Latest / Rugby Direct / Rugby Direct: Episode 209
Transcript
- 0:09Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks at B.
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- 0:19Speaker 2: Straight down the Middle.
- 0:23Speaker 1: Try to get inside the game from every goal. It's
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- 0:37Speaker 2: Welcome into Rugby Directs powered by Habit Heath Buysio book
- 0:40Speaker 2: today and stay in the game. We are back for
- 0:43Speaker 2: our MIDWEK edition of Rugby Direct. Elligant Smith with me
- 0:46Speaker 2: as always Liam Napier. Greetings Liam, Rugby world never slows down.
- 0:51Speaker 2: Welcome back to the pod.
- 0:53Speaker 3: Great to be helliotts and no, it doesn't, particularly when
- 0:57Speaker 3: you're in the midst of appointing a new All Blacks
- 0:59Speaker 3: coaching team. There's always going to be sparks and flurries
- 1:03Speaker 3: and news of points in. It's what we're having over
- 1:06Speaker 3: the last few weeks, isn't it.
- 1:07Speaker 2: Yeah, there certainly. Well, there was a couple of media
- 1:09Speaker 2: autlet's yesterday reporting that tana Umanga is in line to
- 1:12Speaker 2: become an assistant coach with the All Blacks. We did
- 1:15Speaker 2: bring up his name, I think on the Monday Pod
- 1:18Speaker 2: potentially and know he's been mentioned elsewhere on the breakdown,
- 1:21Speaker 2: et cetera. Too. What's the latest. What are you hearing
- 1:25Speaker 2: around the potential of tana umang A joining that day
- 1:28Speaker 2: for Renny coaching stuff?
- 1:30Speaker 3: Well, I think there where they smoked this fire Elliott
- 1:33Speaker 3: with these things. But at this stage, no assistants have
- 1:37Speaker 3: been offered coaching contracts, so it's certainly not a dune
- 1:42Speaker 3: deal with anyone. No firm decisions have been made. I
- 1:45Speaker 3: think Rennie's still doing his due diligence about because it's
- 1:49Speaker 3: not just technically and tactically, is it. It's about an
- 1:51Speaker 3: any coaching team who can work with whom, what personalities
- 1:56Speaker 3: are involved, What New Zealand Rugby wants, what Rennie wants.
- 2:00Speaker 3: So there's a lot of moving parts involved in this.
- 2:02Speaker 3: But look, in regards to tana umager, I did have
- 2:06Speaker 3: a bit of correspondence with them, just back and forth
- 2:08Speaker 3: over a text message, and he was civically nonchalant, saying,
- 2:13Speaker 3: you know, he doesn't comment on speculation, but he's slated
- 2:16Speaker 3: to be considered. So look, he's firmly in the mix
- 2:20Speaker 3: and Dave Rennie wants him to be his defense coach,
- 2:23Speaker 3: which would effectively replace Tamody Ellison.
- 2:26Speaker 4: So if we just there.
- 2:27Speaker 3: With that in isolation, how do you think tana Umonger
- 2:30Speaker 3: would go as an all black defense coach.
- 2:33Speaker 2: Well, I think that would be the role for him
- 2:35Speaker 2: his sister. Sorry, his head coaching time at the Blues
- 2:39Speaker 2: didn't really work out. He was shuffled out of the
- 2:42Speaker 2: early Remember Leo McDonald came on board back end of
- 2:46Speaker 2: twenty eighteen and took over for twenty nineteen when tana
- 2:49Speaker 2: Umanga was supposed to be head coaching. But it was
- 2:51Speaker 2: then over the next couple of years that they he
- 2:54Speaker 2: sort of found his niche with the Blues for a
- 2:57Speaker 2: couple of seasons. Their defense is pretty strong. He developed
- 2:59Speaker 2: some good systems and then left I think was at
- 3:02Speaker 2: twenty twenty one. Ended up becoming Mawana coach down the track,
- 3:06Speaker 2: but it felt like maybe as an assistant that was
- 3:09Speaker 2: a role he was perhaps better suited to than being
- 3:12Speaker 2: an out and out head coach, and he wouldn't be
- 3:14Speaker 2: alone in that. There's been a number of coaches that
- 3:16Speaker 2: are better place to narrow their focus down on one
- 3:19Speaker 2: element of the game and not have to worry about
- 3:22Speaker 2: the full package and essentially being the CEO of the team,
- 3:25Speaker 2: but really zero in on one thing. I think that's
- 3:27Speaker 2: where tana Umonger's strength has ultimately been found. So Dave
- 3:31Speaker 2: Rennie of course coached tana umung a way back win
- 3:34Speaker 2: for Wellington and the early two thousands, so there is
- 3:37Speaker 2: a history between those two as well. But I think
- 3:40Speaker 2: ultimately you can't judge t Umo on his head coaching
- 3:43Speaker 2: role necessarily. I think his defense is, you know, something
- 3:47Speaker 2: that the Blues prided themselves on when they were at
- 3:49Speaker 2: when he was at the team as the defense coach.
- 3:52Speaker 2: So look, I think it's a if it happens, a
- 3:54Speaker 2: fairly astute appointment.
- 3:57Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree, I think it's a great way to
- 3:58Speaker 4: put it.
- 3:59Speaker 3: I think there's a couple of elements to explore with
- 4:02Speaker 3: tana and you mentioned as Blues coaching tenure there, but
- 4:05Speaker 3: he's also had He's vastly experienced as a coach and
- 4:09Speaker 3: maybe it's because of what he achieved as a player
- 4:12Speaker 3: that that gets a wee bit lost. But he's been
- 4:14Speaker 3: coaching for fifteen years now. He did five years in
- 4:17Speaker 3: France or Toulon, he did some time at the Chiefs
- 4:22Speaker 3: and he did really well with Connie's Monaco. They won
- 4:24Speaker 3: the Roan Fallly Shield. Obviously, the Blues and then Mouana
- 4:29Speaker 3: and obviously Arti had a massive impact and influence on
- 4:32Speaker 3: that team, but Tana was a huge factor in Ardi
- 4:36Speaker 3: going to Moana in the first place, but also Moana
- 4:40Speaker 3: last year. Remember, outside of Arti, I'll challenge you to
- 4:45Speaker 3: name many players in that team that any Super Ragby
- 4:47Speaker 3: team would have been chasing. And yet they knocked over
- 4:50Speaker 3: every New Zealand Super Ragby team I think by the
- 4:53Speaker 3: Chiefs when were one when within the playoffs. So from
- 4:59Speaker 3: a head coaching perspective of a team that had a
- 5:02Speaker 3: real lack of star power and depth, did bloody well
- 5:05Speaker 3: on that occasion. And then of course there's this Pacifica
- 5:09Speaker 3: element that's forming around the All Blacks, isn't there. Dave Renny,
- 5:12Speaker 3: the first All Blacks head coach of Pacifica Heritage, his
- 5:16Speaker 3: mother from Raratonga tana Umaga, the first All Blacks captain
- 5:22Speaker 3: of Pacifica heritage in history, has a great way of
- 5:28Speaker 3: connecting and bringing through that culture and I think that's
- 5:31Speaker 3: probably something that was lacking within that All Black camp
- 5:36Speaker 3: under Raiser. And if you look at the demographic of
- 5:39Speaker 3: not just the All Blacks but Super rugby teams NRL teams.
- 5:43Speaker 3: Increasingly those are populated by players with Pacifica and Maldi heritage.
- 5:49Speaker 3: So I think it is in a stoote move and
- 5:53Speaker 3: I think it is probably nigh on time that we
- 5:56Speaker 3: see more representation from Pacifica and Maldi in an All
- 6:00Speaker 3: Blacks coaching team, and I think that could only only
- 6:02Speaker 3: help the team, particularly when you're looking at effectively a
- 6:05Speaker 3: cultural rebuild for this team.
- 6:07Speaker 2: Isn't it is? And among A former captain, brings a
- 6:10Speaker 2: lot of Mana, but it can't just be about Mana alone.
- 6:13Speaker 2: It can't just be about what he's going to bring
- 6:15Speaker 2: to the culture. It's got to be on the defense.
- 6:18Speaker 2: And to be honest, that's probably an area that they
- 6:20Speaker 2: haven't really solidified the All Blacks in the last few years,
- 6:24Speaker 2: is that that defensive role. There's been a lot of
- 6:26Speaker 2: weak tries conceded. You know, Timothy Allison maybe was a
- 6:31Speaker 2: bit too far early in his coaching career for him
- 6:33Speaker 2: to take on that role and bring the changes in
- 6:36Speaker 2: the All Blacks environment. Scott McLeod did it until twenty
- 6:39Speaker 2: twenty three as well, but he took over from Wayne Smith.
- 6:42Speaker 2: So the bandon has been passed around and no one's
- 6:45Speaker 2: really sort of taken it and charged toward it. Towards it,
- 6:48Speaker 2: so there's, you know, the possibility that he might be
- 6:51Speaker 2: able to make some quick shifts in this department if
- 6:53Speaker 2: he is appointed.
- 6:55Speaker 3: Yeah, and like you say, there needs to be because
- 6:58Speaker 3: I think somebody Elson we've discussed will be a good
- 7:02Speaker 3: coach in time. But as you say, I think was
- 7:04Speaker 3: probably promoted to a position of influence too, So I
- 7:08Speaker 3: think he started as a contact coach within the All
- 7:11Speaker 3: Blacks but was quickly elevated to the defense brief when
- 7:15Speaker 3: Scott Hansen assumed a switch from defense to attack and look,
- 7:21Speaker 3: defense is so prevalent in modern day rugby, whether it
- 7:23Speaker 3: be rush defense or umbrella style, you know, shutting down
- 7:28Speaker 3: time and space and playmakers. That's evolved massively in recent times.
- 7:31Speaker 3: You've seen the league influence coming with David Kidwell and
- 7:36Speaker 3: Shawn Edwards going to France and others, so it's a
- 7:39Speaker 3: very important brief. There are others that have done well
- 7:42Speaker 3: within New Zealand rugby. I think Craig McGrath and the
- 7:45Speaker 3: Blues is quite highly regarded and abroad other keywis like
- 7:48Speaker 3: Jared Payne in Australia, Laurie Fisher is as.
- 7:52Speaker 4: Well regarded as well.
- 7:53Speaker 3: So it's an important area that the All Blacks need
- 7:56Speaker 3: to get right. And maybe Tanna's the guy, maybe he's not,
- 8:01Speaker 3: but I think he would be an upgrade on somebody Allison.
- 8:05Speaker 2: So there's tracks with what we sort of put out
- 8:07Speaker 2: there on Monday in the podcast that Jason Ryan would
- 8:11Speaker 2: be the only survivor of the previous coaching raging to
- 8:15Speaker 2: retain a job. Assuming that goes ahead and anything changes
- 8:17Speaker 2: from this.
- 8:18Speaker 3: Point potentially, Yeah, I think there's a bit of a
- 8:21Speaker 3: standoff brewing between an early standoff between he's on on
- 8:24Speaker 3: rugby and Dave Rennie around the attack. Brief now, I
- 8:28Speaker 3: expect Dave Rennie to take on a large role with
- 8:32Speaker 3: that attack.
- 8:32Speaker 4: That's his.
- 8:35Speaker 3: Trademark, is I guess from it from a coaching perspective,
- 8:39Speaker 3: He's very strong an attack and I think that was
- 8:41Speaker 3: a reason he was preferred over Joseph. But Scott Hansen
- 8:45Speaker 3: is on a four year contract and we know he
- 8:48Speaker 3: held quite strong influence and responsibilities within Scott Robinson's team.
- 8:54Speaker 3: He was his two IC, he did a lot of
- 8:56Speaker 3: the on ground coaching. Him and Jason Ryan are both
- 9:00Speaker 3: on four year contracts, so having paid out Scott Robertson.
- 9:04Speaker 3: I think New Zealand Rugby is potentially keen for Scott
- 9:07Speaker 3: Hansen to be tained because then that would avoid them
- 9:10Speaker 3: having to pay him out.
- 9:11Speaker 4: And of course.
- 9:12Speaker 3: Rennie wants Mike Blair, who's done a great job with
- 9:15Speaker 3: Kobe in recent years, the former Scotland halfback, to help
- 9:19Speaker 3: come in and run the attack, but he's one on.
- 9:21Speaker 3: Rugby have traditionally not hired or recruited foreign coach for
- 9:26Speaker 3: the All Blacks, so I think there's a bit of
- 9:28Speaker 3: a standoff browing there. It's gonna be interesting to see
- 9:30Speaker 3: how that transplires hate Daisen.
- 9:32Speaker 2: We've already got a standoff napes.
- 9:35Speaker 3: Yeah, these things never go quite so smoothly. But if
- 9:39Speaker 3: you think back to Razor, how do you think it
- 9:41Speaker 3: should play out? Raizorhead car Blanche that that didn't really
- 9:46Speaker 3: unfolds too well?
- 9:48Speaker 4: How do you think this should play out?
- 9:50Speaker 2: Yeah? I think it's an interesting one, isn't it. Dave
- 9:53Speaker 2: Rennie should have his say on who he wants to
- 9:55Speaker 2: be his assistants, and I don't know that putting to
- 9:59Speaker 2: people together in an arranged marriage like potentially they may
- 10:03Speaker 2: have de forced to work with Scott Hansen is going
- 10:05Speaker 2: to be for the betterment of the All Blacks. I
- 10:08Speaker 2: think if they want this team to be set up
- 10:11Speaker 2: for winning the World Cup, they mentioned trajectory, Well, if
- 10:14Speaker 2: Dave Rennie doesn't believe that Scott Hanson is part of
- 10:16Speaker 2: that trajectory to get through to the World Cup, then
- 10:19Speaker 2: I think ultimately he's got to walk the plank. And
- 10:21Speaker 2: if they've got to pay him out then then so
- 10:23Speaker 2: be it. I think this is a special case here,
- 10:26Speaker 2: and look, you don't want the head coach to have
- 10:28Speaker 2: the ultimate savior needs to be some element of New
- 10:32Speaker 2: Zealand rugby giving sign off and agreeing with who he
- 10:36Speaker 2: puts forward. But also you know he's been thrust and
- 10:39Speaker 2: potentially made to work with someone that may not gel together.
- 10:42Speaker 2: So it's a tricky one. But I've got a sign
- 10:44Speaker 2: with probably Dave Rennie on this one.
- 10:47Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you should be able to work people
- 10:48Speaker 3: he knows and trusts, and I think we saw last
- 10:51Speaker 3: year of the All Black's attack struggle consistently struggle with
- 10:54Speaker 3: Scott Hanson in that role.
- 10:57Speaker 4: So for me, it's a pretty black and white choice.
- 11:00Speaker 3: Yeah, stump up the cash, you pay him out, but
- 11:03Speaker 3: you know it is a business, but also the all
- 11:05Speaker 3: black springing that revenue. So you've got to give Dave
- 11:07Speaker 3: Rennie the beer chance to get that right. There's pros
- 11:11Speaker 3: and cons to every situation. Scott Hansen would be in
- 11:14Speaker 3: New Zealand, so he would be around to go around
- 11:17Speaker 3: the Super Rugby teams and deliver messages and whatnot. But
- 11:20Speaker 3: Mike Blair and Dave Renny are together in Japan, so
- 11:24Speaker 3: while they would be coaching Kobe, I'm sure they'd find
- 11:27Speaker 3: time outside of that to discuss where they'd go with
- 11:29Speaker 3: your Blacks attack. They'd be living and breathing with each
- 11:33Speaker 3: other on a daily weekly basis, so I think that's
- 11:36Speaker 3: certainly the preference.
- 11:38Speaker 2: Indeed, let's move on news. A couple of days ago,
- 11:42Speaker 2: Crusaders quote unquote scrap at training between a couple of
- 11:47Speaker 2: players Will Tucker one of their locks and Proprecersial Psychs
- 11:50Speaker 2: Martin a little bit captured on iPhone camera footage. Has
- 11:57Speaker 2: this been blown up all out of proportion? Liam rob
- 12:00Speaker 2: Penny didn't seem to really give a shit, And I
- 12:04Speaker 2: know there's been a bit of consternation out of the
- 12:06Speaker 2: Crusaders around the way it's been reported, But ultimately this
- 12:10Speaker 2: seems to like a storm and a tea cup. They
- 12:11Speaker 2: show probably more aggression at training on Tuesday, though, than
- 12:15Speaker 2: they showed in the entire eighty minutes on Saturday night
- 12:18Speaker 2: at Eden Park.
- 12:20Speaker 3: That's nothing that Rugby Direct hasn't seen before. There's bricks
- 12:23Speaker 3: of broken limbs, of broken arms.
- 12:26Speaker 2: Yes, that's right. This just comes when you're in a
- 12:28Speaker 2: closed space together.
- 12:31Speaker 4: Oh look, I think yes, you had it coming.
- 12:34Speaker 3: To be fair, it's been brewing for a while, all
- 12:37Speaker 3: that Crusader's rubbish you spout had to get something in.
- 12:41Speaker 2: Yeah. I'm still nursing back from that broken arm, thank
- 12:43Speaker 2: you very much.
- 12:44Speaker 4: Yeah, no, look, I'm all for it.
- 12:47Speaker 3: I think there's nothing wrong with a bit of heat
- 12:49Speaker 3: at training, particularly after a loss. There should be a
- 12:51Speaker 3: bit of tension, but a frustration. If that boils over,
- 12:54Speaker 3: then so be it. Rugby is a contact sport. You
- 12:57Speaker 3: live on the edge sometimes and I don't have a
- 13:01Speaker 3: problem with it at all. I thought Rob Penny actually
- 13:03Speaker 3: spoke to it quite well. We said nothing to see here,
- 13:06Speaker 3: just a couple of men fired up, and they should
- 13:10Speaker 3: be after what happened to Eden Park. So maybe you'll
- 13:14Speaker 3: get a reaction from the Crusaders. This week and maybe
- 13:16Speaker 3: that's a reflection of what's going on in their camp.
- 13:20Speaker 3: And we saw this with the Wartars and pre season,
- 13:23Speaker 3: didn't we And that was a much more serious situation
- 13:27Speaker 3: because there was injuries and I think a fine or
- 13:31Speaker 3: a suspension handed out in the.
- 13:32Speaker 2: End, Yeah there was. Yeah, that was a pretty ugly
- 13:34Speaker 2: one and the end nothing like that down at Ruggy
- 13:37Speaker 2: Park in christ Church. I can assure you quick look
- 13:39Speaker 2: at the team news before we get into the mail bag.
- 13:42Speaker 2: Not a lot to report this week, necessarily, but good
- 13:44Speaker 2: to see Ruben Love on the Hurricanes bench for the
- 13:47Speaker 2: game against the Force in Napier Friday night.
- 13:50Speaker 4: It is indeed.
- 13:51Speaker 3: And look, Callum Hawkins done a great job certainly against
- 13:54Speaker 3: the Waratars last week. He stepped up a nice crossfield
- 13:58Speaker 3: kick and various other moments. But Ruben Loved be good
- 14:04Speaker 3: to see him back at ten because he actually did
- 14:06Speaker 3: have quite a profound influence to the back end of
- 14:09Speaker 3: last year for the Hurricanes at ten. We haven't seen
- 14:11Speaker 3: enough of them at ten or in any capacity really.
- 14:14Speaker 3: He's been put on ice from a test rugby perspective,
- 14:17Speaker 3: so he's a young man who needs game time, needs consistency,
- 14:20Speaker 3: needs to be in the shop window for Dave Renni
- 14:23Speaker 3: and to build some momentum and confidence. So good to
- 14:26Speaker 3: see him back. And I think throughout that Hurricanes team
- 14:30Speaker 3: and some of the other sides that the Chiefs, there's
- 14:34Speaker 3: been a bit of rotation and that you can see
- 14:36Speaker 3: the depth coming through for some teams and not for others.
- 14:40Speaker 2: Indeed, you can, yep looking forward to that match and
- 14:43Speaker 2: seeing Reubin Love trot out over on Friday nights in
- 14:47Speaker 2: Napier Quick break come Back mail Bag after this, you're
- 14:51Speaker 2: back with Rugby Director, powered by a habit Heath Hysio.
- 14:53Speaker 2: Book today and stay in the game. Time now to
- 14:57Speaker 2: check the Rugby Director mail Bag. You can get in
- 14:59Speaker 2: touch with us at Rugby Director and us talk zb
- 15:01Speaker 2: dot co dot NZ. Producer Mark is the overseer of
- 15:06Speaker 2: the mail bag and he's got a come bule of
- 15:09Speaker 2: male messages that he wants to read today and we'll
- 15:13Speaker 2: react to them.
- 15:14Speaker 5: Take it away, Killer, Yes, thank you earlier, hopefully see
- 15:19Speaker 5: you soon. Liam. Just don't at the same one zoom
- 15:22Speaker 5: we miss yet but this one comes all the way
- 15:24Speaker 5: from Australia. Floyd. He says he's enjoying the podcast, particularly
- 15:29Speaker 5: now he gets two episodes a week, and what a
- 15:30Speaker 5: truth that is. He's very happy about the Reny decision,
- 15:34Speaker 5: looking forward to seeing the makeup of his assistants, and
- 15:36Speaker 5: he doesn't really he's got no problem with Mike Blair
- 15:39Speaker 5: being a part of the team. But this one his question,
- 15:41Speaker 5: he said, it may be stupid to ask in the
- 15:44Speaker 5: content on the context of context, but why do we
- 15:47Speaker 5: keep seeing so many injuries, particularly in pregame warmups this
- 15:53Speaker 5: week with a hamstring as a case in point. These
- 15:56Speaker 5: guys sees, These guys are professional athletes. I would have
- 15:58Speaker 5: thought their physical conditioning it would be so easily and
- 16:02Speaker 5: frequently compromised. What is he missing?
- 16:05Speaker 2: It's an interesting one, isn't it. Here? We see a
- 16:07Speaker 2: lot of and sometimes you see teams, certain teams have
- 16:10Speaker 2: a number of sort of tissue damage, soft tissue damage.
- 16:13Speaker 2: In a year, there'll be a number of those sort
- 16:16Speaker 2: of injuries, calf strains, et cetera. And that occasionally points
- 16:19Speaker 2: to being overtrained during the week and you get to
- 16:21Speaker 2: game down you're not quite ready to go. We've seen
- 16:25Speaker 2: teams go through horror runs. Try thing off the top
- 16:28Speaker 2: of my head, but you know, acls and various other
- 16:30Speaker 2: things that are just almost pure dumb luck in a way.
- 16:33Speaker 2: So I don't know what's initially down to it. They'll
- 16:36Speaker 2: probably go back and go maybe because there's everything so
- 16:39Speaker 2: data driven these days, isn't it, Lee, And they could
- 16:41Speaker 2: probably go back and go. Jeez, on Thursday, we probably
- 16:43Speaker 2: maxed them out to one hundred and ten percent when
- 16:45Speaker 2: maybe we could have gone a little bit lighter and
- 16:47Speaker 2: maybe that injury doesn't happen. Sometimes it is down to,
- 16:51Speaker 2: you know, you slip over and you roll an ankle
- 16:53Speaker 2: or you do your hamstring in. But sometimes it is
- 16:56Speaker 2: down to a little bit of overtraining and naps. I'm
- 16:58Speaker 2: sure we know coaches that have overtrained their charges from
- 17:02Speaker 2: time to time.
- 17:04Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 17:04Speaker 3: I think there's a lot more rugby these days increasingly,
- 17:07Speaker 3: so that's part of it. But the more rugby you play,
- 17:10Speaker 3: the more training you have to go through, the more
- 17:12Speaker 3: strain you put on your body. They're probably a bit
- 17:14Speaker 3: more precautionary these days. And then you've got some athletes
- 17:17Speaker 3: that are more prone to injuries than others. Stephen Peterifetter
- 17:20Speaker 3: one example. He was pulled late from the Blues game
- 17:24Speaker 3: last week with that calf injury that kept them out
- 17:27Speaker 3: for most of last year coming back, and we've seen
- 17:30Speaker 3: Nathan Blackheader and the like.
- 17:32Speaker 4: There's some players that are just really prone to it.
- 17:34Speaker 3: But I think we are seeing movement in that area
- 17:37Speaker 3: as well, because I think it was the English Premiership
- 17:40Speaker 3: or somewhere up north are actually looking to put restrictions
- 17:46Speaker 3: on the amount of contact that teams can put players
- 17:49Speaker 3: through any given week, but also during the preseason, allowing
- 17:56Speaker 3: them to have proper breaks and certain conditioning before they
- 18:01Speaker 3: can actually return to contact. So I think that's something
- 18:04Speaker 3: that the NFL and the like you have brought in
- 18:06Speaker 3: in recent years, and I think it's something we're going
- 18:08Speaker 3: to see in rugby increasingly as well.
- 18:10Speaker 2: Indeed, Floyd, thank you very much for your message. Next
- 18:12Speaker 2: one Killer.
- 18:13Speaker 5: Yes, this is from Tim. I found the messaging out
- 18:16Speaker 5: from at Rennie's opening press conference really interesting and he
- 18:20Speaker 5: wanted to throw a question our way in that same
- 18:22Speaker 5: press so he mentioned that players will have to earn
- 18:24Speaker 5: the right to wear the jersey and he will have
- 18:26Speaker 5: no loyalties. Yet he openly raised the idea of bringing
- 18:30Speaker 5: back Brody Rettallic from Japan. Brittallic. Obviously, he was coached
- 18:34Speaker 5: multiple stages of his career by Rennie, coming through before
- 18:37Speaker 5: the All Blacks at the Chiefs now A game in Japan.
- 18:40Speaker 5: Also interesting when you look at the other overlaps. Rennie
- 18:43Speaker 5: currently coaches Artie Severe, who looks to be sort of
- 18:47Speaker 5: the favorite to be the next captain, and his comments
- 18:49Speaker 5: on Scott Barrett were notably lukewarm. Also, Anton Lena Brown
- 18:54Speaker 5: is in that Japanese team, a player who's form had
- 18:56Speaker 5: seen him drifting a bit out of All Blacks contention.
- 19:00Speaker 5: So with the no loyalties lines sounds strong. There are
- 19:03Speaker 5: clearly players he already knows very well. His bigger question
- 19:06Speaker 5: this one, though, is about the criticism we heard from
- 19:08Speaker 5: last year around players not earning the jersey in the
- 19:11Speaker 5: idea of Crusader's bias in selection, we exactly were those
- 19:16Speaker 5: players that people felt hadn't earned their spots in that team.
- 19:19Speaker 2: Liam, you want to take this one first from Tim?
- 19:22Speaker 4: Yeah?
- 19:22Speaker 3: Sure, I think the obvious one that springs to mind
- 19:25Speaker 3: is savy Reese. There's a real feeling that Bill Black
- 19:30Speaker 3: should have moved on from him a lot earlier and
- 19:32Speaker 3: invested in guys like Caleb Toungueytow and others should have
- 19:36Speaker 3: been given a crack sooner, I think. But look as
- 19:40Speaker 3: far as the Crusader's bias goes, I don't know if
- 19:42Speaker 3: I buy into that. You look at guys like David
- 19:45Speaker 3: Hevili and Ethan Blackheader, they were prominent figures and that
- 19:51Speaker 3: Crusaders set up when when Razor was there and he
- 19:53Speaker 3: went away from them, So I think you have to
- 19:55Speaker 3: give him credit for he was very clear in his
- 20:00Speaker 3: mind about distancing himself from those ties to the Crusaders.
- 20:06Speaker 3: When it came to selection, I think you had a
- 20:09Speaker 3: number of Blues players that were had umbradge with their
- 20:13Speaker 3: non selections Dalton, Papa Lee, Riquwani slopping down the ranks
- 20:18Speaker 3: and Hoskins, Attutu and others. So I think that's probably
- 20:23Speaker 3: where a lot a lot of that potential bias or
- 20:26Speaker 3: perception of bias stems from.
- 20:27Speaker 2: Yeah, by the end of it, there were probably more
- 20:29Speaker 2: Chiefs and the All Blacks set up than there were Crusaders.
- 20:33Speaker 2: Every member of the loose Ford tree, I think, apart
- 20:36Speaker 2: from Kayleb Boshier got a goonsig at some point, you know,
- 20:41Speaker 2: Leroy Carter came in and we're not saying that they
- 20:43Speaker 2: went worthy, but there was certainly a lot more, probably
- 20:45Speaker 2: Chiefs in that second year and he went away from Paveli,
- 20:48Speaker 2: especially after he had a strong Super Rugby season the
- 20:50Speaker 2: year prior. I think ultimately for Dave Rennie coming in
- 20:53Speaker 2: with you, you can say that you're not coming in
- 20:56Speaker 2: with any bias, but everyone's got inherent biases, just you know,
- 20:59Speaker 2: whether you're a fan of a certain team or whatever
- 21:01Speaker 2: it might be. He would have watched plenty of take
- 21:04Speaker 2: while he's in Japan, of Super rugby games back home,
- 21:08Speaker 2: and and whether he was consciously doing it or not,
- 21:10Speaker 2: he would have been analyzing it and going how does
- 21:13Speaker 2: this player maybe fit into an international setup or could
- 21:15Speaker 2: they go to higher honors. So I think there's going
- 21:18Speaker 2: to be, you know, some inherent bias there, which is
- 21:20Speaker 2: natural as a human being and being a rugby person.
- 21:23Speaker 2: But you know, I do like the idea of a
- 21:25Speaker 2: clean slate to bring up Brodie Rettelic though, which to
- 21:28Speaker 2: suggest that he has been thinking about this for quite
- 21:31Speaker 2: some time. It was Yes, it was off the cuff remark,
- 21:35Speaker 2: but to me it sounded like he had been thinking
- 21:38Speaker 2: that maybe Brodie Rettelig is ready to return to international
- 21:42Speaker 2: rugby anymore. In the mailbag, mark.
- 21:44Speaker 5: Yeah two more, this one from camp from the Napier
- 21:47Speaker 5: Hastings area. This is more of a fun one.
- 21:50Speaker 2: But I don't know.
- 21:50Speaker 5: If you saw the Hurricanes Warrantars game on Friday, Clark
- 21:54Speaker 5: laidlaw in the coaching box, he is wearing one of
- 21:57Speaker 5: those new retro juzies that the classic sports where have
- 22:00Speaker 5: brought out cam asks? Is this going to be a
- 22:03Speaker 5: bit of a movement now for rugby coaches? And you
- 22:05Speaker 5: might see them sort of a dressed as baseball coaches.
- 22:08Speaker 5: They wear the full kick sort of thing. Could you
- 22:10Speaker 5: see that or would you rather than the polos or
- 22:12Speaker 5: the baser or whatever.
- 22:13Speaker 2: Well, I don't. I don't know how you feel, napes,
- 22:14Speaker 2: but I quite liked the idea of each coach just
- 22:17Speaker 2: having their own vibe. We see it in English football.
- 22:19Speaker 2: You know. Some some coaches wear the full suits it up.
- 22:21Speaker 2: Some are more comfortable in a sort of puffer jacket,
- 22:24Speaker 2: sideline or whatever it might be. Rop Any, I think,
- 22:27Speaker 2: often wears the dress shirt for his games. But you know,
- 22:31Speaker 2: Van Cott is more of a polo man. So's Jamie Joseph.
- 22:36Speaker 2: As long as it's got a bit of team team logo,
- 22:38Speaker 2: team merch on. I don't have a huge deal with it.
- 22:41Speaker 2: I was more against the idea of I'm wearing a
- 22:43Speaker 2: cap indoors. You know I'm old school in that regard.
- 22:46Speaker 2: Hats off inside please. I feel like that was very personal.
- 22:49Speaker 4: Like me.
- 22:51Speaker 2: Directly.
- 22:55Speaker 3: Look, I think the more Canes merch the better, isn't it?
- 22:58Speaker 3: Everyone should be donning it. I've ordered one of those
- 23:00Speaker 3: classic jerseys for Super Round, so wear loud and prouds
- 23:06Speaker 3: display its on the weekend in which the Canes continue
- 23:09Speaker 3: their their magic rides. I think that their message is
- 23:12Speaker 3: from good made of mine. Actually is going pretty well
- 23:15Speaker 3: on the tips this year, so been giving me a
- 23:17Speaker 3: bit of stick. So maybe if if he goes well
- 23:20Speaker 3: on fantasy or win himself some Canes merchant that'll keep
- 23:23Speaker 3: them happy. Is a high on his man at heart,
- 23:25Speaker 3: but we might be able to convert them.
- 23:26Speaker 2: I'll make sure that that has stopped at the border
- 23:29Speaker 2: when you get to christ Church and that is confiscated
- 23:31Speaker 2: off you. Thank you, Liam. Final email from the Malo please,
- 23:35Speaker 2: and this one's on Matt.
- 23:36Speaker 5: We alluded to this a couple of weeks ago on
- 23:37Speaker 5: the podcast when it was a Nick Bewley Elliott Smith.
- 23:40Speaker 5: Is you like to call it crusaders direct, but just
- 23:44Speaker 5: he's happy. Matt is very happy that Liam Napier is back,
- 23:48Speaker 5: but more not just Hurricanes chat. I actually would like
- 23:51Speaker 5: to hear some more chief chat. We got to buy
- 23:53Speaker 5: this week, chiefs man. Yeah, but how are we looking?
- 23:56Speaker 5: We're looking like this is a question from me now,
- 23:59Speaker 5: like are we favorites?
- 24:00Speaker 2: Are you favorites? You lost to the Crusaders, you know,
- 24:02Speaker 2: ten days ago. Oh, but that was an all time game.
- 24:04Speaker 2: If it wasn't for the third quarter there, that game was.
- 24:07Speaker 2: It wasn't for the forty three points you conceded, you
- 24:09Speaker 2: would be right up there.
- 24:10Speaker 5: This season, miss tackles and the bad reefing calls it
- 24:14Speaker 5: throw them out there.
- 24:15Speaker 2: Yeah, I enjoyed. I enjoy getting Matt's email A couple
- 24:17Speaker 2: of weeks back. Crusaders Direct was a It was a
- 24:20Speaker 2: sticking blow, and by popular demand, we have managed to
- 24:23Speaker 2: bring Liam back to the podcast. So there you go, Lim,
- 24:25Speaker 2: we got your message. AKA Matt.
- 24:28Speaker 3: Yes, yes, but my pseudo's been blown out of the water.
- 24:32Speaker 3: It's good to have some balance and look other than
- 24:35Speaker 3: the Canes mark. I think it is the Chief's title
- 24:38Speaker 3: to lose. So you know, don't don't mess it up.
- 24:42Speaker 2: You just od. They don't play in the rain, the
- 24:44Speaker 2: Hurricanes the night playoff game and Canberra or suber coming.
- 24:49Speaker 2: Oh sorry, Lartoka coming right up for the Hurricanes. That'll
- 24:53Speaker 2: just the mail bag this week, but keep them coming
- 24:55Speaker 2: in Rugby direct at Newstalk ZB dot co dot nz
- 24:58Speaker 2: to get in touch with the podcast. We'll read a
- 25:00Speaker 2: few every Thursday on the podcast. Let's get into some
- 25:03Speaker 2: tipping for this week. Lim You're ahead of me by
- 25:06Speaker 2: one point twelve out of twenty, which is di bollicle.
- 25:09Speaker 2: You know, out of twenty games, only twelve correc or
- 25:11Speaker 2: maybe it speaks to the quality of the competition, the
- 25:13Speaker 2: unpredictable nature. I have a leven out of twenty, which
- 25:15Speaker 2: is even worse. You alls did some good tipping for
- 25:18Speaker 2: you while you're away and we exchanged some tips last week.
- 25:22Speaker 2: You did pretty well. You picked up the Blues, were
- 25:23Speaker 2: going to beat the Crusaders, among others Hurricanes Force on
- 25:28Speaker 2: Friday night in Napier. Surely the Force, buoyed by the
- 25:32Speaker 2: news that Zach Lomax is about to join them when
- 25:34Speaker 2: they get back to Australia, they'll be good to tip
- 25:37Speaker 2: up the Hurricanes, weren't they.
- 25:39Speaker 3: Hopefully the Hurricanes do what they did to the Dura
- 25:44Speaker 3: last year and make them have a basically make them
- 25:48Speaker 3: sit outside their hotel and they'll all make them take
- 25:52Speaker 3: the long way from Auckland and all those sorts of
- 25:55Speaker 3: dirty tricks.
- 25:56Speaker 4: But no, I don't think they'll need so.
- 25:57Speaker 3: I think they should roll over the top of the
- 25:59Speaker 3: force and continue that cane train right towards the station.
- 26:03Speaker 2: Elliott, Okay, that's enough. I'll got the Hurricanes as well,
- 26:07Speaker 2: drew a brou on Saturday afternoon in Figi and Bar.
- 26:11Speaker 2: I think, for the first time new ground being used
- 26:14Speaker 2: in Fiji. Interesting one here. I think the Brumbies will
- 26:18Speaker 2: go over and win, but I suspect it might be
- 26:20Speaker 2: quite close.
- 26:22Speaker 3: Yeah, Figi that you're always more competitive at home, but
- 26:24Speaker 3: you beg them Bumbies to get that done.
- 26:26Speaker 2: Yeah. Crusaders Islanders the Southern Classic cut the Cord Classic
- 26:30Speaker 2: on Saturday night, seven o'clock in christ Church. Did the
- 26:34Speaker 2: Crusaders bounce back? Liam? I think they do, but I
- 26:37Speaker 2: think the Honders will give them a real run for
- 26:38Speaker 2: their money after beating them in round one, but I
- 26:41Speaker 2: don't think they'll do it again.
- 26:43Speaker 3: Well, New Zealand's behind the Landers Elliotts, but unfortunately for
- 26:47Speaker 3: the sake of my tipping, I am going to go
- 26:49Speaker 3: your boys to sneak home.
- 26:51Speaker 2: Crusader on Baby Red's wartar is really interesting one. We've
- 26:55Speaker 2: already seen this game already in round one, just the
- 26:57Speaker 2: Crusaders and Holand is in round one this time though
- 27:00Speaker 2: it is in Brisbane nine point thirty five on Saturday night.
- 27:04Speaker 2: Red's with that big one over the Brumbies last week.
- 27:07Speaker 2: The war retars being humiligated by your Hurricanes. I find
- 27:10Speaker 2: this really hard to tip, but I'm going to go
- 27:12Speaker 2: the home team.
- 27:14Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the Wartas bubble might have burst of
- 27:16Speaker 3: it and confidence rocked. Dan mckeller a no doubt fire
- 27:20Speaker 3: a few shots, but Read's back at home to get
- 27:22Speaker 3: the business done.
- 27:23Speaker 2: There and Blues mawana a rear. Sunday afternoon game at
- 27:27Speaker 2: Eden Park three thirty five. The Blues with a couple
- 27:30Speaker 2: of changes here and there, but they are rolling out
- 27:32Speaker 2: Boat and Barrett to start again. More one. I think
- 27:35Speaker 2: have dropped Nanni La Marpe to the bench for this one.
- 27:39Speaker 2: I think the Blues at home should be too good.
- 27:41Speaker 4: They should.
- 27:41Speaker 3: Yeah, good to see the Blues Sunday afternoon, as you mentioned,
- 27:45Speaker 3: but also kids go free, so if you've got some
- 27:49Speaker 3: wheet terras running around and looking for something to do
- 27:52Speaker 3: on Sunday afternoon, I think the weather is meant to
- 27:53Speaker 3: be good. Go along to the Pacifica Festival it's Western
- 27:57Speaker 3: Springs and then duck into Eden Park.
- 27:59Speaker 4: Indeed two three events.
- 28:01Speaker 2: Yeah, not bad at all, not bad at all. You
- 28:03Speaker 2: can catch that game on Goldsport and Nightheart Radio. Incidentally,
- 28:05Speaker 2: if you don't make it, along to the Ground with
- 28:08Speaker 2: Mel Jordan. Also Crusaders, Highlanders and Cane's Force throughout the
- 28:11Speaker 2: weekend on gold Sport and iHeartRadio as well. We can
- 28:14Speaker 2: get in touch with us on the Tip and comp
- 28:16Speaker 2: sorry in the Fantasy as well Rugby Direct podcast as
- 28:19Speaker 2: we can find us, which reminds me I need to
- 28:21Speaker 2: make some changes this week. But that'll do us for
- 28:25Speaker 2: Rugby Direct for this week. We'll be back sometime next week,
- 28:28Speaker 2: probably only for one episode. Next week. I have other
- 28:32Speaker 2: business to attend to this weekend and I'm probably not
- 28:33Speaker 2: going to see too much rugby so I need to
- 28:35Speaker 2: catch up, So probably back with one at some point
- 28:39Speaker 2: next week Liam and look forward to that. And I
- 28:40Speaker 2: have some news on some All Blacks assistants by then too.
- 28:43Speaker 4: Yep.
- 28:43Speaker 3: That should all go down next week, so I have
- 28:45Speaker 3: plenty of the two over at some point.
- 28:46Speaker 2: Look forward to it now thanks to Mark Kelly producing
- 28:49Speaker 2: and monitoring the Mailbag and to have it held Physio.
- 28:51Speaker 2: Book today and stay in the game.
- 28:58Speaker 1: For more from News Talks B Listen live on air
- 29:01Speaker 1: or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
- 29:04Speaker 1: go with our podcast on iHeartRadio.