Ex-All Black: New Zealand’s Dutchman helping team-mate to play ‘the best I’ve seen’ with insane work rate eclipsing ‘Brodie Retallick average’
All Blacks lock Fabian Holland and former hooker James Parsons.
Ex-All Blacks hooker James Parsons has raved about Fabian Holland’s start to Test rugby and has claimed that he is elevating the performances of those around him.
The 22-year-old, who was born and raised in the Netherlands, made his Test debut in New Zealand’s first clash in July against France and retained his starting place for the next two matches.
Holland’s game has seemingly translated perfectly to the highest level and he has drawn comparisons with All Blacks legend Brodie Retallick.
Following Scott Barrett’s injury, he has formed an excellent partnership with Patrick Tuipulotu, who has been a real physical presence in the engine room.
‘Dominating some of the biggest athletes’
Parsons started off by praising the experienced lock, saying on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod: “It’s the best I’ve seen him (Tuipulotu) play at Test match level, he has just dominated every collision in both attack and defence.
“Even when there’s a wall there, he is just bursting through the other side. A big reason [for the wins] in Wellington and at the weekend was Paddy in terms of that front foot ball and gain line carry.
“Even if he’s on a short run-up, he has an ability to dominate some of the biggest athletes in the game.”
The former Blues and All Blacks front-rower then moved onto the work of Holland, as well as fellow Test rookie Du’Plessis Kirifi.
Parsons highlighted their remarkable work ethic, which is backed up by the statistics.
“Both Holland and Kirifi had 52 rucks each on the weekend. High 30s is a really good shift. If you’ve got double-digit carries, double-digit tackles with high 30 rucks, that’s an outstanding game – that’s your Brodie Retallick average,” he said.
“Fabian had 52 rucks, 44 of them were on attack and 41 of them he was either first or second arriving player. That’s a critical stat because if you’re third and fourth, you’re probably not needed, or the first two have been ineffective and you are needed.
“The first test is, are you making up the numbers? Are you a stat hunter or are you actually effective? He’s being effective.
“Then on defence, out of eight rucks that he entered, seven of them he was first or second as well. I don’t know what their defensive ruck rule is but you’re normally going to send one hunter, maybe two.
“Where you potentially become third or fourth [arriving player] on defence is when there’s a counter-ruck.
“For Du’Plessis, out of 39 in attack, 32 was first or second and on defence, 10 out of 13.”
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All Blacks balance
Parsons duly believes that Holland’s influence in the team has allowed his locking partner to thrive and contribute even more to the All Blacks cause.
“The reason I bring those numbers up is Holland is allowing Paddy to be at his best because he’s cleaning a hell of a lot of rucks, so that’s the team working together,” he added.
“It’s no different for Kirifi with Samipeni Finau having 15 carries. Out of his (Finau) 15 carries, 80 per cent of them over the gain line – that’s high – and 90 per cent of them lightning quick ball.
“I think they can really leave this series with a lot of confidence going into the Rugby Championship because of performances like that – working to individual strengths for the team.”