France

By Scott MacLean

The Test series against the French has concluded, and with it a 3-0 sweep the people expected given the squad France sent out. But it was far from the procession of 50-pointers some thought it would be, leaving Scott Robertson and co plenty to ponder before The Rugby Championship especially given you-know-who in the Republic would have been making copious notes:

 

The depth of talent is France is amazing

Despite being without their top talent (a discussion for another day) the French were more than competitive which would have been a surprise to many. But with 14 professional outfits playing half the year together, an extremely competitive second-tier, and the IP of imported players at various stages of their career, is it?

 

Up front is not a concern

We might not appreciate it, but our propping stocks are in a good place right now, especially at tighthead with Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, and Pasilio Tosi with the latter probably best-suited to coming off the bench at this point of his career. The one concern is there’s a bit of ‘sameness’ about Codie Taylor and Samisoni Taukei’aho, so hopefully Asafo Aumua is back soon to give a more dynamic option.

 

We need Scott Barrett

I’ve routinely pilloried the middle of the five Barrett boys, who despite his claims of being a deep thinker comes off as a bit thick. But the skipper (another discussion for another day) provides that massive bit of solidity that’s needed in the pack and his absence in the last two matches was obvious. Fabian Holland looks more than ready for a long stint in black, which is bad news for Patrick Tuipolotu; a loyal servant of NZ rugby who just happened to be at his very best when there were two unworldly talents named Retallick and Whitelock around.

 

The Tupou Va’ai experiment is worth persisting

The surprise move of the series was to put the erstwhile lock on the blindside to provide another lineout option. The value of that was shown last night when the All Blacks’ options were somewhat limited at that set piece, and he’s got the athleticism to pull it off; somewhat reminiscent of Vaea Fifita’s stint in black.

But it does make the loose forward mix tricky. Ardie Savea is a compulsory pick at 7 or 8, so who becomes the third player and who comes off the pine? A fit Wallace Sititi? Duplessis Kirifi? Christian Lio-Willie?  And what for the future prospects of Ethan Blackadder and Dalton Papali’i?

 

Roigard, then daylight

By not playing in the Third Test, Cam Roigard firmly asserted himself as the number-one number-nine in the country, and being a little bigger than Noah Hotham and Cortez Ratima is probably better suited to handle the Springboks physicality than his direct rivals though that never stopped Aaron Smith. But you could make an argument that Hotham and Ratima haven’t stamped their mark as the main understudy, and potentially the door is still open for Folau Fakatava.

 

Beauden for #10

While Robertson still (likely) pines for Richie Mo’unga to come home, Beauden Barrett was miles ahead of Damien McKenzie in terms of performance running the cutter despite the latter being surrounded by his fellow Chiefs on his home field.

 

Jordie is indispensable

Coming off the bench in a game he was originally meant to play, Barrett son #4 showed just why is has to be on the teamsheet every match. His stint with Leinster has armed him with more information and ways to play and we’re going to benefit from that. The line he ran to set up Brodie McAlister was sublime. Who plays outside him though will be interesting. The usual dependable hands of Anton Lienart-Brown or the work-in-progress of Billy Proctor? It seems certain though that Rieko Ioane’s days in the #13 jersey seem over.

 

Options, options, options across the back three

We know this much, whether it’s #15 or #14 on his back Will Jordan will be there, he just makes things happen. If he’s at fullback, then you figure the likely mix has Ioane on the left and Sevu Reece on the right with the utility values of McKenzie and Timoci Tavatavanawai as bench options. But Ruben Love did little wrong last night and deserves more opportunities which probably pushes Reece out, while Caleb Clarke’s ill-timed ankle injury probably leaves him as little more than a depth piece for now.

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