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George Bell reaping rewards of competing with world's 'best' hooker

Codie Taylor and George Bell of the All Blacks. Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

With Codie Taylor sidelined for the upcoming Ireland Test, All Blacks selectors have turned to Test rookie George Bell to fortify New Zealand’s bench in the anticipated grudge match.

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Bell, 22, has two All Blacks caps to his name but has years of experience under the mentorship of Codie Taylor at the Crusaders.

Taylor sat out most of the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season on a non-playing sabbatical but returned to rugby in impervious form, quickly proving his fitness and re-establishing himself as New Zealand’s premier hooker.

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Now on the cusp of his 100th Test cap, Taylor took a head knock just five minutes into the All Blacks’ win over England in London and has, along with Beauden Barrett, been ruled out of the Ireland match.

It’s a blow for both the player and team as the 33-year-old starred in New Zealand’s rocky Rugby Championship, leading from the front as the team worked through their transitional period under new head coach Scott Robertson.

For Bell, his debut season in black has been spent under the tutelage of a familiar face.

“Since when I first came into the Crusaders, Codie has just been a real nice, genuine guy and we’ve built that friendship base layer,” Bell told media before departing New Zealand for Japan.

“And then, I think I just love competing against him. He’s obviously the best in the world at the moment so when we compete at lineout throws or just around the park, he’s the benchmark and I want to try to get to that.”

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The youngster was emphatic when asked a follow-up question on his “best in the world” claim: “Definitely, especially this last series, he’s been exceptional.”

Bell says being in the All Blacks environment throughout 2024 has been huge for his game, labelling the experience “unreal” as he goes toe-to-toe with some of rugby’s best athletes.

“I’m learning so much, I’m learning off so many different players. Meeting a lot of the boys has been a really incredible experience. Training day in, day out with the best really helps your footy.”

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In particular, he’s been working on his core roles in anticipation of the added pressures of international rugby.

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“When you’re throwing in to the best lineout defence in the world or against the best scrummagers in the world, you’ve got to be on top of your game and I’m really enjoying that.”

Fellow hooker Asafo Aumua will start the Test against Ireland in Taylor’s absence and has recently compared the pressure of lineout throwing to goal-kicking, a notion Bell agreed with.

“It’s definitely a seriously high-pressure moment, especially for us, it’s our main job so got to make sure we go out there and nail it.

“I guess we prepare for it just by going there during the week, putting ourselves under pressure and then also trusting that we’ve done the reps. For me, I’ve been a hooker for a long time so just falling back on knowing that I’ve done lots of reps before.”

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Since the inception of the All Blacks XV, a debate has arisen over how best to manage the non-playing members of the All Blacks squad while away on tour, given both teams are in Europe simultaneously.

For the development side’s opening game of the tour against Munster last weekend, All Blacks fullback Ruben Love had a run with the side to keep his match fitness up. Bell is a previously selected All Blacks XV member and weighed in on the pros and cons of dropping down to the development team vs staying in the top squad.

“It’s different. In training, we’re doing 15 on 15, not necessarily live tackles but the speed of it, I guess it helps that game understanding. In the meetings as well, seeing what those coaches are seeing, what other players are seeing.

“I guess in the gym as well, building your body, all the support that’s there like Ceri Evans with mental skills, all of that stuff just adds to your game so being in here has definitely helped my rugby.”

Bell said what is also important is getting a feel for the international arena, something he had the benefit of throughout The Rugby Championship.

“It’s very important. Going to Ellis Park and seeing what that was about was just unreal. I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life before. So, just to feel that out and get a bit more familiar with it is real important.”

That being said, the hooker made the most of the time in between All Blacks campaigns by getting back into the Canterbury environment and running out in his region’s NPC quarter-final win over neighbours Tasman.

“Great to get some minutes under my belt, get excited for the games. The adrenaline and nerves of the games, it was great to feel all of them again.”

Watch the exclusive reveal-all episode of Walk the Talk with Ardie Savea as he chats to Jim Hamilton about the RWC 2023 experience, life in Japan, playing for the All Blacks and what the future holds. Watch now for free on RugbyPass TV

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Comments

6 Comments
r
razza 13 days ago

He is way out of his depth. Am sure this weekend will be good for him, though having him there won't help us get the W.

J
JWH 14 days ago

A lot of haters for this guy. He is a genuinely talented player, and if he commits to being an All Black could challenge for that spot on the bench against Aumua and Taukei'aho.


As for best in the world; Codie Taylor is the best hooker in the world right now. Marx this, Jamie George that, Sheehan who?

M
MakeOllieMathisAnAB 13 days ago

Malcolm Marx might always be the standard for hookers from now on, he’s that good.

T
Toaster 14 days ago

Codie is playing extremely well but as an ABs fan I’d have Marx every day

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JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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