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‘They’re desperate’: Why the All Blacks can take ‘risks’ in Bledisloe II
By AAP
Insisting there's plenty on the line in Saturday's Bledisloe Cup dead rubber, Sam Cane says the All Blacks believe they'll face a "desperate" Wallabies side in Dunedin.
The All Blacks can continue their perfect preparation for the World Cup against Australia, with three wins on the trot this season.
Those victories have bagged New Zealand the Rugby Championship for a third straight year and kept the Bledisloe in Kiwi hands for an incredible 21 straight editions.
It also means Ian Foster has a Test to play with selection, and he's done so, making 12 changes.
While some have interpreted it as disrespectful to Australia, All Blacks legend John Kirwan said it was a natural benefit of putting the Bledisloe to bed.
"Success has to give you some carrots and this is one of them," he told AAP.
"The beauty of winning all those trophies is now you can take a few more risks."
Kirwan said he believed the All Blacks would be far from a second XV.
"It's not a B-Team. The locking partnership has over 200 Tests. Ardie (Savea) is out there as will Damian McKenzie, who I believe will be our first five moving forward," he said.
"Shaun Stephenson has been outstanding form in Super Rugby. He's getting his chance. Anton Lienert-Brown is really, really solid, and so is (Braydon) Ennor."
Kirwan called Foster's selection as "courageous" and All Blacks captain Cane agreed, calling it "bold", scoffing at the suggestion there was little to play for.
"For one, we've got three guys ... making their debut. And a lot of guys have an opportunity," Cane said.
"We know that where we're at right now is not what's going to be good enough later in the year.
"So every time that we get a chance to take the field as a team, it's a chance to take a step forward and get better and then ultimately get to where you want to get to."
Cane, who missed the 38-7 MCG win through injury, said the All Blacks were most pleased by their defensive effort in Melbourne, holding the Wallabies to just one try.
He said he expected an improved Australian showing on Saturday afternoon.
"They're desperate, and we know that," he said.
"At this level, every team, generally, the more time you spend together, you're able to make small improvements each week in training and so they'll be better again."
Kirwan said Saturday was a "free hit" for both sides.
"I thought the Wallabies were really, really good for 20 minutes in the first half. I thought they were naive in the second half," he said.
"Sometimes you want to play a style of rugby that you're not quite ready for.
"But Eddie has got to stick with some of the young guys he's got there and just build a rugby team."
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Who got the benefits out of Schmidt, Lowe, Aki, and Gibson Park?
Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
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