzie in
11:41
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five. That's the real question because he could
11:44
Speaker 2: just be relegated to the bench again unless they change
11:49
Speaker 2: things around and Clayton Millan, who's going to be coaching him,
11:52
Speaker 2: and there's All Blacks fifteen and goes all right, well
11:54
Speaker 2: Damien you're back to fifteen and Josh Jacom you're playing ten.
11:58
Speaker 3: It was a very interesting scenario. We're going to touch
12:00
Speaker 3: on a later around Brick Cameron. But the New Zealand
12:05
Speaker 3: first five eight stocks compressed and two franchises, the Chiefs
12:12
Speaker 3: and the Blues. So the Chiefs have McKenzie. Caleb Trusk
12:15
Speaker 3: has come back playing well for the plenty of this
12:19
Speaker 3: year and Josh Jacob so he's by no means Jacob
12:22
Speaker 3: A Locke as the even the secondary playmaker at the Chiefs.
12:26
Speaker 3: But I don't know, I knows the young father, so
12:30
Speaker 3: maybe that played into his thinking in.
12:32
Speaker 2: Terms of he's got a second on the wor I
12:33
Speaker 2: think as well.
12:34
Speaker 3: Being close to home and the neck and it is
12:38
Speaker 3: a great story. He's a guy that's genuinely emerged from
12:40
Speaker 3: grass roots. He could have gone to taking a chance,
12:44
Speaker 3: gone to christ Church as a starting playmaker. But as
12:47
Speaker 3: we've discussed on this pod many times, Richie Muonger odds
12:51
Speaker 3: on to potentially come home potentially for the All Blacks
12:54
Speaker 3: next year, maybe.
12:55
Speaker 4: The Crusaders the year after.
12:57
Speaker 3: Where does that lead McKenzie unsure so, but from if
13:02
Speaker 3: you take a step back from a wider context than
13:04
Speaker 3: Super Rugby, the Blues, Stephen Peterfeitzter, Harry plum Boden, Barrett's
13:09
Speaker 3: Zan Sullivan, they are stacked and so are the Chiefs
13:12
Speaker 3: and the Crusaders. Hilanders and Canes are scrapping for playmakers.
13:16
Speaker 3: So everyone would love to get their hands on Josh Jacob.
13:20
Speaker 2: In an ideal scenario, you'd have them spread out across
13:23
Speaker 2: the five franchises and they're playing off every week against
13:26
Speaker 2: each other. I mean, the Crusaders are in back the
13:28
Speaker 2: time they had Mertons and Major and Carter and whoever else,
13:32
Speaker 2: stayed about five of them and they're all playing various
13:34
Speaker 2: positions in the back line.
13:35
Speaker 4: Come off the bench coinslated to go to the Landers.
13:38
Speaker 2: Yeah. So, I mean it's happened before. You'd love to
13:42
Speaker 2: see it perhaps spread around it and then you genuinely
13:44
Speaker 2: get to see those players. I mean of draft format
13:47
Speaker 2: or something similar might enable that, but it's not the
13:51
Speaker 2: contract system we have at the moment.
13:53
Speaker 4: Yeah.
13:53
Speaker 3: I think it's probably time we had a conversation about
13:56
Speaker 3: a genuine super rugby salary cap, because there is one,
14:01
Speaker 3: but it is deemed irrelevant when teams like the Blues
14:06
Speaker 3: have such superior finance backing and they can put massive
14:10
Speaker 3: third party payment options in front of players that distort
14:15
Speaker 3: things massively and leave other franchises they can't compete. So
14:20
Speaker 3: the NRL that as a real success that the talent
14:25
Speaker 3: has to spread. You look at the Panthers, they won
14:28
Speaker 3: a title and every year some of their biggest superstars
14:32
Speaker 3: have to go elsewhere because they can't allfer under the cap.
14:35
Speaker 3: Jerome Leuey is going next year, so super raguey salary
14:40
Speaker 3: cap doesn't really work. And until that is looked at,
14:44
Speaker 3: you are going to have these pockets of depth within
14:48
Speaker 3: the franchises and other ones missing out.
14:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, to be honest, I think they should go back
14:53
Speaker 2: to the days of the protected draft where you and
14:56
Speaker 2: it's different now because it doesn't feed in from the
14:58
Speaker 2: provincial unions like they used to, but you could protect
15:01
Speaker 2: x number of players from your provincial catchment area and
15:06
Speaker 2: then all those other players went back into a pool
15:08
Speaker 2: and could be moved out to the other five franchises,
15:12
Speaker 2: and the squads are bigger now. The contracting systems different.
15:15
Speaker 2: You're contracted directly via the Super Ugby franchises, not the
15:17
Speaker 2: provincial unions. But that would level the playing field quite considerable.
15:23
Speaker 2: If you could, say, protect twenty eight players from your
15:26
Speaker 2: catchment area or whatever it might be, and then everyone
15:30
Speaker 2: else is up for grabs. That would make some tricky
15:31
Speaker 2: decisions and it would mean players would be more likely
15:35
Speaker 2: to move around for opportunities. But again, this is not
15:37
Speaker 2: the contracting system we have and it's not the world
15:40
Speaker 2: we live in twenty twenty four.
15:42
Speaker 4: No it's not.
15:43
Speaker 3: But things change and we have to get the new
15:46
Speaker 3: Super Rugby boss on closer to the season and put
15:49
Speaker 3: them under the girl.
15:50
Speaker 2: I used to love the draft and finding out who
15:51
Speaker 2: had gone where, and you know whiching PC players had
15:54
Speaker 2: suddenly moved to various other parts of the country. Right,
15:58
Speaker 2: let's move on. We'll get to the NPC shortly. But
15:59
Speaker 2: the Black Ferns have finished their campaign for season twenty
16:03
Speaker 2: twenty four w XV with a winover France off the
16:06
Speaker 2: back of a lost to England, lost to Ireland and
16:09
Speaker 2: the WXV then a prior loss to England at Twickenham
16:13
Speaker 2: as well a good win to end the season. Again.
16:16
Speaker 2: It's a tough French team that had won five of
16:18
Speaker 2: the last six against New Zealand. But I guess there's
16:22
Speaker 2: a lot of questions around this team where they are
16:24
Speaker 2: at ten months out from a Rugby World Cup in
16:26
Speaker 2: England next year. Now, England were pushed pretty hard by
16:28
Speaker 2: Canada and that final yesterday and Canada had to lead
16:31
Speaker 2: in the second spell. But I think on most days
16:34
Speaker 2: England's to be honest, fifteen to twenty points better than
16:37
Speaker 2: most other teams in world rugby at the moment and
16:39
Speaker 2: women's rugby, but still New Zealand need to close that
16:42
Speaker 2: gap if it all possible to mount our World Cup
16:45
Speaker 2: surge for next year. So what have you seen out
16:46
Speaker 2: of the Black Funds, out of this tournament and where
16:49
Speaker 2: do you think they're at ten months out from next
16:51
Speaker 2: year's World Cup.
16:52
Speaker 3: It's a tricky question that I think this tournaments is
16:57
Speaker 3: a line in the sand about where they are and
16:59
Speaker 3: it has been a disappointment. It was good finish the
17:04
Speaker 3: second half in particular, they came over the top of
17:06
Speaker 3: the French and rarely put them to the So.
17:09
Speaker 4: They are very committed to.
17:13
Speaker 3: The Wayne Smith type blueprint of using the ball attacking
17:16
Speaker 3: and that comes with a lot of risk and reward.
17:18
Speaker 3: I think they can score a lot of points, but
17:21
Speaker 3: defensively there are some real concerns there. I think they
17:24
Speaker 3: conceded was it seven tries against England and you're never
17:28
Speaker 3: going to win a Test match conceding that many points,
17:31
Speaker 3: so that's one massive area of improvement. I think they
17:34
Speaker 3: finished fourth with a one one to win two loss record,
17:39
Speaker 3: lost to Ireland for the first time, who improved massively,
17:43
Speaker 3: so women's rugby on the whole was probably getting more competitive.
17:49
Speaker 3: Ireland the big movers there Canada, as you mentioned, pushed
17:53
Speaker 3: England who have won I think twenty games in succession now,
17:58
Speaker 3: so they are the standard bearers. But it's a massive
18:02
Speaker 3: challenge for the Black Ferns to improve now because I
18:06
Speaker 3: think they did improve and this level of opposition is
18:11
Speaker 3: so important and their lead into the World Cup now
18:15
Speaker 3: is you don't get that same quality of opponents. They
18:19
Speaker 3: come back, they play alpacky and then I think it's
18:22
Speaker 3: into the pack for and really your strongest competition there
18:27
Speaker 3: is Canada. And so you're not going to play England
18:30
Speaker 3: again before the World Cup, You're not going to play
18:31
Speaker 3: France who probably come back to the pack a bit.
18:35
Speaker 3: And so how much are they going to improve in
18:38
Speaker 3: that next ten months.
18:39
Speaker 2: There's not a lot of time is there they'll play
18:42
Speaker 2: obviously you'd think of Lauri or Rder. Game's Australia who
18:45
Speaker 2: have improved. Actually they won WX two and look to
18:49
Speaker 2: be improving under their coach Joe Yap but there's still
18:52
Speaker 2: you would think a big gulf between New Zealand and Australia.
18:55
Speaker 2: Having never lost to the Willa Rus I think there's
18:58
Speaker 2: still some selection issues around this team. They don't quite
19:01
Speaker 2: know the best mix in crucial positions or big best
19:04
Speaker 2: selections in crucial positions. I thought that the Atana will
19:07
Speaker 2: hire a half back. Yesterday was very very good. My
19:11
Speaker 2: Joseph struggled a little bit against the preciure that England
19:14
Speaker 2: and Ireland put on her in consecutive weeks. I'm not
19:17
Speaker 2: sold on Hannah King as a test number ten. You've
19:20
Speaker 2: got the world former World Player of the Year, really
19:22
Speaker 2: heye demand playing twelve. I'd move her into ten. There's
19:26
Speaker 2: you know, some other players around midfield that you could
19:28
Speaker 2: change around Amy to see, hopefully back from concussion and
19:33
Speaker 2: some other tweaks. The I's don't think they've got that
19:35
Speaker 2: right playmaking max nineteen and twelve at the moment to
19:39
Speaker 2: be able to attack wings. Very very good. Caitlin Vahaklos
19:42
Speaker 2: had a storming season a shea letier and great to
19:44
Speaker 2: see her back loose. Forwards I think are up there
19:47
Speaker 2: with some of the best in the world. Very very
19:49
Speaker 2: fast attacking players. Front row not too bad. Would be
19:53
Speaker 2: better to have some more depth in the props. I
19:55
Speaker 2: think so there are, but there are key positions and
19:58
Speaker 2: I think it's if you can sort out that nineteen
20:00
Speaker 2: and twelve and get confidence in your playmaking access around
20:03
Speaker 2: that point in the game, then they'll take another step forward.
20:06
Speaker 2: But I think that op key competition is canna be
20:09
Speaker 2: very very interesting around that.
20:11
Speaker 4: Yes, it's a great point.
20:12
Speaker 3: The inexperience in the halves isn't it's it's such a
20:15
Speaker 3: massive step up from Alpaky to the test arena, particularly
20:19
Speaker 3: against the lights of England and Canada, and you only
20:23
Speaker 3: learn by doing, and so that those will be valuable experiences.
20:27
Speaker 3: But yeah, ro had to demand still hugely influential from twelve.
20:31
Speaker 3: Sylvia Brunt just absolutely exceptional talent. Saw somebody call her
20:37
Speaker 3: you know, you don't have to make comparisons, but people
20:39
Speaker 3: do ineably do that, you know, the mananu of the
20:42
Speaker 3: of the of the woman's game. She's a phenomenal talent.
20:46
Speaker 3: I was still only in her early twenties. But you're right,
20:51
Speaker 3: they need to sort out that halves access and probably
20:53
Speaker 3: commit to a couple of players pick and stick, give
20:56
Speaker 3: them the next ten months to develop, because so important
21:01
Speaker 3: to get those that access right.
21:03
Speaker 2: And certainly is and Opaky forms a very very interesting
21:06
Speaker 2: part of the selections next year as well. With that
21:09
Speaker 2: on the line NPC semifinals sets and a couple of upsets.
21:14
Speaker 2: How good Canterbury back from the deads two weeks ago
21:19
Speaker 2: lost to Harbor by sixty points. Now out revenge on
21:26
Speaker 2: little brother Tasman. How good is that with a very
21:29
Speaker 2: good performance from Canterbury. Didn't see it coming, thought they
21:33
Speaker 2: might have been able to get the wind just given
21:36
Speaker 2: Tasman's got a few injuries. Even black Head are out injured,
21:39
Speaker 2: so questioned there around the All Blacks for him potentially
21:42
Speaker 2: in the Crusaders. Canterbury had some players back from the
21:45
Speaker 2: Crusaders but also from the All Blacks as well, so
21:48
Speaker 2: good win for them. Taranaki maybe a bit of Ranfillly
21:51
Speaker 2: shield hangover there on Saturday night against Wakatto. But look,
21:57
Speaker 2: a couple of upsets, which is what you want from
21:59
Speaker 2: the NPC quarter finals unless you're the top set of texts.
22:03
Speaker 3: Look, I think this has been a fantastic competition this
22:07
Speaker 3: year and we will touch on it later in terms
22:09
Speaker 3: of the rules, but just the style of rugby that
22:13
Speaker 3: the use of the ball, the pace, the intense the
22:17
Speaker 3: unpredictability of it. It really has been exceptional to watch.
22:22
Speaker 3: So that's the first point. The second is that the
22:25
Speaker 3: returning All Blacks have had a massive impact.
22:28
Speaker 4: Canterbury were hugely impressive.
22:30
Speaker 3: The guys that made a massive difference with them Sun
22:34
Speaker 3: to a degree where Fletch Newell came back because the
22:37
Speaker 3: Canterbury front row had struggled scrum time, George Bell, Sam Dowry.
22:43
Speaker 3: Those All Blacks came back and had a big impact.
22:47
Speaker 3: But I don't know whether the All Blacks will be
22:50
Speaker 3: available this weekend. Most of them will travel this week
22:53
Speaker 3: to go to Japan, so it's gonna be interesting to
22:55
Speaker 3: see what teams come out next weekend and other guys.
22:59
Speaker 3: Luke Jacobson was huge for Wakato both defensively and at
23:04
Speaker 3: the breakdown and their upset of Tartanaki. So it is
23:08
Speaker 3: really telling to see those All Blacks come back effectively
23:11
Speaker 3: two rungs down from from Test footy and you know,
23:15
Speaker 3: really assert their authority. But yeah, I think the renfoody
23:20
Speaker 3: shield hangovers were real for Tasman and Taranaki and it
23:25
Speaker 3: sets up to mighty cought semi finals this weekend with
23:29
Speaker 3: the bop our Man Mark Kelly will be storming around
23:33
Speaker 3: in his jersey as they take on your beloveds Canterbury
23:38
Speaker 3: and oh sorry our Wellington.
23:41
Speaker 2: Sorry yeah, our.
23:42
Speaker 3: Wellington prior place yeap hosts Wato. So very intriguing semi finals.
23:50
Speaker 2: They are, indeed, Yeah, and good news for Plenty. They
23:54
Speaker 2: win the Battle of the Bay for the years, so
23:56
Speaker 2: they get to call themselves the real Bay for another
23:58
Speaker 2: twelve months. I think that's right.
23:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's it. So we're gonna have to get who's
24:02
Speaker 3: gonna win those semis? What's the final?
24:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was asked about this when I did head
24:07
Speaker 2: on the Country spot break. It depends on the teams rarely,
24:09
Speaker 2: because we don't think you all blacks are going to play,
24:12
Speaker 2: which would hurt can to bring and it would hurt
24:15
Speaker 2: White Katso and it would hurt Wellington as well with
24:17
Speaker 2: Ti Japetan AA Billy Proctor, so it really does change
24:23
Speaker 2: things around. I'm going to give it to the basis
24:26
Speaker 2: of the home teams, probably Wellington Bay Plenty final, but
24:29
Speaker 2: I don't think there's much an either semi final at
24:31
Speaker 2: this point in time. I'm just going to give to
24:33
Speaker 2: the home teams on the basis of that.
24:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think look, if Canterbury can play like they
24:38
Speaker 3: did last weekend, they will be incredibly difficult to stop.
24:41
Speaker 3: Just we shout out to Billy Harmon. Wow, what a
24:46
Speaker 3: performance and what a loss he is going to be
24:49
Speaker 3: to New Zealand Rugby. He was phenomenal, ball in hand, defense, breakdown,
24:55
Speaker 3: just relentless and huge loss for the Highlanders.
24:58
Speaker 4: For Canterbury, he's going to Japan.
25:01
Speaker 3: He's a guy that's been on the cusp of the
25:03
Speaker 3: All Blacks for a number of years and you spoke
25:05
Speaker 3: about the loose for depth, but him and Brandon Ian
25:08
Speaker 3: all were really good.
25:10
Speaker 2: I was actually thinking that yesterday when I was watching
25:12
Speaker 2: that game that in an era when you've got players
25:15
Speaker 2: that have played a lot of one off tests for
25:17
Speaker 2: the All Blacks through necessity and various things, that the
25:19
Speaker 2: fact that Billy Harmon never got an All Blacks cap.
25:22
Speaker 2: I mean, he was his class, he was there in
25:23
Speaker 2: the tour in twenty twenty two. Is you know, it's
25:27
Speaker 2: a real shame because he is one of the probably
25:30
Speaker 2: in the modern era, i'd say, one of the best
25:32
Speaker 2: players not to get an All Blacks jersey.
25:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, very very unsung, So very interesting to see how
25:37
Speaker 3: those teams shake down. I will I can't tip Canterbury,
25:41
Speaker 3: so will go bop and I think regardless of the teams,
25:45
Speaker 3: I expect Wellington to beat Waikato. But it is also
25:49
Speaker 3: great to see a guy like Aaron Cruden finishing his
25:53
Speaker 3: career playing provincial forty, giving back, having a real influence.
25:59
Speaker 3: Even you know the drop goal I think it was
26:01
Speaker 3: was a park Excavage. Yeah good, almost forty meta drop
26:05
Speaker 3: kit Cruden. I saw a postmatch interview with Cook Savage
26:09
Speaker 3: and he said that Cruden called for that earlier and
26:12
Speaker 3: then that was the second crack. He called him caught
26:14
Speaker 3: or said he was calling the play. So the thing
26:18
Speaker 3: his body's hanging on by three. But great to see
26:21
Speaker 3: a form more All Black like that having a massive
26:24
Speaker 3: impact on a provincial team.
26:25
Speaker 2: Indeed, before we take a quick break, this has been
26:28
Speaker 2: bubbling around for a few months, and it was already
26:31
Speaker 2: around two or three months back, but now it's come
26:33
Speaker 2: back around again that France planning to send say a
26:37
Speaker 2: development team down to New Zealand for the three Tests
26:40
Speaker 2: against the All Blacks next year. We've seen various headlines
26:44
Speaker 2: saying the All Blacks are wild or whatever about it.
26:48
Speaker 2: How do you feel about that, The fact that France
26:50
Speaker 2: are likely to send a development team perhaps missing you know,
26:53
Speaker 2: the likes of Antonin du Pont and perhaps various other
26:56
Speaker 2: players there. I mean, it does depend on when they're
26:59
Speaker 2: finals and who makes that final in the top fourteen.
27:02
Speaker 2: But the writing teams on the wall that they're going
27:04
Speaker 2: to send a weekend team down to New Zealand.
27:08
Speaker 3: Think it's a disgrace. I think it makes a mockery
27:11
Speaker 3: of the test game. You know, how would the French
27:15
Speaker 3: feel if the All Blacks scent the All Blacks fifteen
27:18
Speaker 3: to France to Paris in November instead of the top
27:23
Speaker 3: line team. Look from a selling point point of view,
27:29
Speaker 3: how great would it be to have Antone DuPont down here?
27:32
Speaker 4: And in terms of.
27:33
Speaker 3: His career as well, he needs to travel be the
27:37
Speaker 3: country well, unless he's going to the NFL or Yeah,
27:42
Speaker 3: it's just a great shame because it would be an
27:44
Speaker 3: amazing series having France here, the best of the best
27:48
Speaker 3: that French rugby has to offer. But they are very
27:51
Speaker 3: much beholden to their clubs and I think there's been
27:55
Speaker 3: a new deal done there and it is also nothing new.
28:00
Speaker 3: They have been doing this for a number of years.
28:02
Speaker 3: They did it when they went to Argentina this year.
28:05
Speaker 3: But it's a great frustration just from a.
28:10
Speaker 2: Crudibility.
28:11
Speaker 3: I think Test rugby is the pinnacle and you want
28:13
Speaker 3: the best of the best, and it just sucks the
28:15
Speaker 3: life out of that series, doesn't it.
28:17
Speaker 2: Well. I just don't know why they've flagged at twelve
28:18
Speaker 2: months in advance thereabouts. You know. I think it's probably
28:23
Speaker 2: New Zealand Rugby's this year is that they've actually gone
28:25
Speaker 2: out and said we're not sending our best down there.
28:29
Speaker 2: And then so New Zealand Rugby early next year is
28:31
Speaker 2: going to have to announce that they're playing these tests
28:33
Speaker 2: in Duneden or Hamilton or Wellington or Auckland or wherever
28:37
Speaker 2: it might be and go come and see the All Blacks.
28:39
Speaker 2: They're playing a whole bunch of French players that you've
28:41
Speaker 2: never heard of. And that's the thing is with that
28:44
Speaker 2: announced it when they did their squad three weeks out
28:46
Speaker 2: from traveling, go you actually not seending upon then it's
28:50
Speaker 2: a bit more powerful. But to advertise twelve months out
28:53
Speaker 2: or whatever that you're not sending your best players down
28:55
Speaker 2: I think is it does hurt Test rugby and that's
29:01
Speaker 2: something that World Rugby needs to fix. But they're powerless, powerless,
29:06
Speaker 2: I don't know that they don't seem to want to
29:08
Speaker 2: do anything. I don't know, the necessarily powerless, they just
29:10
Speaker 2: don't seem like actually doing anything half the time.
29:13
Speaker 3: Well, I wonder how it would go down if the
29:15
Speaker 3: French decided to pull their players out of a Six
29:20
Speaker 3: Nations game in Dublin or ticking them at the windows.
29:26
Speaker 3: Mean that it doesn't that there's not the same clashes there,
29:29
Speaker 3: but it's the same issue as and it shows how
29:32
Speaker 3: fragmented the game is still that the top fourteen is prioritized.
29:37
Speaker 3: And look in this part of the world, it's very
29:39
Speaker 3: easy to get blase about that because you don't see
29:42
Speaker 3: those events. If you know how passionate French fans are
29:46
Speaker 3: about the top fourteen and how important and how.
29:49
Speaker 2: It's a great competition, I'm sure if we could watch it.
29:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it's amazing that the genuine passion, you know,
29:54
Speaker 3: flears going off the buses, arriving fandom is alive in
30:00
Speaker 3: the French game. But to prioritize the top fourteen over
30:04
Speaker 3: the test game as a real slap in the face.
30:06
Speaker 2: Well it's what international. But what's What's what rugby union's
30:10
Speaker 2: got as an advantage over rugby league is the international game,
30:13
Speaker 2: because the international game rugby league is a joke. So
30:17
Speaker 2: you've got that and when you start prioritizing the club
30:21
Speaker 2: game over it. That's what they've done in the NRAL,
30:23
Speaker 2: it's what they've done another thing, you know, the Super
30:26
Speaker 2: League to extend as well, and then the international game
30:28
Speaker 2: becomes an afterthought and you just don't want to go
30:30
Speaker 2: too far down that track. But there's not much New
30:33
Speaker 2: Zealand Rugby can do about it. I mean, you know,
30:35
Speaker 2: you could play a three match North versus South series
30:37
Speaker 2: or whatever and that would probably fill the stadiums, but
30:41
Speaker 2: you've got to take France and you know, deal with
30:44
Speaker 2: the consequences of not selling out stadiums presumably.
30:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's gonna be a tough sell and there
30:49
Speaker 3: is absolutely nothing New Zealand Rugby can do about it.
30:52
Speaker 2: Quick break, come back with more afters.
30:54
Speaker 1: This is Rugby Direct, a podcast for real rugby fans.
31:02
Speaker 2: Every try try ten sixty sec, every tackle tackles get
31:06
Speaker 2: up again.
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Speaker 1: Every league.
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Speaker 2: Him before times.
31:10
Speaker 4: It's Ruggy Direct, ladies.
31:13
Speaker 2: You're back with Rugby Direct. Time now for our final four.
31:16
Speaker 2: It's time to catch up on a few of the
31:17
Speaker 2: things that have missed over the last couple of weeks,
31:21
Speaker 2: Number one, James O'Connor signed with the Crusaders. He'll lead
31:26
Speaker 2: them back to the Promised Land in twenty twenty five.
31:30
Speaker 2: What do you make of the signing, Well.
31:32
Speaker 3: I look forward to you eating your words on that,
31:35
Speaker 3: just quietly. Look, I think it's a good signing for
31:39
Speaker 3: the Crusaders and the context of what they've got.
31:43
Speaker 4: Rivers, Rayhanna and who else have.
31:47
Speaker 3: So very on both of them, super regular, exactly very green,
31:51
Speaker 3: unproven first fives. As we mentioned, the Crusaders tried for
31:55
Speaker 3: Josh Jacob, so clearly Colin Mainsbridge and the Crusaders recruitment
32:01
Speaker 3: department have been reading the Herald because I did a
32:04
Speaker 3: column in June this year saying James O'Connor, Josh Jacob,
32:11
Speaker 3: Aaron Cruden should be on the Crusaders wish list. Cruden's
32:14
Speaker 3: going to retire, so very limited options there. Look, he's
32:19
Speaker 3: not gonna solve the Crusaders first five crisis, but he
32:24
Speaker 3: is a very experienced heads and he will be a
32:29
Speaker 3: great mentor for those players. He's a guy that could
32:32
Speaker 3: you can bring off the bench in the last quarter
32:34
Speaker 3: and control the match. So I think he's a decent pickup.
32:38
Speaker 3: He's not a problem solver. He's not a long term prospect.
32:41
Speaker 3: This is a one year thing and the Crusaders are
32:45
Speaker 3: likely to have Rich and Wonga back after that.
32:46
Speaker 2: It is a stop gap measure, no doubt about that.
32:49
Speaker 2: I think it's a good signing. Look, he's grown up
32:52
Speaker 2: a bit from press the wild child that maybe he
32:54
Speaker 2: was a decade or so ago, has matured significantly, become
32:58
Speaker 2: a very very good player and I think could still
33:01
Speaker 2: help out the Wallabies in all honesty. In fact, I
33:05
Speaker 2: think what three years I think since his last play
33:07
Speaker 2: he's got New Zealand peris maybe an all Blacks disease
33:10
Speaker 2: in the offering for James O'Connor.
33:12
Speaker 3: Well, Look, the only other point I'd make is maybe
33:16
Speaker 3: Somerset Holmes could sponsor the Crusaders because it's becoming a
33:21
Speaker 3: bit of a retirement village, isn't it. Lee half Penny,
33:24
Speaker 3: Jared Payne, James O'Connor, who's.
33:27
Speaker 2: Next tard he cut Willie Hines. Yeah, bring him back
33:33
Speaker 2: for next year. I did see as well last week
33:36
Speaker 2: on Wellington called Drug Report, that Kyle Preston, the Wellington
33:39
Speaker 2: half back, is someone with the Crusaders for next season,
33:41
Speaker 2: so Brigian, but it's Hotham, Drummonds and in Kyle Preston
33:45
Speaker 2: as their three half backs. Question number two, sticking with
33:48
Speaker 2: the first fives, Brick Cameron suffering that injury for Mana
33:51
Speaker 2: with two acl out for what nine months? Who's going
33:55
Speaker 2: to miss the entirety of Super rugby the Hurricanes This
33:59
Speaker 2: is We talked about it earlier, earlier in the first
34:01
Speaker 2: half of the podcast, that there's not a lot of
34:04
Speaker 2: first fives and they're all truncated into the top half
34:07
Speaker 2: of the North Island. So what do the Hurricanes do now?
34:11
Speaker 2: I was watching our colleagues at the Breakdown a couple
34:14
Speaker 2: of weeks ago in Isaac Boss suggested that cam Rougard
34:17
Speaker 2: could play ten. He's worked a weave it with him
34:20
Speaker 2: around I think counties, junior levels or something like that.
34:23
Speaker 2: Maybe is cam Roygard the answer for the Hurricanes at ten?
34:27
Speaker 2: You got Jordia Ville unit nine.
34:29
Speaker 3: It's all coming to look no, no, he's not leave
34:33
Speaker 3: cam ruyguard at half back and he can just assume
34:36
Speaker 3: a lot more responsibility.
34:37
Speaker 4: Look as a massive blow.
34:38
Speaker 3: Brett Cameron didn't perform very well in the semi final
34:45
Speaker 3: that the Hurricanes lost, got a bit found out in
34:47
Speaker 3: that matched, but he is a very steady hand and
34:52
Speaker 3: he knows how to control a game. His kicking game
34:55
Speaker 3: is very educated and he had a big impact on
34:58
Speaker 3: the Hurricanes, So massive blow for him and the Hurricanes.
35:01
Speaker 3: I think they're going to have to turn to Ruben
35:03
Speaker 3: Love at ten, which is not ideal because his best
35:09
Speaker 3: at fullback. He played ten through high school for Pumpston
35:12
Speaker 3: North Boys High so he has a lot of experience there.
35:16
Speaker 3: And when Jason Hollan was coach, he rotated Aiden Morgan
35:21
Speaker 3: and Rubin Love basically for a whole season at ten,
35:24
Speaker 3: which didn't work for the Hurricanes, but so Rubin Love
35:28
Speaker 3: has some experience at ten. There are other options are
35:30
Speaker 3: Harry Godfrey, who's predominantly played fullback for Hawk's Bay but
35:33
Speaker 3: does have First five experience, and I think the Hurricanes
35:37
Speaker 3: have also signed Lucas cashmore Bay Plenty Prospects, who has
35:41
Speaker 3: been with the Blues but is green as well. So,
35:45
Speaker 3: as you mentioned, as we touched on very limited options
35:49
Speaker 3: with the Chiefs and Blues stockpiling their tens. Oh how
35:53
Speaker 3: the Canes would love to get their hands on Josh
35:55
Speaker 3: Jacob or Stephen Petefetter, but yeah, big setback for them,
36:00
Speaker 3: I think a little. One of the fans of the
36:03
Speaker 3: pod actually messaged me to say that the Canes have
36:06
Speaker 3: apparently signed.
36:07
Speaker 4: Cade Bank from Harbo from Harbor.
36:10
Speaker 3: But yeah, he's not going to play ten either, So
36:12
Speaker 3: that's that's not going to sell Bret Cameron's absence.
36:15
Speaker 2: No, it's not. You mentioned Oar and crew didn't couldn't
36:18
Speaker 2: tempt him to go for another trip around the block.
36:22
Speaker 3: Well, he sent me worth a phone call. He is
36:26
Speaker 3: in the James O'Connor mold, isn't he. He's not a
36:28
Speaker 3: guy that would be starting week and week out. His
36:30
Speaker 3: body wouldn't last the distance. But yeah, what a guy
36:34
Speaker 3: to have in your squad to be able to bring
36:36
Speaker 3: off the bench.
36:37
Speaker 4: So yeah, i'd give him a call.
36:39
Speaker 2: They don't have Jordi Barrett either. Of course the next
36:41
Speaker 2: season going to Leinster on that sabbatical deal. He's played
36:44
Speaker 2: test met rugby at ten. Could have moved him into ten.
36:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well he actually does, or did prior to Brett
36:50
Speaker 3: Cameron's or over a lot of that back line organization.
36:53
Speaker 3: So if you move Reuben Love to ten, then you're
36:56
Speaker 3: reconfiguring the back three as well. And Jordie's a massive loss.
36:59
Speaker 3: Bigger loss I would suggest than Ardie severe because of
37:03
Speaker 3: the way the hurricanes loose forwards have come through. So yeah,
37:07
Speaker 3: a big setback for Clark laid law there.
37:09
Speaker 2: Indeed, topic number three. World rugby rule changes continue to
37:13
Speaker 2: move a step forward, including the twenty minute red card,
37:17
Speaker 2: which is taking another step forward with World Rugby basically
37:20
Speaker 2: giving the signature of approval. This has been met with
37:23
Speaker 2: and we bit of an uproar up North. They're not
37:26
Speaker 2: huge fans of it, but seems like World Rugby is
37:30
Speaker 2: intent on making it part of the rules. I think
37:33
Speaker 2: it's a good move for World Rugby, but I do
37:36
Speaker 2: think it hasn't been explained that well to how it
37:39
Speaker 2: works up North, because there's a lot of confusion around oh,
37:42
Speaker 2: you can bring this player back on after twenty minutes,
37:43
Speaker 2: No you can't. You have to bring another player, And
37:45
Speaker 2: I just don't think it's been explained clearly the fact
37:48
Speaker 2: that's still calling it a twenty minute red card when
37:50
Speaker 2: the red card full red card still exists as just
37:53
Speaker 2: an optics and clarity issue. You should go in an
37:55
Speaker 2: orange card or similar or an injection card, player rejection,
37:59
Speaker 2: whatever it might be. But Ultimately, I think this is
38:01
Speaker 2: a good thing for rugby union that yes, you're looking
38:05
Speaker 2: after the head contact that you need to look after
38:07
Speaker 2: and applying discipline around that and applying sanctions, but you're
38:12
Speaker 2: also keeping the game of context at contests because you
38:15
Speaker 2: think about the number of red cards that have happened
38:17
Speaker 2: over last decade versus the ninety years of test mat
38:20
Speaker 2: drugging before it.
38:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the key point there is that the
38:23
Speaker 3: actual full red card is still available, and like you say,
38:26
Speaker 3: that needs to be explained because if there is an
38:30
Speaker 3: act of thuggery or a really bad tackle, then that
38:34
Speaker 3: option is still available.
38:36
Speaker 4: So it's the best of both worlds.
38:38
Speaker 3: You're protecting the entertainment product and let's get real that
38:44
Speaker 3: rugby's big business now and that need the credibility of
38:47
Speaker 3: the contests does need to be preserved, and that's what
38:50
Speaker 3: this does. So I think World Rugby the penny is
38:54
Speaker 3: finally dropping. They do still have to vote on it
38:58
Speaker 3: in November, so as we've seen World Rugby and present
39:02
Speaker 3: your elections and all sorts of wheeling and dealing behind
39:06
Speaker 3: the scenes, things can change, but it does seem like
39:08
Speaker 3: there has been positive progression here, so hopefully that goes
39:12
Speaker 3: through and just I think it's a nod to the
39:17
Speaker 3: progression that's happened in the Southern hemisphere and they've been
39:20
Speaker 3: pushing for this for a number of years. And aside
39:23
Speaker 3: from the red card, things like shot clocks for kicking,
39:30
Speaker 3: that the mall is only allowed one stoppage and the
39:34
Speaker 3: scrums and lineouts, basically that the intent to speed up
39:37
Speaker 3: the game, which is what's happened through Super Rugby this
39:41
Speaker 3: year with diminishing the TMO influence and the NPC. So
39:46
Speaker 3: that's been a real catalyst for change, isn't.
39:48
Speaker 2: It It has indeed, And yeah, interesting to see attention
39:52
Speaker 2: now being played up north to that final topic. In
39:55
Speaker 2: the Final four, Tarmathi Ellison officially leaves the Crusader. It's
39:58
Speaker 2: not too much surprise there because it seems like it
40:00
Speaker 2: was destined to happen once the All Blacks made their
40:03
Speaker 2: coaching changes around that, but he's officially at the Crusaders now.
40:07
Speaker 2: There was but speculation was basically informed speculation that there
40:13
Speaker 2: was basically a two year stopgap that Rob Penny was
40:16
Speaker 2: going to coach the Crusaders twenty twenty four to twenty
40:18
Speaker 2: twenty five and Thomasy Allison would come in from twenty
40:21
Speaker 2: twenty six. Now, whether that was in rising, whether it
40:23
Speaker 2: was just presumed, whatever it was, that's not going to
40:25
Speaker 2: happen now from twenty twenty six. So the Crusaders, having
40:29
Speaker 2: lost Scott Robertson, Scott Hansen, Jason Ryan previously to that,
40:33
Speaker 2: have now lost Tomoty Allison and so any thoughts around
40:37
Speaker 2: a succession plan now out the window. So what do
40:40
Speaker 2: the Crusaders do to this point? It gives them a
40:42
Speaker 2: clean slate, I guess, But what's your feeling around where
40:46
Speaker 2: they're going to go from here?
40:49
Speaker 4: Who knows?
40:49
Speaker 3: There's real instability there isn't there? Because Rob Penny was well,
40:55
Speaker 3: certainly externally was on a knife edge of being chopped.
40:59
Speaker 3: I don't think that was ever going to happen from
41:00
Speaker 3: a Crusaders perspective, but dire seasoned by a Crusader standards
41:04
Speaker 3: this year, so he's under pressure to perform in the
41:06
Speaker 3: final year of his contract and I don't think they
41:10
Speaker 3: at this point would know where they're going to go
41:11
Speaker 3: beyond that. As you mentioned, somebody Ellison was earmarked, he
41:14
Speaker 3: was odds on to take over.
41:17
Speaker 4: Now who now, where do they go?
41:18
Speaker 3: There's whispers about Leo McDonald popping up an Australian rugby.
41:23
Speaker 4: I don't think he would come back to.
41:25
Speaker 3: Super rugby as it is so Yeah, real instability and uncertainty.
41:31
Speaker 3: So maybe just sign Rob Pinny up for five years.
41:34
Speaker 2: Well, look, he's got James O'Connor next year and may
41:37
Speaker 2: all come together for Rob in the Crusaders in twenty
41:40
Speaker 2: twenty five. And this may be a moot discussion. Maybe
41:43
Speaker 2: you're saying that with a smile. I'm trying to get
41:45
Speaker 2: a lifetime deal in twenty twenty five to go until
41:49
Speaker 2: I pop my clogs. I'm going to be coaching the Crusaders.
41:51
Speaker 2: But let's say is not there's not many head coaches
41:55
Speaker 2: at the moment putting their hands up. I don't think
41:58
Speaker 2: internally in New Zealand rugby from the Crusaders, I will
42:01
Speaker 2: think at maybe like you, guy like Neil Barnes to
42:03
Speaker 2: come down and coach h he's older than Rob Penny.
42:07
Speaker 2: But perhaps someone like Kim could come in.
42:10
Speaker 4: Colin Cooper's flow.
42:11
Speaker 3: It feels like the future exactly that Richard Watt's done
42:14
Speaker 3: a really good job with plenty of this year. But again,
42:17
Speaker 3: a guy that's been around a.
42:18
Speaker 4: Long, long time.
42:20
Speaker 2: Indeed, Ross Felippo is a coach that I think has
42:22
Speaker 2: got ammense promise.
42:25
Speaker 3: He was certainly in the discussions for the Crusades. I
42:28
Speaker 3: would say he is actually the leading candidate that that
42:31
Speaker 3: that that they would go after. But the Chief's going
42:36
Speaker 3: to let him go because he is a real talent
42:39
Speaker 3: and highly regarded both with what he's done with Waikato
42:43
Speaker 3: and the Chiefs, and he's now with New Zealand.
42:46
Speaker 4: Maldi so clearly.
42:49
Speaker 3: Identified from a high performance perspective with the New Zealand Rugby.
42:52
Speaker 3: So I was if I was the Crusaders, I'll be
42:54
Speaker 3: going all in on Ross.
42:56
Speaker 2: It's interesting, isn't it. I guess he've still got a
42:59
Speaker 2: bit of water to go on the bridge as to
43:00
Speaker 2: how twenty twenty five plays out.
43:03
Speaker 4: And Robbie you trust man, we do.
43:06
Speaker 2: That'll do us for Rugby Directs this week for your
43:09
Speaker 2: company again suing with the end of year tour looming.
43:14
Speaker 2: That has been Rugby Direct with Forklift Solutions lifting you
43:16
Speaker 2: and your business to a higher level. I thanks as
43:18
Speaker 2: always to last and Bars English. We'll catch you next time.
43:25
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