Ardie Savea gets ‘obvious’ new role as All Blacks coach teases at more changes for Argentina Tests
All Blacks' new captain Ardie Savea and forwards coach Jason Ryan.
Ardie Savea will lead the All Blacks during their Tests against Argentina in a side that could well be changing things up heading into the Rugby Championship.
The number eight unsurprisingly has been handed the captaincy in the absence of Scott Barrett, who had surgery on a finger injury sustained in the clash against Fiji.
Barrett was named the New Zealand skipper by Scott Robertson before their games against England, but the head coach has had to find a deputy three matches into his tenure.
Barrett chosen over Savea
Savea was in the running to be selected as the original captain but the lock was instead handed the responsibility, in part due to his and Robertson’s Crusaders connection.
It was therefore not a hard call for the All Blacks hierarchy to choose the second-row’s replacement, with forwards guru Jason Ryan saying: “He’s in our leadership group and he’s an obvious choice. He’s a leader.”
Savea now gets the honour of being the skipper after supporting Barrett as vice-captain for the encounters against England and Fiji.
Robertson’s decision to snub the number eight for the main leadership role caused some controversy, but it was not something that particularly irked the back-row as he put his full backing behind the Crusaders lock.
“I think all the noise was outside noise, it was everyone here [the media],” Savea said in June.
“It’s always a privilege being an All Black. [I’m] always beside Scooter. We’re going to do our best to make sure this team grows and gets better every week, every day.
“I’ll lead in my own areas. It’s a massive congrats to Scooter, he’s the man. Me and Jordie will be right beside him in anything we can do to make this team better, and win games.
“For me, I’ll lead wherever the team needs me to lead. I just can’t wait to get stuck into it and try to win this series.”
Robertson and his coaching staff have now had three matches together as they seek to find the right formula over this four-year cycle.
New Zealand earned a tense 2-0 series victory over England before they comfortably overcame the Fijians in San Diego.
Changes to training and personnel?
Ryan was asked whether they might change things up in terms of their training after some mixed displays in their July Tests and he responded: “Possibly, we might.
“You’ve always got to be evolving your game from week to week, so we’re always trying to tweak things.
“We had a good look, a good preview on them (Argentina) today, but also concentrating on what we really need to be a lot better at.”
While there could be a switch in their preparation, Ryan also hinted that they may make some changes among their personnel.
The All Blacks went for consistency against England before experimenting in the Fiji clash, handing six rookies their first caps.
Argentina are not expected to be their biggest challenge of the upcoming Rugby Championship, especially with both matches at home, so Ryan was asked about what their approach would be to selection.
“A little bit of both,” he said with a smile. “We’ve got some good lads that built some good combinations in our loosies, and our locks – that’s a competitive space and so is the front-row.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in anyone really. We’ve got a squad of 36 this time round for the Rugby Championship, so that will improve our intensity in training. That makes our selection meetings a little tastier.”
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