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Don't be fearful of life without Whitelock, Retallick or Smith

Sam Whitelock is congratulated by Aaron Smith of the All Blacks during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between New Zealand and Italy at Parc Olympique on September 29, 2023 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

I’m going to assume Scott Roberston was caught on the hop.

It happens to players and coaches all the time, despite the increasing efforts of media minders to make sure questions are preempted.

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All the same, there are times in an interview situation, when someone will be asked something they weren’t expecting.

Because if Robertson, when doing a television appearance this week, really thought lock and halfback were areas of weakness or concern for the All Blacks team he is inheriting, then I have concerns for what games he’s been watching and how well he knows the player pool.

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Perhaps he was, if a little clumsily, trying to emphasise how important players such as Aaron Smith, Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock have been over the years.

Maybe, in a cack-handed kind of way, he just wanted to emphasise the trio’s place in history.

But, honestly, I’m actually quite enthused about who’s about to assume those positions.

I don’t want to put the mocker on him, but Cam Roigard has the potential to be the absolute star of the Super Rugby Pacific season.

Beyond him, players such Folau Fakatava, Cortez Ratima and Finlay Christie are all capable footballers. I’ve learnt not to write TJ Perenara off either.

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There’s an argument to be made that Roigard was the most under-utilised All Black at last year’s Rugby World Cup and, if ever a player appeared poised for stardom, it would be him.

We’ll wait and see.

Just as we’ll wait to see what Josh Lord’s true ability as a test lock is and Tupou Vaai’i, for that matter.

I think the Chiefs have Super Rugby Pacific champions written all over them, in no small part because of having those two blokes in the second row.

Patrick Tuipulotu still has some good test rugby ahead of him, Scott Barrett will be one of the first names on the All Blacks’ team sheet and I’ve always had a soft spot for Quinten Strange.

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Then there’s Mitchell Dunshea.

I suspect these are the kinds of selection conversations we’ll indulge in throughout Super Rugby Pacific, given the competition itself might struggle to win hearts and minds.

On a weekly basis, we’ll fall in and out of love with players and opine about who’s deserving of All Blacks consideration.

We are at the start of a new world cup cycle and regeneration will be a theme of the next few years. Mainstays of the Steve Hansen and Ian Foster eras are gradually stepping away and we will begin to get a team that’s largely created in Robertson’s image.

I do have reservations about the depth of some of our Super Rugby Pacific squads, but not in our ability to still find enough capable blokes to fill All Blacks jumpers.

Whatever the failings of provincial and franchise football, the schools system continues to produce enough athletes for our coaches to hopefully turn into rugby players.

We’ll remember men such as Retallick, Whitelock and Smith fondly, but we shouldn’t be fearful of life without them.

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Comments

9 Comments
J
JH 469 days ago

Halfback probably has more young promise there than it has for years. Ratima, Roe, Roigard, Hotham, and Fakatava. Lock is quite a bit thinner, but Fabian Holland has huge potential, as does Josh Lord if he can bulk up and stay uninjured for more than 5 minutes.


Only ‘fearful’ aspects for me are the overrated Leon MacDonald and Jason Holland being way out of their depth, and the spent force of Beauden Barrett still finding his way into the team.

R
Rugby 466 days ago

has TJ still some experience to offer?

D
DM 470 days ago

Fear? I'm looking forward to the potential of the next couple of years.

L
Locke 470 days ago

Razor makes a perfectly good point and claims about potentially great All Blacks coming through is wishful and shaky speculation. For every great AB there’s many nearly-men who never quite make the cut. Quite frankly most of those mentioned aren’t even in the potential greats category, they’ve largely shown they’re capable but limited Super\Test players. That’s probably harsh on Strange who’s been endlessly cruelled by injury and Vaai’i who’s still young, but Tuipulotu after many chances, has all but confirmed that he can’t step up to Test rugby.

B
Bob Marler 470 days ago

I thought world Cup cycles weren’t a thing?

S
SK 470 days ago

NZ always manages to find great athletes and have never been short of talent at 9, 4 or 5. Fully expect them to plug those gaps but what you cant plug is the almost 400 caps you lost with those 3 players. That is utterly irreplaceable

P
Pecos 470 days ago

Wtf! We’re not fearful.

k
karin 470 days ago

WE FEAR NOTHING . KIA KAHA

J
JK 468 days ago

afraid of bending at the waist when you tackle…what, too soon?

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S
SK 2 hours ago
Broken hand or not, Richie Mo'unga is still New Zealand's best 10

Probably the best 10 in the world right now and his talents are confined to League one in Japan. What a shame. Would be a pleasure to see him play week in and week out for bigger teams especially the All Blacks. The fact that he is committed to League one for another year along with Frizzell is a clear indication of how happy these 2 are in Japan and is something for the AB’s to consider seriously. These players play fewer games per year than most players, have more time off and they are highly respected by the Japanese in the set up. The salaries are also great so its easy to see why so many SA, Aus and NZ players now call League One home. The AB’s have now for too long discarded players before their sell by date. This is especially true for players over 30 and players who leave the set up. This history of discarding players means that anyone that goes on Sabbatical or leaves now is seen as expendable and will have to come back and fight for their place. I was shocked when comments emerged from NZ that Jordie Barrett needs to come back and prove himself again especially as there are performers in Super Rugby stepping up. He has nothing to prove to anyone as he proves time and time again that he is world class whether in a Leinster Jersey or Hurricanes one. Also no new Super Rugby newbie will be able to replace the experience Barrett has at the international level so any talk of that is folly. Its the same with Richie Mo'unga and Frizell. You can understand why the AB’s keep the eligibility rules in place but lets be honest, the days of thinking that there is a ready made replacement ready to step up are gone so the pundits in NZ need to stop acting like many of their best are easily replaced. The gap between Super Rugby and international rugby has grown. Its time the AB’s face up to that reality or face up to the new reality of more sub par 70% win rate years.

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