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'That's what you want from your No 6': All Black Frizell receives glowing endorsement
By Ben Smith
All Blacks blindside flanker Shannon Frizell starred in the 35-20 win over the Springboks with a resounding performance that has perhaps established himself as the first choice No 6.
The Highlanders flanker was recalled to the starting side last year against the Springboks for the second Test at Ellis Park replacing Akira Ioane from the Blues, and has remained the starting No 6 since.
He has started 2023 with two big performances to reward the selectors for their faith, but even they must have been surprised at how Frizell took apart South Africa early at Mt Smart.
With his first touch he burst up the middle after an electric Will Jordan kick return to put the All Blacks deep inside South Africa's half. With another carry shortly after he tossed aside Kwagga Smith with incredible strength.
His big moment came when he bulldozed Springboks fullback Willie le Roux to send Mt Smart delirious as the All Blacks early onslaught left the visitors shellshocked.
Lock Brodie Retallick praised Frizell's 'impressive' performance revealing he couldn't resist a second look at the replay of Frizell's barnstorming try.
"He was awesome, I popped my head up and had a quick look at the big screen when he ran over Le Roux there in the corner," Retallick said.
"That's what you want from your No 6. It's impressive, he played extremely well I thought."
On whether Frizell reminded him of All Black legend Jerome Kaino, Retallick could see some similarities with the power game that Frizell brought to the table.
"It was a bit like that. It's great to see and it's awesome for him."
The All Blacks trusted Frizell with the tough carries coming out of their 22, with the workhorse flanker taking the job of setting up the exit kicks.
He finished with 13 carries on the night, equal most of any player on the field with Retallick.
The entire All Black back row stood up in the first half with relentless defence and Frizell managed a key ruck turnover defending in the 22 to scupple a South African attacking possession.
Head coach Ian Foster said that the 29-year-old has stepped up to the challenge given to him in order to secure the role of the first choice blindside.
"He's just taken the challenge on board. It's a jersey he wants. I was delighted," Foster said.
"I thought last week was one of his best Tests. The Argentinians, they are a tough team and he was strong.
"Then to do it this week was pretty special. I thought he should be pretty proud."
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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