Latest / Rugby Direct / Rugby Direct Episode 245: Ireland Beaten, South Africa Beckons

Transcript

Rugby Direct Episode 245: Ireland Beaten, South Africa Beckons · 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.
0:23
Speaker 2: Straight down the middle of Trust, try.
0:32
Speaker 1: To get inside the game from every angle. It's Rugby
0:36
Speaker 1: Direct with Elliott Smith and Liam Napier, powered by News
0:40
Speaker 1: Talks EDB.
0:41
Speaker 3: Welcome into Rugby Direct powered by Access Solutions, elevating you
0:44
Speaker 3: and your business to a higher level. The Nation's Championship
0:49
Speaker 3: July window done and dusted. Elliott Smith with me Liam
0:53
Speaker 3: Napier to reflect on the All Blacks campaign and the
0:56
Speaker 3: rest of it. Nate's greetings, Welcome in to Rugby Directors.
1:01
Speaker 3: We settle into a risk week of sorts after a
1:05
Speaker 3: hectic three weeks.
1:07
Speaker 4: That's right book for sauna.
1:10
Speaker 5: We'll do some hot colds and refresh and get ready
1:14
Speaker 5: to go again after what's been very intriguing three weeks,
1:18
Speaker 5: isn't it.
1:18
Speaker 2: It has been?
1:19
Speaker 3: Indeed, let's get into Saturday night the All Blacks forty.
1:22
Speaker 2: Twenty one over Ireland.
1:25
Speaker 3: Your top one reflections on that game, Napes.
1:29
Speaker 4: I think it was a massive step forward, wasn't it, Elliott?
1:31
Speaker 5: Certainly the most complete performance we've seen of the first
1:36
Speaker 5: three outings from Dave Renny's All Blacks big progressions.
1:40
Speaker 4: I think in the balance of their attack. I think
1:43
Speaker 4: their defense improved.
1:45
Speaker 5: They were a lot more direct, they kicked more, and
1:49
Speaker 5: you know, they probably it's been a wee bit harsh potentially,
1:55
Speaker 5: but I felt like they could have put fifty Islands
1:58
Speaker 5: the second half. There was a few chances Island came
2:00
Speaker 5: back a little bit, but they're up twenty eight seven
2:03
Speaker 5: at halftime. By that point the game's done, so Fortress
2:07
Speaker 5: Eden park another fifty third notch, consecutive notch on the
2:12
Speaker 5: belt there, and I think it really did portray the
2:17
Speaker 5: starkly contrasting trajectories of Ireland and the All Blacks as well.
2:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd agree with that look.
2:23
Speaker 3: Heading into it, I didn't feel that Island had what
2:26
Speaker 3: it takes to stick with us All Black side for
2:28
Speaker 3: eighty minutes, and we hadn't seen the full array of
2:31
Speaker 3: what the All Blacks potentially are capable of in the
2:34
Speaker 3: first two weeks. But I just felt that Island was
2:36
Speaker 3: on a trajectory downwards, even though they hadn't had to
2:39
Speaker 3: travel beyond Australia for the first two weeks of the competition,
2:43
Speaker 3: even though they rested a lot of players I just
2:45
Speaker 3: feel that Ireland have hit their ceiling and are on
2:47
Speaker 3: the way backwards. And that's reflected in the fact that
2:50
Speaker 3: they probably peaked in twenty twenty two, a year too
2:53
Speaker 3: early for the Rugby World Cup, went and lost to
2:57
Speaker 3: the All Blacks, of course in the quarterfinals, and have
2:58
Speaker 3: lost to them each year since. And I just felt
3:01
Speaker 3: that the All Blacks no longer fear Island potentially as
3:05
Speaker 3: they might have done after that series twenty twenty two.
3:09
Speaker 3: I think the All Blacks have been on the upwards
3:12
Speaker 3: trajectory over the last couple of weeks. Now that's not
3:15
Speaker 3: to say the All Blacks, you know, were perfect, but
3:18
Speaker 3: I just did feel heading into the game that you know,
3:20
Speaker 3: the All Blacks would win. I think, I said by
3:22
Speaker 3: ten points on Thursday, very good All Blacks performance. When
3:26
Speaker 3: they were on, they were on. They made the most
3:29
Speaker 3: of several opportunities in the first spell. Had they converted
3:33
Speaker 3: the opportunity inside the twenty two at fourteen nil up
3:36
Speaker 3: when Luke Jacobson cleared out the Irish lock sorry Josh
3:41
Speaker 3: Wonderfleer with with James Ryan in the way, it might
3:44
Speaker 3: well have been twenty one nil. Essentially, it was game
3:46
Speaker 3: over at halftime at twenty eight seven either way, but
3:49
Speaker 3: I do tend to agree that they probably could have
3:53
Speaker 3: beaten Island by more. So it was a statement of swords,
3:56
Speaker 3: but perhaps not the full statement from this All Blacks team.
4:00
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's hard to be too picky, isn't it When
4:02
Speaker 5: you put forty points on Island, score six trays to three,
4:05
Speaker 5: and so many elements of your game show vastly more
4:09
Speaker 5: promise and progression, but.
4:11
Speaker 4: You always want more for the All Blacks.
4:12
Speaker 5: So I think you're right they left some points out
4:15
Speaker 5: there and they could have been more ruthless in.
4:18
Speaker 4: The way that they finished them off.
4:20
Speaker 5: Just going back to what you're saying there about Islands
4:23
Speaker 5: and the All Blacks now having won the last four
4:25
Speaker 5: encounters to really reshape the nature of this rivalry. I
4:30
Speaker 5: think if you go back four years ago two Ireland's
4:33
Speaker 5: first series win in New Zealand's they really picked apart
4:37
Speaker 5: the All Blacks their attacking game, their short passing game.
4:42
Speaker 5: Johnny Sexton was the faulkrum then, but the All Blacks
4:46
Speaker 5: didn't have a lot of answers defensively, they were really
4:49
Speaker 5: exposed and I think what we're seeing now is the
4:52
Speaker 5: All Blacks have worked Ireland out to a point they
4:55
Speaker 5: know what's coming, and there's multiple reasons for that. Dave
4:58
Speaker 5: Rennie Spence a couple of years in Glasgow, so he
5:02
Speaker 5: would have had close proximity to Ireland's Jeordie Barrett and
5:07
Speaker 5: Riqulwhani had both been up there for six months since,
5:09
Speaker 5: and a number of US All Black team have faced
5:12
Speaker 5: Island regularly, and so I think they knew it was coming,
5:16
Speaker 5: and that did seem evident in the way they defended.
5:18
Speaker 5: They flooded the passing lanes, They put Sam Prinegast under
5:22
Speaker 5: a lot of pressure. They forced Island into a huge
5:26
Speaker 5: amount of uncharacterized, thick mistakes, seventeen turnovers. Island were throwing
5:31
Speaker 5: passes out, passes were hitting the grounds, They gifted will
5:36
Speaker 5: Jordan a try.
5:38
Speaker 4: There was some really really poor skills.
5:40
Speaker 5: But I think that was also a reflection of the
5:42
Speaker 5: way the All Blacks defended and the pressure that they
5:45
Speaker 5: put on them. And I put that down to their analysis,
5:47
Speaker 5: because it did really feel like for most of that game,
5:51
Speaker 5: or large parts of it, that they had worked out
5:55
Speaker 5: and planned and executed for what Island would bring from
5:58
Speaker 5: an attacking perspective.
6:00
Speaker 3: They did indeed, and you look at some of the
6:02
Speaker 3: stats and Islands were the most lethal in the opening
6:05
Speaker 3: two weeks of the Nation's Championship in terms of their
6:08
Speaker 3: versions once they got into the twenty two. Now they
6:10
Speaker 3: obviously ended with twenty one points in the end, but
6:13
Speaker 3: they had eight entries. The All Blacks had nine. The
6:16
Speaker 3: All Blacks made the most of their entries into the
6:19
Speaker 3: twenty two and Ireland did not, and that reflects the
6:22
Speaker 3: All Blacks defense. Ireland probably broke them apart a little
6:25
Speaker 3: bit too easy for their Jake Conan try in the
6:28
Speaker 3: first spell to get back to fourteen seven and maybe
6:31
Speaker 3: if you're really going to be harsh judges when they
6:34
Speaker 3: scored in the second spell as well. But Ireland were
6:36
Speaker 3: made it to really work for their points and the
6:39
Speaker 3: All Blacks just restricted their opportunities. So I think you
6:43
Speaker 3: look at that and go, that's an All Blacks performance
6:45
Speaker 3: that shows the way they want to play and what
6:49
Speaker 3: we've seen over the last three weeks. If we look
6:50
Speaker 3: at it in totality, Napes is first week probably a
6:54
Speaker 3: little bit too much ball in hand, second week a
6:57
Speaker 3: little clumsy, third week a really good balance I thought
7:00
Speaker 3: between ball in hand, but also kicking. I mean the
7:03
Speaker 3: All Blacks kicked more than Ireland did on the night
7:06
Speaker 3: twenty four to fourteen. They're kicked to pass ratio was
7:09
Speaker 3: a lot tighter than Ireland's was as well. So for
7:12
Speaker 3: all the talk about not wanting to get into kick
7:14
Speaker 3: battles as much, they kicked a lot on Saturday night
7:18
Speaker 3: and they showed that they can play different styles of games.
7:23
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the core of the philosophy is still
7:25
Speaker 5: there to retain the ball to play with with chase
7:28
Speaker 5: and tempo and look for that quick ruck speed. But
7:32
Speaker 5: the message got through, didn't it to vary their game
7:35
Speaker 5: And I think in Wellington against Italy the All Blacks
7:39
Speaker 5: kicked four times in the first half and it was
7:42
Speaker 5: seventeen times at Eden Park.
7:45
Speaker 4: And also not just the.
7:47
Speaker 5: Kicking, but the way in which they went through the
7:48
Speaker 5: middle was did did a job on Island. It sucked
7:52
Speaker 5: in their defense that created space else where. Patrick two
7:57
Speaker 5: Poloto was massive. Wasn't here for fifty odd minutes in
8:00
Speaker 5: his first stint for the All Blacks. This season, I
8:03
Speaker 5: think Ethan de Groot is playing his best rugby for
8:07
Speaker 5: the All Blacks as well. Some of his softer skills
8:09
Speaker 5: have been really impressive. But he's bringing a real physicality
8:12
Speaker 5: both at the scrum and with ball in hands and
8:15
Speaker 5: then to pro vi on the blind side flank. I'm
8:18
Speaker 5: still not totally convinced that he is the guy there,
8:22
Speaker 5: but he was roaming the wide channels using his long
8:26
Speaker 5: limbs and then in the middle of the park as well.
8:29
Speaker 4: So the All Blacks varied their game.
8:30
Speaker 5: It wasn't just looking for width all the time because
8:33
Speaker 5: that becomes predictable, which is what we saw against Italy.
8:36
Speaker 5: So the ability to adapt and evolve and for grease
8:40
Speaker 5: week to week and have a clear plan around that
8:43
Speaker 5: and for everyone to be on the same page, I
8:45
Speaker 5: think that's really heartening.
8:46
Speaker 3: It is indeed, and Lookille Black's just put that pressure
8:49
Speaker 3: on Island as well. We talked a bit about the
8:51
Speaker 3: defense in week one. Well, they seem to have found
8:53
Speaker 3: their defensive system and obviously is going to have to
8:55
Speaker 3: change game to game with South Africa coming up as well.
8:58
Speaker 3: But you mentioned the analyst the analysis have done before
9:03
Speaker 3: Antana Umong his team, Dave Rennie was quick to point
9:05
Speaker 3: that out post game that they have made some strides
9:09
Speaker 3: quickly on defense and to punish Ireland like that and
9:13
Speaker 3: force them into erarors and clutter their mind, a little
9:16
Speaker 3: bit clutter of the space that Iron wanted to play with.
9:19
Speaker 3: I think was a testament to the defensive systems that
9:21
Speaker 3: they've now managed to put in place pretty quickly.
9:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it was a big step up on defence.
9:27
Speaker 5: Luke Jacobson has been a bit of a revelation for
9:32
Speaker 5: the All Blacks and the way he's defending. Remember one
9:34
Speaker 5: occasion him holding up for an Irish attacker and gaining a
9:40
Speaker 5: turnover Quinti Pyre I thought was brilliant. He brought a
9:43
Speaker 5: lot of pressure defensively and a real physicality, So a
9:49
Speaker 5: couple of big ticks there. I think there's still room
9:51
Speaker 5: for improvement on defense. The Elbick's were broken on occasions,
9:56
Speaker 5: but then you look at the other side of the
9:58
Speaker 5: fence as well, and some of the All Blacks tries
10:01
Speaker 5: were really soft. Will Jordan's one was gifted to him
10:04
Speaker 5: Ardie severe storming over from the back of the scrum
10:06
Speaker 5: barely untouched five meters out. That's embarrassing for I'm not
10:12
Speaker 5: sure what the Irish flankers were doing at that point
10:14
Speaker 5: in time. So look, Dave Rennie admitted himself that There's
10:18
Speaker 5: a lot more in this All Black team, but that
10:21
Speaker 5: was certainly a statement performance and I think the other
10:25
Speaker 5: element to it was the impact they got off the bench.
10:29
Speaker 5: Losing Cody Taylor after thirty minutes could be quite a setback,
10:33
Speaker 5: but more was brilliant. Wasn't the ball in hand so destructive?
10:37
Speaker 5: Dave Rennie himself calling him a beast. Xavier new Mere
10:40
Speaker 5: was very good as well, and then Caleb Clark late.
10:43
Speaker 5: I thought he brought a lot of impacts. So that's
10:46
Speaker 5: what we need to see from the All Blacks bench.
10:48
Speaker 5: They're going to need to win some tight, tough test
10:50
Speaker 5: matches soon and they're going to need the impact from
10:54
Speaker 5: the bench. So I thought that the many elements, many
10:58
Speaker 5: selections on that bench, and many of the big calls
11:01
Speaker 5: that Dave Rennie made in terms of Patrick two Polo
11:03
Speaker 5: too and to paid off absolutely.
11:06
Speaker 3: One thing I want to point out was can Royguard's performance,
11:09
Speaker 3: because I don't think he had his best night and
11:11
Speaker 3: Ireland really shut him down. I think they positioned themselves
11:13
Speaker 3: around the ruck really smartly and managed to close off
11:18
Speaker 3: those lanes that we know Royguard likes to attack, and
11:20
Speaker 3: inevitably he's going to get one or two a game,
11:23
Speaker 3: but it felt like he was shut down for a
11:25
Speaker 3: lot of it. His kicking probably wasn't where it usually is.
11:28
Speaker 3: But in spite of that, the All Blacks were still
11:30
Speaker 3: able to get on the front foot. And I think
11:32
Speaker 3: that's encouraging is that, you know, there's been a lot
11:34
Speaker 3: made about how important Royguard is to this team, and
11:36
Speaker 3: there's no doubt that he is very, very important. But
11:39
Speaker 3: even in spite of maybe personally I don't think he
11:42
Speaker 3: had his best night, they were still able to find
11:44
Speaker 3: ways into the game and not having to rely on
11:48
Speaker 3: him playmaking to spark the attack.
11:53
Speaker 4: That's a good point.
11:53
Speaker 5: I think it was probably Regard's worst test, to be honest,
11:57
Speaker 5: distribution wise. I remember a couple our passes very early
12:00
Speaker 5: on Ruben Love almost having to dive for them to
12:03
Speaker 5: catch a couple of errant kicks, and yeah, he really
12:07
Speaker 5: didn't have a great impression on the game at all.
12:10
Speaker 5: So for the All Blacks to still win in that
12:12
Speaker 5: fashion with Regards not playing well speaks to a lot
12:16
Speaker 5: about how much went right. What about Ruben Love three
12:20
Speaker 5: tests into his test career as a first five for me,
12:24
Speaker 5: that was his best performance in July?
12:27
Speaker 4: What did you make of him.
12:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he's growing week to week. I think
12:29
Speaker 3: it's been a smart decision by Dave Ready to give
12:33
Speaker 3: him all three weeks. In the Test Jumper, you know,
12:36
Speaker 3: we saw a little bit about him and christ Church
12:38
Speaker 3: that showed some promise. Wellington was maybe a little bit
12:41
Speaker 3: of a step back, as it was for the entire team,
12:43
Speaker 3: but I think this was another leap forward. And you
12:46
Speaker 3: know that fifty twenty two from the deep pass from
12:50
Speaker 3: Josh Lord when Loves in the pocket and summing up
12:52
Speaker 3: the situation very quickly to get that fifty twenty two
12:55
Speaker 3: which led to a try for the All Blacks, I
12:57
Speaker 3: thought some shows him summing up the situation really really well.
13:02
Speaker 3: I probably would have taken him off the park as
13:04
Speaker 3: soon as he got injured. We haven't heard anything further
13:06
Speaker 3: around that injury. The fact he played on for a
13:09
Speaker 3: little bit is probably positive, but I don't think he'd
13:13
Speaker 3: played the Stormers maybe in a couple of weeks time.
13:16
Speaker 3: That's going to be interesting to see see how they
13:18
Speaker 3: respond to that. And I think it was noticeable. And
13:21
Speaker 3: this isn't maybe going back to neckpicking, but the All
13:23
Speaker 3: Blacks I think lost some of their shape when Love
13:26
Speaker 3: did go off and they moved McKenzie into ten and
13:29
Speaker 3: Jordan back to fullback, that they weren't quite as cohesive,
13:32
Speaker 3: and that does happen when there are more changes to
13:34
Speaker 3: a team, but it just did felt like they didn't
13:37
Speaker 3: quite have the impetus they had when Love was running
13:40
Speaker 3: the cutter at ten no.
13:42
Speaker 5: And that's probably reflective of how well the Love McKenzie
13:45
Speaker 5: partnership is growing as well, having two genuine playmakers. I
13:49
Speaker 5: know it's had mixed results when you go back to
13:52
Speaker 5: Barrett and Mwonga and their dual privot scenario, but I
13:57
Speaker 5: think what we see with Love and McKenzie is an
13:59
Speaker 5: understanding and McKenzie does often come into first receiver which
14:05
Speaker 5: allows Love to swing around the back door and uses
14:07
Speaker 5: his crew activity and his speed, so I agree. I
14:11
Speaker 5: don't think Will Jordan fulfills that playmaker role in the
14:14
Speaker 5: same capacity, so it's probably a nod to how McKenzie
14:18
Speaker 5: and Love are playing together. What about the officiating, We
14:23
Speaker 5: don't have to touch on it too long, but there
14:24
Speaker 5: seems to be a lot of consternation, certainly from Irish
14:27
Speaker 5: fans about nick Berry's performance, and particularly a lot of
14:32
Speaker 5: frustration around Luke Jacobson and the fact that that state
14:35
Speaker 5: a yellow card. It was deemed at the time mitigation.
14:39
Speaker 5: I think because of where James Ryan was laying in
14:43
Speaker 5: the ruck and maybe that affected how Luke Jacobson came
14:46
Speaker 5: into I personally think he was lucky that it wasn't
14:50
Speaker 5: a twenty minute red card. And then there was the
14:52
Speaker 5: other incident involving Reubend Love in the air. He did
14:55
Speaker 5: go off after that, but the Irish fans certainly not
14:59
Speaker 5: happy with nick Berry's officiating performance.
15:01
Speaker 3: No, they're not happy, and they've been joined by South
15:04
Speaker 3: Africans who have always had a quibble with snick Berry.
15:07
Speaker 3: I thought that mitigation on the on the Jacobson look
15:10
Speaker 3: at James Ryan's lying on the wrong side of the ruck.
15:13
Speaker 3: Then he moves his body as Jacobson's coming in. That
15:17
Speaker 3: means he can't the arm is tucked in and he
15:20
Speaker 3: can't fully make the tackle that he wants so the
15:22
Speaker 3: clean out that he wants to so to be honest,
15:25
Speaker 3: I thought yellow card was sufficient in that regard.
15:30
Speaker 2: Love in the ear.
15:31
Speaker 3: Look, it's probably a fifty to fifty call. They're both
15:34
Speaker 3: going for the ball, but he does pull him to
15:36
Speaker 3: the ground. But again look I don't have too much
15:39
Speaker 3: of an issue with that. I actually thought nick Berry
15:42
Speaker 3: was by and large okay without being great on the
15:47
Speaker 3: deliberate knockdowns. You know, to pie flies at the ball,
15:51
Speaker 3: but also ty Burn is not making any hands to
15:54
Speaker 3: even try and catch that, so in theory the ball
15:57
Speaker 3: is about to land on the surface, So I don't
15:59
Speaker 3: know if it's a deliberate knockdown as such. I think
16:01
Speaker 3: it's a fear knock on call or even if even
16:05
Speaker 3: a penalty. But I don't think there's too much much
16:08
Speaker 3: to quibble about there. You know, he had to be
16:12
Speaker 3: overruled essentially by his TMO being white House neck Berry
16:16
Speaker 3: on that front, I don't get this two hands to
16:19
Speaker 3: the ball scenario because if you're going for and the decept,
16:22
Speaker 3: you don't carry your hands like that. So we've totally
16:26
Speaker 3: ruled out the intercept unless you complete it successfully. From
16:29
Speaker 3: the game, wasn't a deliberate knockdown. I think the complaining
16:33
Speaker 3: is over the top. There was one as well in
16:35
Speaker 3: the first half. The All Blacks are up seven to
16:37
Speaker 3: five around the twenty minute mark, and they're about six
16:39
Speaker 3: meters away from the line. McKinsey. I think it was
16:42
Speaker 3: laser backer. It might have been love and there's a
16:44
Speaker 3: hand that goes in from I think Shean knocks it
16:48
Speaker 3: down and it was seen as a knock on only
16:51
Speaker 3: that probably had claims to be a deliberate knockdown as well.
16:53
Speaker 3: So look, I've said a lot about a fish adding
16:56
Speaker 3: in the last few weeks on this podcast, but again,
16:58
Speaker 3: I don't think it was actually that bad from neck
17:01
Speaker 3: Berry on the night, I think I can live with
17:04
Speaker 3: most of those calls, to be honest, what about you?
17:06
Speaker 5: Yeah, look, it didn't think the result. That's the bottom line.
17:10
Speaker 5: The All Blacks were far superior to Islands. Even if
17:13
Speaker 5: Luke Jabison gets twenty minute red cards, the All Blacks
17:16
Speaker 5: still win in my view, and the deliberate knockdown I
17:20
Speaker 5: feel was one of the stupidest rules in the game
17:23
Speaker 5: the way it's officiated. My view of it was that
17:26
Speaker 5: Quinta Pie is making a genuine attempt to catch the ball,
17:29
Speaker 5: and I thought common sense prevailed. So yeah, I think
17:33
Speaker 5: on the whole, Luke Jabison could have could have maybe
17:36
Speaker 5: should have been red carded just because of the contact
17:39
Speaker 5: that was made. So it didn't look good and it
17:42
Speaker 5: also really let Alan off the hook. The All Blacks
17:44
Speaker 5: were hot on attack, peppering Island's line and probably score
17:49
Speaker 5: if that's not called back. So that would change the
17:53
Speaker 5: complexion of the game, but it does not change the result.
17:56
Speaker 3: No, And you don't want to take those moments out
17:58
Speaker 3: of the game. Look, I don't think the pie was
18:00
Speaker 3: actually too far away from making a success or catch.
18:02
Speaker 3: If he reels in them with one hand, then we're
18:04
Speaker 3: talking about a spectacular player who knows how it ends up.
18:07
Speaker 3: But you don't want to take those moments out of
18:09
Speaker 3: the game where you do have a player flying out
18:11
Speaker 3: of the line trying to make a play that could
18:13
Speaker 3: be turn into a try. That's what we watched rugby
18:16
Speaker 3: for is that that high entertainment. And it feels like
18:19
Speaker 3: there are some facets of the game now and fans
18:21
Speaker 3: if you look on Twitter, that are trying to watch
18:23
Speaker 3: everything with the hawkeye and more intent on games being
18:27
Speaker 3: judged correctly than watching it for the entertainment factor. So
18:30
Speaker 3: we kind of need to stamp that out of the game.
18:32
Speaker 3: I think Napes, where do you sit now? There are a
18:35
Speaker 3: few questions coming up in the final four, but as
18:36
Speaker 3: we look ahead to South Africa, what kind of shape
18:40
Speaker 3: of the all Blacks in as they prepare for that
18:42
Speaker 3: eight game, two of four of which are tests. Perhaps
18:45
Speaker 3: compared to where they were end of November last year.
18:49
Speaker 5: Yeah, and a vastly better place, Elliott, if you can.
18:52
Speaker 5: I had grave fears for this team at the back
18:55
Speaker 5: end of last year and I think that's part of
18:58
Speaker 5: the reason that change was made because you Rugby are
19:02
Speaker 5: very nervous about the state of the team internally, the
19:06
Speaker 5: lack of.
19:09
Speaker 4: Progression and improvement week to week. Look Deal Blacks.
19:14
Speaker 5: You can't get away from the fact this is the
19:16
Speaker 5: most daunting assignment of the professional era for the All Blacks.
19:20
Speaker 5: It's the first time they'll go and undertake a tour
19:23
Speaker 5: of South Africa like this for thirty years, and it's
19:27
Speaker 5: going to be brutal. There's no getting away from that.
19:29
Speaker 5: Playing games every four days. South Africa have incredible depth.
19:35
Speaker 4: You know.
19:35
Speaker 5: Russia Rasmus changes his Springbok team every week and puts
19:40
Speaker 5: out a b team still beats Scotland and Wales convincingly.
19:46
Speaker 5: So it's going to be a brutal, brutal assignments to
19:50
Speaker 5: win one test, let alone the series.
19:52
Speaker 4: But I'm Hearten's.
19:55
Speaker 5: I think on the basis of what I've seen from
19:58
Speaker 5: this All Black team, and I also think I'm of
20:01
Speaker 5: the mind now that I think this tour is going
20:04
Speaker 5: to be really good for Deil Blacks. I think Dave
20:07
Speaker 5: Rennie's got the cultural piece rights. Everyone from what I
20:11
Speaker 5: can gather anyway, seems a lot more unified and certainly
20:16
Speaker 5: connected and just clear on the way in which they
20:19
Speaker 5: want to play the game. That doesn't guarantee they're going
20:21
Speaker 5: to go well in South Africa, but I think they're
20:24
Speaker 5: in a much better place. And also just the ability
20:26
Speaker 5: for any team to spend seven weeks on the road,
20:29
Speaker 5: I think they'll get the balance right between rugby and
20:33
Speaker 5: enjoying the country, whether it be a brae or the
20:37
Speaker 5: odd Safari or something like that. Dave any picking up
20:40
Speaker 5: the guitar, I think that will bring them closer together.
20:43
Speaker 5: The ability to take forty four players away on tour
20:45
Speaker 5: to give them genuine game time to build depth. Bill
20:49
Speaker 5: Blacks will no doubt lose some key players to injuries,
20:53
Speaker 5: but I think this tour will only improve this All
20:57
Speaker 5: Black team.
20:58
Speaker 3: I agree, Yeah, I think they're in a much better
21:00
Speaker 3: shape than they were back end of last year.
21:04
Speaker 2: You can just see it around the team. But also
21:06
Speaker 2: the way they're playing.
21:07
Speaker 3: On the part, there is a shape to their attacking patterns,
21:11
Speaker 3: there is a shape to the defense, and yeah, I
21:14
Speaker 3: think I go with a little bit of optimism. There
21:16
Speaker 3: is a very very daunting tour. But I think heartening,
21:18
Speaker 3: as you said, there is that the right word. If
21:20
Speaker 3: these are the kind of games that Dave Rennie can make.
21:23
Speaker 3: Having had ten days before the first test with the
21:25
Speaker 3: team to where they are now, you know, less than
21:29
Speaker 3: a month later, then I think there are some more
21:33
Speaker 3: strides that this team can make. Whether it'll come as
21:35
Speaker 3: quickly as they can in South Africa, whether it's down
21:38
Speaker 3: the track, but I feel there is a lot of
21:40
Speaker 3: growth in this team and I'm you know, optimism has
21:42
Speaker 3: been the buzzword of July for this All Blacks team,
21:45
Speaker 3: and you know, I'm beginning to feel it on the
21:47
Speaker 3: basis of what we've seen over the last three weeks. Nates,
21:51
Speaker 3: before we take a quick break on rkby direct anything
21:53
Speaker 3: else that stood out from the weekend. You know, big
21:57
Speaker 3: win for the Australians against Italy, we had England beat
22:02
Speaker 3: Argentina and some controversial circumstances. What were the other standout
22:06
Speaker 3: moments from the weekend? For you.
22:09
Speaker 4: It was a wild game, wasn't it. Was it seven
22:10
Speaker 4: yellow cats?
22:11
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, and Argentinian players coming pretty close to making
22:20
Speaker 5: physical altercation with the referee near the end of the game,
22:25
Speaker 5: the Storm storming out of his press conference postmatch because
22:29
Speaker 5: he wasn't happy that Englan playing their music too loud.
22:32
Speaker 5: So there's no love lost between those two teams. So
22:34
Speaker 5: that that was a wild old game. I think the
22:36
Speaker 5: spring Box starting a rookie ten and you know, changing
22:42
Speaker 5: their team massively, still being Wales forty three NL. So yeah,
22:46
Speaker 5: some big results and Joe Schmitts ten. You're finishing on
22:51
Speaker 5: a positive note because that's no no mean feat to
22:55
Speaker 5: put a score like that on on Italy. So yeah,
23:00
Speaker 5: it's been I've enjoyed the Nation's Championship. I like the format.
23:06
Speaker 5: You know, it's not great for the carbon footprint, it's necessarily,
23:08
Speaker 5: but I do like that. It's been refreshing, hasn't it
23:11
Speaker 5: to see teams play different teams every week.
23:15
Speaker 4: I think it's been a welcome site.
23:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, it has been. It's been. It's been good.
23:20
Speaker 3: I think there's been you know, the tours that they
23:24
Speaker 3: had previously weren't quite tours. We saw that well with
23:27
Speaker 3: last year with France not sending their best players. I
23:31
Speaker 3: think now the three weeks different opponents every time has added,
23:35
Speaker 3: you know, a lot more context to the competition. You're
23:38
Speaker 3: you're looking at to see what the opponents did last
23:40
Speaker 3: week as you head into the next week. So I
23:42
Speaker 3: think by and large it's been been a step forward
23:44
Speaker 3: for rugby as we pause the Nation's Championship ahead of
23:48
Speaker 3: the November window, and indeed we'll take a quick pause
23:50
Speaker 3: here on Rugby Direct back with more after this time.
23:53
Speaker 3: Now for our final four napes for rugby topics. First one,
23:58
Speaker 3: rate the All Blacks July window out of ten from me. Now,
24:01
Speaker 3: traditionally you're a very tough markut, so I'm very intrigued
24:04
Speaker 3: to see how you go here.
24:06
Speaker 4: This is Jerry Elliott, get the black marker.
24:09
Speaker 5: No, I'm going to go a seven, solid seven on
24:11
Speaker 5: the basis of what we saw on Saturday. Would have
24:15
Speaker 5: been a lot lower had they not raised the bar.
24:18
Speaker 5: But it was look I think from an attack point
24:22
Speaker 5: of view alone, from where they were last year to
24:25
Speaker 5: where they are now a world's apart, isn't it in
24:28
Speaker 5: terms of everyone being on the same page and the
24:32
Speaker 5: team actually creating things rather than relying on individuals to spark.
24:38
Speaker 5: We've seen improvements I think under the high ball as well,
24:41
Speaker 5: which was one massive achilles and I think we've seen
24:45
Speaker 5: individuals progress in a big way.
24:47
Speaker 4: So a solid seven for me, Earliott Younge.
24:50
Speaker 3: You'm always a softer market than you are, so I'm
24:53
Speaker 3: going seven and a half. Big strides forwards. You can
24:56
Speaker 3: see the way the All Blacks want to play now,
24:58
Speaker 3: which wasn't evident towards the back end of last year
25:02
Speaker 3: when they were clunky and you said relying on individual brilliance.
25:06
Speaker 3: I think there's more growth to come in this team,
25:08
Speaker 3: but I think there's been some big markers both on
25:11
Speaker 3: a selection basis but also a game plan basis that
25:15
Speaker 3: weren't there last year. So to go back to that,
25:17
Speaker 3: will we years before the break optimism? Yeah, I think
25:20
Speaker 3: there's a lot to like as we hit into the
25:22
Speaker 3: next part, topic number two. Well, the thirty four players
25:25
Speaker 3: who were in the July Nations Championship squad all hit
25:28
Speaker 3: South Africa and if so, who are the other ten
25:32
Speaker 3: that will join the squads? Two part question their napes?
25:37
Speaker 5: I think they will, Eliert, we didn't see everyone O No,
25:41
Speaker 5: Kyle Preston, Simon Parker, Boden Barrett didn't see any game time,
25:44
Speaker 5: so maybe those would be the guys in question, unless
25:48
Speaker 5: there's any major injuries, which doesn't sound like there are.
25:52
Speaker 5: It sounds like Artist Severe will have a late start,
25:55
Speaker 5: maybe sit out the first few weeks and join the
25:59
Speaker 5: All Blacks after because he's played eighteen months to rugby,
26:01
Speaker 5: will have a rest. But Cody Taylor and Reuben Love
26:04
Speaker 5: don't sound like they're too serious, so I don't see
26:07
Speaker 5: any one else else dropping out, and then yeah, you're
26:10
Speaker 5: adding another ten players. I think I'm not too sure
26:14
Speaker 5: about leicsterfying A Nooko's status, but if he's available, you'd
26:16
Speaker 5: think he would come in. Fabian Holland will be there,
26:19
Speaker 5: probably Riquijuane. I think you'd need another hooker and half back,
26:23
Speaker 5: so you're probably looking at a Noah Hotham and maybe
26:26
Speaker 5: a George Bell and then you'll need another prop, so
26:32
Speaker 5: whether it's an Olie Norris or I think the Hurricanes
26:37
Speaker 5: tight head prop Lowarchy, I think he could be in
26:39
Speaker 5: the mix as a bit of a bolter for a
26:40
Speaker 5: tight head, and then maybe other guys like Tavi Tavanaua
26:45
Speaker 5: so I don't think there'll be too many bolters. Maybe
26:49
Speaker 5: a Lucas Casey gets to look him. I know he
26:51
Speaker 5: was part of the pre Super Rugby finalists camp the
26:55
Speaker 5: All Blacks heads and there are a couple of other
26:57
Speaker 5: other crusaders, of course because they didn't made the final,
27:00
Speaker 5: Elliott just in case you didn't remember, So I think.
27:06
Speaker 4: I'd think those guys would be in the max. What
27:08
Speaker 4: of it you see any bolts from the blue Well?
27:10
Speaker 3: I saw an interesting piece from our colleague Paul Cully
27:13
Speaker 3: on the post over the weekend calling for Samessi to
27:16
Speaker 3: Porte Law to be selected. He's signed with Southland, I believe,
27:21
Speaker 3: once again for the NPC, and I'm not sure where
27:25
Speaker 3: his Super Rugby feature is that might need to be
27:27
Speaker 3: tidied up before that happens. He's been a player of
27:30
Speaker 3: immense promise at Mowana Pacifica for the last couple of years,
27:34
Speaker 3: no longer of course attached to them, so the question
27:38
Speaker 3: mark he shouldn't theory be fully eligible for the All Blacks,
27:41
Speaker 3: which he wouldn't have been had Mowana still been alive
27:45
Speaker 3: and he was contracted to them. So I think he's
27:48
Speaker 3: an intriguing option. I'm just not sure whether he falls
27:50
Speaker 3: into the big fish small pond sort of size of
27:53
Speaker 3: Mowana Pacifica, how he would go at a different New
27:57
Speaker 3: Zealand franchise. I've got that question mark, but I've always
28:00
Speaker 3: been impressed by him. But I kind of agree on
28:02
Speaker 3: most of your selections, and I'm not sure there's a
28:04
Speaker 3: room for an out and out bolter ten players though
28:08
Speaker 3: I think Renni mentioned maybe a seven to three sort
28:11
Speaker 3: of split, or maybe a six to four in terms
28:13
Speaker 3: of forwards v back, so similar players to you. You've
28:16
Speaker 3: probably got a Norris, Maybe you take an extra proper
28:19
Speaker 3: a dire Ta Vita Muffalo, Maybe offer Tonga Farsi just
28:22
Speaker 3: for a bit of midweek leadership. George Boll, Fabian Hond,
28:27
Speaker 3: Jamie Hannah probably in the mix. Does double Skrifi get
28:30
Speaker 3: a nod A Tory in Varnes maybe or a tay
28:33
Speaker 3: Law and then Hotham Ricco Yuwani would suspect you'd expect
28:38
Speaker 3: will be one of those ten players, and yere I
28:42
Speaker 3: think Luke lessifying Onnooki is probably out given that the
28:46
Speaker 3: length of time, But if he's making a fast recovery,
28:49
Speaker 3: absolutely he goes. But maybe an Isaac Hutchison or a
28:52
Speaker 3: shay Fie Harky potentially for some some extracover in the backs.
28:56
Speaker 3: I don't know, but I tend to agree that these
28:59
Speaker 3: are probably going to players that have been in and
29:01
Speaker 3: around the All Blacks environment previously.
29:04
Speaker 5: Yeah, Jamie Hannah is a good shout, but well Fabian
29:07
Speaker 5: Holham coming back, I'm not sure if you need two
29:10
Speaker 5: more locks. So look, it's gonna be a great opportunity
29:13
Speaker 5: to build depth, isn't it. Dave Reni's already talked about
29:16
Speaker 5: how much planning in preparation they've put into this tour.
29:19
Speaker 5: They've picked the first four games, which I think at
29:23
Speaker 5: the top of we had a three against the domestic
29:26
Speaker 5: franchises in the first test, so clearly mapping everything out.
29:30
Speaker 5: It's for twenty three man squads, so they seem well
29:36
Speaker 5: prepared and it's gonna be a great opportunity to build
29:40
Speaker 5: genuine camaraderie. You think about a standard Northern Tour, there's
29:46
Speaker 5: plenty of players who might play one test, might get
29:50
Speaker 5: ten minutes off the bench. Well, you're gonna have to
29:53
Speaker 5: rotate heavily in South Africa and so all these guys
29:56
Speaker 5: are going to get game time and I think that
29:57
Speaker 5: will give you real squad buying.
29:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so so and Mike Bleia, it was
30:02
Speaker 3: interesting hearing from him yesterday morning, the day after the
30:05
Speaker 3: All Blacks game, he fronted media and he was on
30:07
Speaker 3: the two th a nine British and Irish lions to
30:10
Speaker 3: it and said, you know, that was quite useful because basically,
30:14
Speaker 3: just going from game to game, you have a lot
30:16
Speaker 3: of time to think about it. You're playing a lot
30:18
Speaker 3: of rugby and you really get close and you really
30:21
Speaker 3: get a lot of camaraderie. As you said, so, I
30:24
Speaker 3: think this is going to be good for the All
30:25
Speaker 3: Black spending that much time away on a proper to it.
30:30
Speaker 3: I'm going to be fascinated to see how it unfolds
30:32
Speaker 3: on that topic. Three, Are there any spots and say
30:35
Speaker 3: the run on side that are still up for grabs
30:37
Speaker 3: as we heard the South Africa.
30:40
Speaker 4: Yes, I think there are.
30:41
Speaker 5: I think blindside continues to be the perennial question to provide.
30:46
Speaker 5: Probably staked his claim at the weekends, but I think
30:51
Speaker 5: that still remains contestable. I think the left wing Josh
30:54
Speaker 5: Morby did well with the Weekends and he's clearly impressed
30:59
Speaker 5: and his two tests so far with his anticipation. He
31:02
Speaker 5: was good under the high ball, but I think that's
31:05
Speaker 5: still relatively contestable, and I think one locking spot is
31:12
Speaker 5: up for grabs as well. I think that the front
31:15
Speaker 5: row potentially tight head between Fletch Neil and Tyrol Lomax,
31:20
Speaker 5: who's quite injury prone, isn't he.
31:22
Speaker 4: And I think the hookers, well, Cody Taylor will start.
31:25
Speaker 5: I think Suffer Armour is pushing really hard for more
31:30
Speaker 5: game time there. And the composition of the bench, I
31:33
Speaker 5: think Delbaks are still working out quite where to go
31:37
Speaker 5: with that.
31:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'd agree, and look, I'm is playing some great rugby,
31:41
Speaker 3: but I think you keep him on the bench. I
31:44
Speaker 3: think he is the perfect player to play those kind
31:48
Speaker 3: of minutes. And whether it is you know, maybe there
31:50
Speaker 3: is a bit of innovation that can come in here,
31:54
Speaker 3: and maybe it is Cody Taylor plays the first third
31:56
Speaker 3: and then you get more coming on ten minutes before
31:58
Speaker 3: halftime as players from the opposition, and you know, looking
32:01
Speaker 3: forward sucking the big ones, looking forward to that halftime break,
32:03
Speaker 3: you get oh moreer going there. I think there are
32:05
Speaker 3: ways you can be smart about playing. That's what we
32:07
Speaker 3: saw on the weekend and how dangerous. He could come
32:10
Speaker 3: on before half time, will be it through Taylor injury.
32:13
Speaker 3: So I like the way that he comes off the
32:16
Speaker 3: bench and adds that sort of impact. I think to
32:19
Speaker 3: Pie as you're starting thirteen, I've still got a couple
32:21
Speaker 3: of defensive questions over him, but I think he's the
32:24
Speaker 3: guy to start in those big tests against South Africa
32:28
Speaker 3: to provide that'll probably mix and match, but I suspect
32:31
Speaker 3: he'll start in the blind side for those test matches there,
32:35
Speaker 3: in which case, you know, it's kind of interesting to
32:37
Speaker 3: see the way they go for the second road, whether
32:39
Speaker 3: it is a toy plot who starting scenario, because if
32:42
Speaker 3: you have Vay starting, then maybe you don't need to
32:45
Speaker 3: pilot too on the bench where he's become accustomed to
32:48
Speaker 3: for a couple of seasons. Out really done quite well
32:51
Speaker 3: off the all blacks bench there. So there's some fascinating
32:54
Speaker 3: threads to follow. The other one being as well Mapes
32:57
Speaker 3: that I asked Steve Renny and the media conference last
33:00
Speaker 3: week around the bench scenario, and he suggested that maybe
33:03
Speaker 3: we'll look at a six to two bench for one
33:05
Speaker 3: of those tour games at the very least, which will
33:07
Speaker 3: be interesting to see how how they map that out,
33:11
Speaker 3: won't it They will?
33:13
Speaker 5: Yeah, look they'll It'll be interesting because they'll want to
33:17
Speaker 5: try things, but they also want to keep some things
33:21
Speaker 5: up their sleeves. So there'd be a bit of foxing
33:24
Speaker 5: in those tour games because you're not going to want
33:25
Speaker 5: to reveal your your set piece struck moves, but you're
33:29
Speaker 5: going to be wanting to trial certain combinations and different.
33:34
Speaker 4: Elements of your games.
33:35
Speaker 5: So it's going to be a tricky juggling act in
33:38
Speaker 5: that regard as well.
33:39
Speaker 2: Certainly is right.
33:40
Speaker 3: Topic number four slight diversion of sorts on the Final four.
33:45
Speaker 3: Joe Schmitt's Wallaby's tenure comes to and end after the
33:48
Speaker 3: nation's championship Le's kiss, tacking over for the next block
33:52
Speaker 3: of tests that the Wallabies have. How would you judge
33:55
Speaker 3: his tenure? Let's say out of ten and would you
33:57
Speaker 3: consider it a success?
34:00
Speaker 4: Yeah? Out of ten.
34:01
Speaker 5: It's tough, isn't it, because it was a real turbulent
34:04
Speaker 5: ride and results alone you would say not great. But
34:08
Speaker 5: you've got to consider where the Wallaby started. So look,
34:11
Speaker 5: i'll give them six and a half. Maybe you go
34:15
Speaker 5: back to that line. They could have easily won the
34:17
Speaker 5: home British and Irish line series and they do that,
34:20
Speaker 5: that completely changes the complexion of your tenure. Look, I
34:24
Speaker 5: think Joe, there's no doubt joshmat improved the Wallabies and
34:28
Speaker 5: their set piece has come a long way. I think
34:32
Speaker 5: certain combinations that they have a clear plan about the
34:36
Speaker 5: way they want to go about things. But Australian rugga
34:39
Speaker 5: just really lacks depth and that's such a handbrake, whether.
34:42
Speaker 4: That be at first five or in the front row.
34:46
Speaker 5: They've got some handy outside backs, but their depth is
34:50
Speaker 5: a real problem and that's something you're not going to
34:53
Speaker 5: fix overnight. But he started at such a low ebb
34:56
Speaker 5: Joe Schmidt, and he really did rebuild the Wallaby's confidence.
35:02
Speaker 5: They just couldn't maintain it for long enough. Like the
35:03
Speaker 5: British and Irish lines was their peak, and then they
35:07
Speaker 5: faded badly at the back end that year. They probably
35:11
Speaker 5: should have been an island in their first match in July.
35:14
Speaker 5: If they do that, then they start to the Nation's
35:17
Speaker 5: Championship looks very different. They faded badly against France and
35:21
Speaker 5: then finished well against Italy. So look, it's a tough
35:24
Speaker 5: gig for Lesis Kiss taking over and I will be
35:28
Speaker 5: surprised if he achieves a great deal more than what
35:32
Speaker 5: Joe did.
35:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would probably market a six out of ten.
35:38
Speaker 3: There were some peaks, There were some troughs, as there
35:40
Speaker 3: are with every rugby coach, bar the all time greats.
35:43
Speaker 3: But you know, you think back and there was that
35:46
Speaker 3: fantastic when it took it him end of twenty twenty four,
35:49
Speaker 3: which was an incredible moment, that last minute try where
35:53
Speaker 3: they won the game in incredible fashion. But there were
35:57
Speaker 3: some really black moments as well. Sorry, another good moment
36:00
Speaker 3: as you mentioned, you know that Lions series. They probably
36:02
Speaker 3: should have won the series. As you said, they go
36:04
Speaker 3: to Alice Park atting into sixty odd year losing record
36:07
Speaker 3: the year. But there were some bleak moments as well.
36:10
Speaker 3: They had almost seventy put on them in Argentina and
36:14
Speaker 3: twenty twenty four there were some muddled selections, didn't really
36:18
Speaker 3: get close to winning the bledders Low Cup. Had a
36:21
Speaker 3: close run against the All Blacks last year and a
36:25
Speaker 3: close game the year before at Stadium Australia, but that
36:27
Speaker 3: was probably the All Blacks bundling. It are dropping their
36:30
Speaker 3: bundle more than anything. Last year's end of Tour Interview
36:33
Speaker 3: two was really messy or well beaten by Irelands, well
36:36
Speaker 3: beaten by England. So I think it'll be remembered for
36:40
Speaker 3: some muddled selections by and large. And ye, look he
36:44
Speaker 3: did improve things because they were at such a low
36:47
Speaker 3: yeb after that twenty three World Cup and what Eddie
36:50
Speaker 3: Jones did. But I just don't think that the Wallaby's
36:55
Speaker 3: depth suited him given what he'd come from from Ireland
36:58
Speaker 3: not too far previously, and that all black stint as well.
37:02
Speaker 3: I think he was not found out necessarily, but I
37:05
Speaker 3: think a little bit just it was harder for him
37:09
Speaker 3: to work to what he knew when he didn't have
37:11
Speaker 3: the depth of some of those countries. So yeah, probably
37:14
Speaker 3: a six out of ten, but I can't see Lescus
37:17
Speaker 3: improving things. That's quickly. That'll about do us for Rugby Direct.
37:22
Speaker 3: Did want to just mention though, before we do wrap up,
37:24
Speaker 3: there's a text sorry tweeked last week that we didn't
37:28
Speaker 3: get to. I meant to get it to us on Thursday,
37:31
Speaker 3: but I didn't get to it. This is from Dan
37:33
Speaker 3: Barr on Twitter. Lad Jah Potter is the best balance
37:36
Speaker 3: of technical analysis and neutral opinion out the year. What
37:38
Speaker 3: do you reckon? Better balance? Loose trio of six Parkers
37:41
Speaker 3: seven eight. Larkey switched via six later on bring on Signa.
37:47
Speaker 3: What are your thoughts on that we didn't see Parker
37:49
Speaker 3: at all in these last three weeks.
37:53
Speaker 5: No, personally, I wasn't completely sold on some Parker. I
37:56
Speaker 5: think he's a big body. He he's good defensively. He
38:02
Speaker 5: had moments in Super Rugby, but I don't think he
38:05
Speaker 5: played as well as he did the year before. I
38:08
Speaker 5: think he doesn't offer as much with ball in hand.
38:12
Speaker 5: He's good at the line out, but I don't think
38:15
Speaker 5: he's a real compelling prospect to fulfill that Jersey long term.
38:20
Speaker 5: That's just my personal opinion to pou Via, I think
38:24
Speaker 5: look at work well on Saturday nights, but I think
38:30
Speaker 5: there's still that's still very contestable. And for me, Tupo
38:35
Speaker 5: has played his best rugby for the All Blacks from Locke.
38:38
Speaker 4: He brings a different dynamic.
38:39
Speaker 5: He compliments I think Ardie Severe and Luke Jacobson in
38:44
Speaker 5: some capacities. But I think you also sacrifice a bit
38:47
Speaker 5: of speed off the scrum defensively and to the breakdown
38:50
Speaker 5: where that's not his strength. So there's no no perfect
38:56
Speaker 5: solution here, but between Parker and Via I would go via.
39:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, I in you speak convinced that Parker as well.
39:04
Speaker 3: I think he brings the size the All Black swamp,
39:06
Speaker 3: but I'm not sure he's the kind of player necessarily
39:10
Speaker 3: that does for things they want on a rugby field,
39:13
Speaker 3: and that maybe speaks to the fact that we didn't
39:15
Speaker 3: see him in July. We will certainly see him against
39:18
Speaker 3: the Stormers, I would suspect, but I think he needs
39:23
Speaker 3: to take some step forwards around his ball playing abilities
39:27
Speaker 3: if he's going to be a regular starting six for
39:29
Speaker 3: the All Blacks. So I think the jury's out on him.
39:32
Speaker 3: Would like to see a bit more. Maybe he should
39:33
Speaker 3: have played against certainly potentially had a role there just
39:36
Speaker 3: to get him some rugby. But maybe he gets back
39:40
Speaker 3: a week for the NPC, potentially before the All Blacks
39:43
Speaker 3: fly out. Actually I think they might fly it before
39:44
Speaker 3: that first week in the NPC, But regardless, he will
39:47
Speaker 3: get some game time on this tour and a chance
39:49
Speaker 3: to impress the All Blacks coaches. How about does us
39:51
Speaker 3: for Rugby Direct? We will be back on Thursday with
39:54
Speaker 3: a special episode. We've got cams to a four Blues.
39:58
Speaker 3: Ford's former MULDI All Black former All Blacks fifteen player
40:02
Speaker 3: joining us on the podcast. We recorded this last week.
40:05
Speaker 3: Cams to a fower, incredible human going through incredibly tough
40:10
Speaker 3: battle at the moment, as you would know, with terminal
40:13
Speaker 3: cancer sarcoma. We recorded this last week Lovely Blow Kim
40:17
Speaker 3: and his wife Britt came in recorded this podcast with him.
40:21
Speaker 3: It's a pretty special episode, isn't it, Napes and looking
40:24
Speaker 3: forward to releasing that episode a bit later on this week.
40:28
Speaker 4: Yeah.
40:28
Speaker 5: Look, it's a bloody tough conversation to have somebody struggling
40:33
Speaker 5: through terminal cancer, but quite inspiring as well. I think
40:36
Speaker 5: the way Cam's facing it, his positivity and optimism and
40:41
Speaker 5: the way in which he's still going about helping people. Yeah,
40:45
Speaker 5: very very inspiring guy. So look forward to sharing that
40:49
Speaker 5: chat with it everyone. And just a quick shout out Elliott's.
40:53
Speaker 5: The weekend, the Fox and Seniors and Reserves both won
40:59
Speaker 5: the Hot of Final Company Championships. So title town in
41:04
Speaker 5: Wellington and Fox and So life doesn't get much better.
41:07
Speaker 3: Okay, that's good, very good congratulations, A lot of success
41:13
Speaker 3: for that part of the world.
41:13
Speaker 2: At the moment.
41:16
Speaker 3: Just need to bring it back to Red and Black Country.
41:19
Speaker 3: A set if you can have one year and then
41:21
Speaker 3: we'll just reset things next year and Scott Hansen, we
41:23
Speaker 3: trust that'll about do us for Rugby Direct, as I
41:27
Speaker 3: said back on Thursday with a special app and we'll be.
41:29
Speaker 2: Back next part of the week after that.
41:31
Speaker 3: All Black Sport Fall South Africa is named thanks to
41:34
Speaker 3: Mark Kelly for producing and to Access Solutions for elevating
41:38
Speaker 3: you and your business to a higher living.
41:43
Speaker 1: For more from News Talk st B, listen live on
41:46
Speaker 1: air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
41:49
Speaker 1: you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio