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All Blacks' 'balance for the World Cup' under threat in current environment

Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images.

One thing uniting all rugby fans in the Southern Hemisphere right now is the frustration around their team’s inconsistent performances.

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Ex-All Blacks are no different. John Kirwan and Justin Marshall discussed the cause for these inconsistencies on this week’s episode of The Breakdown, while also touching on how the All Blacks’ response could affect them in the long run.

Kirwan opened the episode with the topic clearly at the forefront of his mind:

“It’s been this incredible journey over the last seven weeks,” Kirwan said. “We’ve seen stuff from the All Blacks that we’ve never seen before, talk of divide between NZR and the players, performances, great, poor, and then last (Saturday) night, probably one out of the bag.

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“It’s the inconsistency of performance right across the board. You see South Africa against Australia the week before, and then last (Saturday) night, they put that performance on, us against Argentina and then that performance last (Saturday) night…”

Kirwin emphasised the difference in winning margins this year compared with previous:

“When you’re three per cent off, you’d lose by three points, three years ago. Now if you’re three per cent off, it’s going to be a bad night”

The disruption of Covid was at the root of much of the discussion.

“One of the biggest challenges, I believe, is your balance for the World Cup, and I do believe everyone lost a year through Covid.”

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The “balance” Kirwan is referring to is having both young, in-form players as well as the experienced veterans.

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Considering that lost year is essentially one quarter of the world cup cycle, it leads to challenges around squad cohesion and depth.

Marshall added that the form of teams like Argentina is making it more difficult for the All Blacks to build that depth:

“The Pumas aren’t helping the situation,” Marshall joked.

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“They’re much more competitive, so they are making it harder for teams to rotate their players because you have to put a top team out against them.”

With less opportunity to blood and develop young players, the race for key roster spots is less competitive and more of a given.

“If you think about the year before a World Cup, you’re trying to consolidate, you’re trying to decide what your starting 15 is, your full 30-man squad,” Kirwan added.

Applying further selection pressure, is the evolution of the game in its physicality.

“The game is incredibly physical, and I don’t know if you can play a game like you played in South Africa and then back it up a week later, so the bigger the squad and the more test experience you have, the better off you’re going to be moving forward.”

The All Blacks’ ability to inject young players without sacrificing results seems a distant memory for a team that now appears determined to play as much of the same 23-man side as possible each week.

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Comments

2 Comments
M
Mihai 1039 days ago

The starting lineup is just a red herring, in my opinion; the ABs can currently put out at least 2 completely distinct starting XVs that would win a one-off game against any (imho) opponent. Players' talent is not the problem; the team management must instead find a way to win 3 very difficult games over a 2 week period. I do believe that there is a way to do it, it all depends on whether the management can overcome their pre-conceptions and also their inclination towards being politically correct. Continuing discussions on what the "perfect team formula" would be are to me a nonsense, the real discussion is what the 3 perfect formulas would be for the 3 critical games.

J
JD Kiwi 1039 days ago

This isn't the usual time of the cycle to be blooding new players. In our current 23 we have plenty who didn't go to the last world cup, which is the important thing. Taukei'aho, De Groot, Lomax, Bower, Newell, Papalii, Tupaea, Havili, Christie, Jordan. Second and third rows are the main absence but Barrett, Frizzel and Ardie are only 28 with Vaa'i, Lord and Grace all promising.

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JW 2 hours ago
Can Les Bleus avoid a Black-wash in New Zealand?

By “not a big deal”, I mostly meant financially for FFR as, contrary to many other Rugby Unions (most as broke as FFR) who are still making nearly all their money with such big events tickets sale, FFR is not. Using the Stade de France* even when it was sold out or near full capacity (something garanteed for an AB game) was only for the operator to turn on profits. Hence they would survive an AB boycott because not as much was at stake compared to other Unions who are still desperately chasing the biggest crowds as possible in order to survive.

I’m not sure what this attitude is supposed to depict. Are you saying that FFR don’t do anything for the game in France? Are the women and age teams all taken care of by the clubs too?


No, no one is going to boycott anybody. It is a matter for WR to sort out with FFR.


Nar, I’m afraid the problem is now that Galthie has come out and admitted they aren’t trying to fulfil their obligation (exclusion of a premium group), you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. If you had of just keep going the way you were you’d be able to continue (not that that was their aim, these are only short term selection policies) resting the half a dozen that look like they need it. WR have just released new player welfare initiatives, and one section looks directly related to this subject. You know how you guys are providing info on why players aren’t available, that would need to be done in detail to WR, and catch all these examples well outside of the welfare excuse.


They might allow the FFR to have their own metrics, but it’s hard to see given they’re making their own.

When you are overstretched and can’t do everything with the means at your disposal, the best way is to rank those tasks and assign your best forces following priorities:

- WC knock out game

- 6 Nations Chelem or decider game

- WC pool game

- (…)

- November International

- July International

Strongly disagree. Either 6N is at the top alone, or its at the bottom of the list. The worst thing you can do for the French game is only concentrate on beating the same 5 opponents every year. If you’re serious about being a good team you need to target those key internationals against the best teams.


I know it’s seem tough in the past, but I believe you can do it (so does HammerHead). Takata, you’ve seemed/been the one to talk the most commonsense on the issue, and I’m afraid I don’t believe you’re honestly believe what you just wrote.

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