‘We are confident’: All Blacks coach Ian Foster explains Blackadder selection
The All Blacks revealed their replacement for injured wing Emoni Narawa on Saturday, with backrower Ethan Blackadder expected to arrive in France early next week.
Coach Ian Foster told reporters this week that he’d been “excited” about Narawa’s steady return to full fitness after missing almost the entire Rugby Championship campaign with a back injury.
But Narawa was struck down by a cruel injury blow during a training session in Lyon on Monday, with scans confirming a disc issue that ended the wingers tournament.
Blackadder, 28, hasn’t worn the black jersey since 2021, but a majority of All Blacks fans appear thrilled with the decision to call up the Tasman Mako flanker.
With captain Sam Cane missing Friday night’s World Cup opener with a back injury, coach Ian Foster explained that Blackadder has “come in to reinforce the loose forward stock.”
“We’ve called Ethan in, he should be here Monday afternoon. That is a replacement for Emoni,” Foster said on Saturday.
“I guess with Sam Cane and his back popping out the last couple of days, Ethan’s come in to reinforce the loose forward stock.”
New Zealand is in the midst of an injury crisis, and the tournament has only just begun. The likes of Jordie Barrett, Tyrel Lomax and Shannon Frizell missed the opener through injury.
Skipper Cane was publicly ruled out just before the Test after picking up a back injury during the captain’s run. Foster said the skipper had sustained the blow while lifting a teammate at training.
“We are erring on the side of coverage with the six, seven types area, particularly with Sam’s back,” Foster added.
“Even though we are confident that is not long term, having Ethan in just gives us a little bit of extra protection in that space.
"We are just doing our medical stuff now but (Sam Cane) is certainly better than what he was yesterday which is great, and he was better yesterday than he was on Friday. So like I said, I don't anticipate this being a long-term thing.
“Whether he'll be right for Namibia I couldn't tell you at the moment, but the medics don't seem overly concerned by it at the moment."
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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