All Blacks team winners and losers as Scott Robertson starts ‘superstar’ in his ‘best position’ while ‘luckless’ star misses Springboks Test
Our winners and losers from Scott Robertson's All Blacks team selection to face the Springboks.
Scott Robertson has named his All Blacks team for the clash against the Springboks in Cape Town, here are our winners and losers.
Robertson has been forced into making two changes to his starting XV but has made two further tactical switches as he looks to keep New Zealand’s hope of winning the Rugby Championship alive.
The All Blacks must defeat the Springboks in Cape Town if they have any hope of winning the tournament after falling to two defeats in their opening three games.
With this in mind, the All Blacks boss has seemingly looked to strengthen his team, particularly in the final quarter of matches where they have yet to score a point in the first three rounds.
Ahead of the crunch clash at Cape Town Stadium, New Zealand’s first visit to the stadium, we pick out our winners and losers from Robertson’s selection.
Winners
Damian McKenzie
The All Blacks were always going to struggle to replace Richie Mo’unga following his departure to Japan but Damian McKenzie has taken the responsibility head-on and clearly has the backing of Robertson and his staff.
McKenzie has started every single one of New Zealand’s Test matches this year and even after indifferent performances, the coaching team has stuck by their man and rightly so giving him time in the saddle to get comfortable in more traffic at international level having started his career at fullback.
The exciting talent has been sharp off the tee but has had issues with game management and tactical kicking. However, he seems to be improving in both those facets of the game.
McKenzie has kicked more than any other player in the Rugby Championship (39) but crucially the All Blacks have retained possession from six of those kicks – a joint tournament high. This means that he is not just aimlessly kicking the ball away but giving his teammates the opportunity to reclaim possession once he has punted it. He has also provided 10 line-break assists for his team, no other player has more than three.
Cortez Ratima
After cameos off the bench so far this tournament, Cortez Ratima earns just his second Test start and faces his biggest Test to date as he fronts up against New Zealand’s greatest rivals. The live-wire scrum-half has been backed over the more experienced Finlay Christie this tournament and now gets his chance to shine in Cape Town.
With TJ Perenara hanging up his Test boots, this is a huge opportunity for Ratima before Cam Roigard’s return from injury as he makes a claim for regular involvements with the squad. A raw talent with the potential to be a superstar on the Test scene, this could be the match that kickstarts a glittering career.
Bench boost
As mentioned above, the All Blacks have been poor in the final quarter of Test matches in the Rugby Championship – an unusual trait for the men in black as this was traditionally a real strength of theirs.
However, Robertson has made positive changes to rectify this issue after Jason Ryan revealed that they had frank conversations about their failures in this department.
While many called for the All Blacks boss to fight fire with fire and select a 6-2 split in favour of the forwards on the bench, he has resisted that urge but has powered up his bench to tackle the Springboks’ famed ‘Bomb Squad’.
All three backs named on the bench boast over 70 caps on the bench with Perenara (85 Tests), Lienert-Brown (76) and Barrett (129) being vastly experienced players who have been there and won just about everything.
Sam Darry is very green at Test level but he has impressed in his first four internationals while Luke Jacobson adds an abrasive loose forward option covering all three positions. The front-row will be the telling part of the bench as Asafo Aumua has had his struggles while Ofa Tu’ungafasi has made positive impacts but spent ten minutes in the sin bin last week.
Wallace Sititi
The Chiefs bruiser was a controversial selection in the All Blacks squad earlier this year and while he hasn’t made a blockbuster entry into Test rugby, he has all the raw talents to be a real threat at the highest level.
The son of former Samoan powerhouse, Semo Sititi, Wallace is of a similar template with his hulking carries and hammering tackles on defence. He is afforded a stunning opportunity against the Springboks to stake a claim that he deserves more involvement going forward. Ethan Blackadder’s injury has swung the door right open for the back-rower, now it is up to him to make the most of it with a barnstorming performance.
Scott Robertson
Despite the injury setbacks, the All Blacks boss is still able to name a mighty team that is more than capable of knocking over the Springboks particularly if they can replicate the opening 65-minute performance at Ellis Park.
The performance last week earned brownie points with All Blacks’ fans and pundits as even in defeat, there was a notable step up in intensity. He has also not rested on his laurels with several brave and bold decisions.
Will Jordan
The selection that the All Blacks fans have been calling for as Robertson has finally pulled the trigger and selected Will Jordan at fullback.
There is no doubting Jordan’s class but many feel that his talents are somewhat limited on the wing and even he admitted last month that he is most comfortable in the number 15 jumper. Now, he gets his shot to impress and lock down the starting role going forward with a strong outing against the Springboks.
Robertson’s charges are a different kind of threat with Jordan at fullback and he will be hellbent on adding to his insane record of 31 tries in 32 internationals.
Luke Jacobson
A timely return for the abrasive back-rower as he comes onto the bench in the place of Samipeni Finau and adds real grunt and work-rate with Blackadder sidelined.
Luke Jacobson is a no-nonsense loose forward who simply gets stuck into the nitty-gritty and adds a much-needed lineout option.
He certainly improves the quality of the bench, particularly with his ability to play all three back-row positions.
Rieko Ioane
There continues to be doubts about Rieko Ioane’s ability in the centres with his distribution being the main concern. However, Robertson has backed his man once again despite the promising performances from the bench of Anton Lienert-Brown.
Ioane has the pace and power that just cannot be ignored by the opposition defence and that fact hasn’t been overlooked by the selectors.
Losers
Ethan Blackadder
When it comes to injuries, Ethan Blackadder has no luck. The 29-year-old was an injury call-up to the World Cup squad last year and despite missing a large chunk of this year’s Super Rugby campaign through injury, he was named in Robertson’s squad.
However, he looked to be finally getting over those injury concerns and was a real standout performer and arguably the All Blacks most consistent performer in the Rugby Championship before another injury struck. He misses the second Test against the Springboks with a hamstring concern and hopefully, for him, this is a short-term setback.
Caleb Clarke
Another untimely injury setback as Caleb Clarke looked to be cementing his place in the starting XV after scoring three tries across his last two appearances in the black jersey.
The 25-year-old misses the Cape Town Test match with a back injury and is replaced in the team by Mark Tele’a. Is a real shame as Clarke was beginning to look far more of a complete player having vastly improved his aerial and defensive capabilities. The All Blacks never seem short on options out wide, making it a hotly-contested position and Clarke will hope he can make a rapid return.
Samipeni Finau
As the All Blacks’ staff look for a greater impact from the bench, Samipeni Finau is sacrificed as he drops out of the 23 to accommodate Jacobson’s return.
The hard-hitting forward is still very early in his Test career and perhaps the experience and versatility of Jacobson was the telling difference.
Still, Finau has plenty to offer the All Blacks going forward.
Beauden Barrett
After sterling performances against England and at the start of the Rugby Championship, Beauden Barrett had uncharacteristic errors at Ellis Park which has seemingly cost him a starting role. It’s clear that Robertson wants a greater impact from the bench and Barrett historically has been one of the best in the business in providing that but still, he would have loved to tackle the Springboks from the first whistle to the last.
Anton Lienert-Brown
Standout cameos off the bench has not been enough for Anton Lienert-Brown to force the selectors’ hands as he takes up a role off the bench again. Like Barrett, he will be crucial in providing the spark that the All Blacks have missed in the Rugby Championship in the final knockings of the Test match.
Non-playing squad members
Obviously, only 23 players can be selected per Test match and for ten members of the All Blacks squads, they were unable to secure one of those spots against the Springboks and leave South Africa without playing any minutes.
It’s the tough reality of representing New Zealand that there are so many quality players and unfortunately for Pasilio Tosi, George Bell, George Bower, Josh Lord, Dalton Papali’i, Noah Hotham, Billy Proctor, David Havili, Ruben Love and Harry Plummer, leave the Republic with zero minutes under their belts.
The likes of Lord, Hotham, Bell, Lord and Proctor are early in their international careers and will still take a lot away from the tour itself as will the uncapped duo of Love and Plummer.
READ MORE: New Zealand Rugby boss stands firm on selection policy for overseas-based All Blacks
