Is Victory All We Can Expect from the All Blacks?
If the All Blacks did not win the 2018 Rugby Championship, it would have been the biggest surprise in the Rugby world since the 2015 Championship, when the tournament crowned the Aussies.
Being number one is tough. In fact, it is not enough to just hit the field in an all-black jersey to ensure that the All Blacks will win. Steve Hansen does not like to take risks, and as always, he focusses on certainties rather than risks.
Problems Arising in the All Blacks Squad
Some issues fundamentally overwhelm the present and future of the New Zealand head coach and his staff. The first and second are strong issues in two specific areas of the field: the closed-side flanker and the combination of the centers, as well as discipline and composure problems.
Squire’s position was contested in the 2018 Rugby Championship by two emerging players the 24-year-old Shannon Frizell and Jackson Hemopo, players yet to be discovered at the test match level. With Squire now out on the injury list, a solid replacement will most likely be Frizell. It is clear that the first backup anywhere in the back row is Ardie Savea, who can disengage in various positions. Although Squire is a top-level player, he didn’t seem to have completely won the love of Hansen and management. Since 2016 he has played 17 of the 28 games for the All Blacks, starting in only 11 of them.
The other problem is represented by the pair of centers. One day when the curse of Sonny Bill Williams’ injuries will be over, and he is ready to take the field, he will bring relief for the squad. But now, he is a talent that the technical staff is not too prepared to be without and with good reason too. Sonny Bill Williams allows Ryan Crotty, the defensive brain and the glue of the Kiwi back line, to move to the center. But now Williams is absent due to the frequency of his injuries over the past months. Crotty will need to be in the role that is most affable, that of number 12, leaving the number 13 jersey in the hands of Jack Goodhue. Jack is a great young talent that is building solidity through the level of test matches that await him.
These are the many tiny cracks in the selections of Steve Hansen. Who in turn, will have to deal with the squad’s management, which has been a rather constant problem with this generation of All Blacks. A mental aspect that is not always up to the fame of the team. We saw it in the 2015 Rugby Championship, which was dominated by the substantial absence of real competition. However, this then ended with a defeat against Australia in the third test of the Bledisloe Cup.
The All Blacks always put their heavy artillery on the field against Australia and, after so much talking over the years, they’ve put to rest the facts of every residual resistance of their rivals. The 2018 Rugby Championship has given the opportunity to Steve Hansen to begin inserting new pieces into the squad, such as the much appreciated, Richie Mo’unga – A solution to the All Black’s discipline and composure problems.
The All Blacks Squad in the 2018 Rugby Championship
The squad is as follows: Dane Coles, Nathan Harris, Codie Taylor, Owen Franks, Joe Moody, Tim Perry, Karl Tu’inukuafe, Ofa Tuungafasi, Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Samuel Whitelock, Sam Cane, Shannon Frizell, Jackson Hemopo, Kieran Read (c), Ardie Savea, Liam Squire, Luke Whitelock, TJ Perenara, Aaron Smith, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie, Richie Mo’unga, Ryan Crotty, Jack Goodhue, Anton Lienert-Brown, Sonny Bill Williams, Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane , Nehe Milner-Skudder, Waisake Naholo and Ben Smith.