Justin Marshall: Dave Rennie’s Brodie Retallick suggestion ‘a step backwards’
Former All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick and current head coach Dave Rennie.
Justin Marshall has altered his view on overseas-based All Blacks amid talk that Dave Rennie is trying to get Brodie Retallick back in the national team set-up.
The experienced second-row is currently plying his trade at Kobelco Kobe Steelers in Japan under the recently-appointed New Zealand head coach.
Rennie has watched Retallick’s performances close up and revealed his desire to potentially get the lock back involved with the All Blacks.
A debate over New Zealand Rugby’s overseas laws has therefore been reignited and Marshall has chimed in with his thoughts.
Under Scott Robertson, the former scrum-half was initially in favour of finding some sort of compromise in order to get foreign-based stars involved, but he has changed his mind to a large extent.
If Rennie does manage to get Retallick involved despite being contracted to Kobe, the 52-year-old Marshall wonders where it would stop, with plenty of quality former All Blacks playing abroad.
‘Open a can of worms’
“That’s the can of worms you open up. I don’t want to contradict myself because I did say last year when we were struggling, would we feasibly look at bringing an Aaron Smith back?” he said on The Breakdown.
“You know what he’s going to add to the team, you know that he’s going to be competitive, he’s still playing great rugby, he’s still young enough, bright enough and fresh enough, and we had injuries in that jersey, so why don’t we open that door up?
“However, I now feel that with a reset that we are having with a new coach coming in… that it’s a step backwards.
“If we’re going to create a clean slate, which Dave Rennie looks like he wants to do, then what we want to do is work with what we’ve got.
“Going back to a Brodie Retallick is not a step in the right direction because we’re not getting where we need to get to by bringing a guy back in just for his experience or just because he’s been there and done that.”
Brodie Retallick adds caveat to ‘no consideration’ response to Dave Rennie’s All Blacks return call
Marshall ultimately believes that the inclusion of Retallick will take a spot from one of the next generation, who could be vital for the All Blacks later down the line.
“He has moved on from New Zealand rugby and he moved on for a reason – he’s been there, done that, played a 100 Tests and won a Rugby World Cup,” he said.
“We want players to want to know how to win a Rugby World Cup, but learn that themselves without having somebody take their jersey.
“I don’t think we should be opening that door and I think we’ve got enough stock here to be able to work with what we’ve got in New Zealand without having to go abroad.
“There are so many we could go and grab.”
The next four-year cycle
Rennie has been brought in to put New Zealand in the best position to win the 2027 Rugby World Cup, but Marshall insists that there must also be some long-term thinking from the new boss.
“I think not taking those guys to South Africa will win you a World Cup in ’31. It might not win you the next one but you go there and go on a tour like that – the toughest challenge you will get as an All Black – and you will learn,” he added.
“You take a Sam Darry, a Josh Lord, a Jamie Hannah – those types of locks – instead of Brodie Retallick, who’s been to South Africa a 1,000 times, and you go, ‘you know what, it’s you, it’s your job. You play against (Eben) Etzebeth and co. and learn what rugby’s all about’.
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“Get some ticker in you. You might not win this battle but you will win the war.
“The might be battle-hardened enough to do it by then. I’m not talking about the (Patrick) Tuipulotus and the Scott Barretts, they’re there to win the World Cup in 2027, but Jamie Hannah and Sam Darry, those blokes that go to South Africa, they’re our ’31s.”
