Kieran Read questions Dave Rennie’s back-row selection as fellow All Blacks legend left ‘really surprised’ by lack of ‘firepower’
All Blacks back-row stars Wallace Sititi (inset) and Ardie Savea.
All Blacks legend Kieran Read is worried that there are not enough “grafters” to supplement the brilliance of their star loose forwards.
Dave Rennie has plenty of talented back-rowers at his disposal, led by new captain and 2023 World Rugby Player of the Year Ardie Savea.
All Blacks talent in the back-row
Read also namechecked Wallace Sititi and Peter Lakai as players that have the power, athleticism and skills to produce special moments with ball in hand, but they need the workhorses to complement them.
Appearing on the GBRANZ podcast, fellow New Zealand great Justin Marshall started off the discussion by claiming that they are “light in the loosies”.
Marshall added: “I’m really surprised. The only thing I can think of is with the minimal amount of loosies that they’ve named is they’re looking at, when he’s fit, Leicester Fainga’anuku playing in that jersey as a hybrid between there and centre.
“Otherwise, I’m not convinced we’ve got the firepower in that loose forward mix.”
Rennie has also picked Luke Jacobson, Simon Parker and Anton Segner, who may well do the nuts and bolts at close quarters, but former number eight Read believes that the head coach could have missed a trick by leaving out the Crusaders’ Ethan Blackadder.
“I look at that too and you go, Wallace Sititi, Ardie Savea and I think probably Lakai as well are ball carriers, so where’s our grafters? Where are the guys that are going to play full-on consistently and tackle everyone?” he said.
“Simon Parker stands out, Anton Segner is in that similar vein but untested at that top level. I think Ethan Blackadder’s a little bit hard done by. If you want someone who is going to put their body on the line, [it’s him].
“Maybe he will go to South Africa because of the bigger squad. Maybe it’s just about him getting some more time under his belt and the coaches are looking for that.
“[He’s] someone that can actually go to work and allow Ardie to do Ardie things, which we haven’t seen for six months since he’s been in Japan.”
Getting the best out of Savea
Read insists that it is important Rennie gets the back-row balance right, otherwise it will not get the best out of Savea.
“That mix is crucial because Ardie at skipper, we want him to be playing at his highest level and you need to make sure we’ve got people around him,” he added.
“It’s going to be interesting who they play behind Ardie. Ardie’s maybe the seven and Segner’s possibly the next seven in that squad, although I would say he’s more inclined to be a six.”
