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It's time for the All Blacks to break up Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane
It’s almost as if Scott Robertson decided he needed to break the All Blacks before he could fix them.
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At least I hope that. It’s always preferable to think that there’s a method to the apparent madness.
Looking back on the team’s 2024 season now, I suspect the new head coach allowed the players to play in the fashion that they wanted. You believe in this rugby fellas, then you go and play it.
Losses to Argentina and South Africa (twice) followed, before the shambolic 31-28 victory over Australia in Sydney. It’s at that point that it appears the players accepted their way didn’t work and allowed Robertson to shape the All Blacks in the image of his all-conquering Crusaders sides.
Again, that’s what I hope happened.
Alternatively, Robertson came to the conclusion he and the team risked becoming a laughing stock and ripped the preceding game plan up. Self-preservation is a powerful force, after all.
Either way, the All Blacks performed creditably from there on and finished the season far better than they started it.
With the end of the 2024 fast approaching, it seems appropriate to dissect the test season a little and pick out some of the best and worst bits.
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The forward pack: I can’t really praise these guys enough, both individually and as a collective. They didn’t deserve to lose to the Springboks, for instance, and will have sat in the dressing room after those games feeling let down by the backline.
The set pieces were largely excellent by the end of the season, the ball running and passing highly effective and the loose forwards were able to shine thanks to the work done by the tight five.
All Blacks packs have been bullied a bit in recent years, but the 2024 team restored some pride to the jersey.
Player of the year: Look, it’s Ardie Savea. But it could’ve been Wallace Sititi or Tyrel Lomax or Tupou Vaa’i. Codie Taylor and Sam Cane deserve honourable mentions, as does Tamaiti Williams. Ethan Backadder was superb against South Africa and then couldn’t get back on the park.
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I wouldn’t mention many backs in the same breath as these blokes.
The backs: Cam Roigard looks a special player, while there is definitely something to work with in Cortez Ratima. He’s not the finished article, but the potential to be a good player is there.
Will Jordan shouldn’t ever be shunted back to the wing, such is the influence he can have from fullback.
I still think first five-eighth is a bit of a worry, but the mid-season change in playing style was so pronounced that even Damian McKenzie couldn’t stuff it up when he started against Ireland.
As long as whoever is No.10 remains a facilitator, rather than the sole source of attack, the team should do all right.
Area of concern: The midfield requires change. You couldn’t call Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane a combination. They’re two individuals trying to carry strongly when they get the opportunity, but they create little and provide few opportunities to those outside them.
Someone obviously sees some value in having Anton Lienert-Brown finish games, but it’s still not obvious to me.
Caleb Clarke gets a couple of worthwhile gallops a game, but needs far more ball. Unfortunately too much good ball dies as soon as it hits Ioane’s hands.
Sam Cane: I’d call Cane a fine All Black, rather than a great one.
On the whole, the captaincy was more a curse than a blessing and provided people an opportunity to criticise him. Fans needed an outlet for their frustration with the team and Cane, as captain, was it.
Through it all, he carried himself with dignity and class.
I did not see the value in Robertson selecting Cane this year and was not of the opinion that he deserved a swansong at this stage of the Rugby World Cup cycle.
That said, Cane was consistently excellent in 2024 and I can’t think of a time when the rugby public have held him in higher esteem than they do now.
Some former captains can be malcontents, but you’d never accuse Cane of that. He should be proud of the way he’s played and conducted himself, not just this year but throughout his career.
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All Blacks who proved the they are mediocre and need to be dropped in 2025:
Dalton Papalii
Ethan Blackadder
Luke Jacobson
Josh Lord
David Havili
Anton Lienart-Brown
Mark Tele’a
Sevu Reese
I don't agree with the whole article but completely agree that ABs badly need a new 10/12/13 axis. Move on the known mediocrity and be brave Razor!
It's more that the coach is blind to value elsewhere.
ALB had a very solid year and it would have made much more sense tactically to have him starting and Jorde finished. He is not a finisher, he is an injury replacement at most, and I think was only required in that capacity once all season. It would have made more sense to have an extra loosie, or ALB as the sole backline cover.
He's a player who's gone through a lot in his career, started as a gifted natural who bamboozled his opposition to one of the most solid ABs this year. I don't think that current role has much of a lifespan in this side however. If he stay's he's going to be as reliable as ever again next year.
Also have to congratulate you on your words regarding Sam Cane. Well said.
As article says Ethan Blackadder was superb against South Africa for the All Blacks.Ethan is a magnificent loose forward. He is on the comeback from injury, training with the Crusaders in pre season. It will be a big year for him in 2025 with the rejuvenated Crusaders and AB's. I agree with another contributor Ardie was not the best AB forward. Wallace Sititi, ( break through player), Tyrel Lomax , Tamaiti Williams a;ll outstanding. As was Codie Taylor on his return from sabbatical with the Crusaders and was one of the All Blacks best too.
Blackadder needs to make 15+ such similar performances to the SA game before he can get grove and chance to fight for an AB spot. NZ has a dozen loose forwards that could have played that well, the bar should be much much higher than that (was a good effort in the circumstances but not good enough, ala Sititi).
The chances of even getting 15 games next year to earn selection, let alone ones of such quality, are exactly zero.
Blackadder is unavailable far too often. You just cannot count on him. And he is 30 next season. Injuries happen more not less with age.
J Barrett to 13. Having a 13 that can distribute is key to unlocking the back three. Having a 13 that can cross kick and get 50/22s would be a bonus.
They need a Nonu clone at 12. Someone like L Aumua.
R Ioane to bench. Covering 13 and wing.
Razor is scared. Its not a trait anyone saw from him prior to his appointment as coach but he has been the most conservative coach Ive seen as ABs HC that I can remember.
I dont feel its the players he selects tho , I believe its a real fault in his backline game plan and his Backline coaching.
Yes 10 new players this year. But 7 of them hardly had any game time. Only Tosi, Sititi and Ratima had genuine game time as rookies.
Everyone is praying for that change except Razor.
Wouldn't be so bad if they at least looked like they were giving other guys a chance and creating competition for those places instead of injuries dictating everything.
And then the midfield safety net was ALB? The guy who looks more journeyman by the year, and spent most of this season sitting in the naughty chair after doing something silly (again). So much for 'experience'.
Sorry but ALB was very good in all the opportunities he was given. The best game our centres had was V aus where ALB started.
IMO they simply need to swap roles. Jordie has already shown in one appearance with Leinster that he is a very capable organiser - distributing on attack and reading defense well. Ideal qualities for an outside centre.
In contrast, Ioane is a big-body athlete who likes taking the ball into contact, looking for potential offload opportunities - and already has a path laid out in front of him by Tana Umaga & Ma'a Nonu... If he wants to be a centre, I think he'd be a far better #12.
Especially with the way international D is these days, they way Razor is trying to play.
Dan Carter has said many times in interviews that Ma’a Nonu was a better passer than he was and had a longer wiper kick. Ioane cannot pass at all to his right and has no kicking ability.
Ioane is a wing.
I was starting to think this halfway through the season. Makes perfect sense.
It's like he wrote this piece on the bus to work. Not your best work Hamish. Ardie was not the best player this year. Lomax, Taylor or Sititi clear front runners. I half agree with the centre pairing. But both are fine players and I believe with good coaching could be a great combo. Do you have to assume they are playing as the coaches tell them?
Probably is actually.
Why is it that the writers on this website still talk about games that their team lost but still say they should have won it? If you lose a game it is 99% because the other team (the whole team) was better on the day. Please, Please, PLEASE don't become like the English who can lose by 40 points and literally still claim a moral victory. If your team loses, it is called a loss and its over! Let it be!! The Boks beat the All Blacks twice in South Africa and if the AB's were really a better team they would have worked out how to win in the 2nd match but they did not. They lost. I love the All Blacks and Kiwi's in general. They are straight up guys but the journo's keep going back to games lost and say they should, not could, should have won. The Springboks should have beaten Argentina and Ireland but lost by 1 point both times. We lost and are over it. We could say we played a weakened team against the Argies because we did, but we lost, fair and square! Ireland scored 2 incredible drop goals to win and halve the series. Brilliant finish, not what we wanted, but all credit to them. Bottom line, if and when you lose, have a beer, relax and get over it...
Reiko Ioane is a wing. Caleb Clarke and Ioane would give NZ two big, fast wings who can also take the ball hard up the middle on first phase.
Will Jordan is the best attacking fullback in world rugby, solid under the high ball, and statistics reveal a good tackler. Leave him at fullback to counter-attack.
Jordie Barrett is a playmaking 12 in the mold of Aaron Mauger and would be most effective playing with a big heavy power running 13 to take short crashballs (or be decoy runners). Leicester Fianga'anuka, Levi Aumua, and AJ Lam all fit this mold of 13.
Fianga'anuka can already distribute too, something Ioane is struggling to learn. I'm not convinced Ioane is a wing anymore either; it's been a long time since I've seen evidence he can still play there. But he still has winger instincts, i.e. grab the ball and run.
It's puzzling they don't use Jordie more as a second pivot; he's got the skillset of a half decent 10. If they used him more as a second playmaker, his continued selection would make more sense. But the current tactics just don't use his talents effectively at all.
Why cant you see Jordans shortcomings at 15? he never kicks because he cant. he never passes to anyone else and he always runs the ball straight back into the opposition chasers. He is a fantastic winger and should 100% be at 14. It free's him to do what he is fantastic at, and it gets a proper 15 at the back.
Been saying this. Our forwards have absolutely smashed every team this year only for the backs to produce peanuts. I thought 10 was the issue bit putting all our eggs in to one position is backwards. Midfield has always been the issue. Great players but they both are use to playing isolated positions and offensively it shows. Reiko is the issue as 12 has had 3 different players in that jersey and still no outcome. It's 13. Many standout midfielders in this year's super and ioane seems to be a set pick. Reece went from scoring machine in super season to playing as a forward in the rucks....Dmac 10, Plummer 12 and Jordie 13 would have been a better combination to have tried out instead of ALB and Havili. Brett cameron is promising and the all vlacks need to start picking players on performance. Satiti 6, Hoskins 8 and Ardie 7 with Lakai sub is Chaos. Cody Taylor is good, I feel Riccitelli is a fitness workhorse and needed in that breaking the enemy down phase before the runners and hitters come on. Also, timing of subs made no sense. Razor literally runs the front row into the dirt(tamati in france) before utilizing his next 3 as impact rather than try to save the game. Good article. They better pick this team right next year as eden park will be on the line.
Thought ALB and him, or at least the backline, were better in Bled 2. But that was possible because Beauden was the 10 that day and mostly just shoveled the ball along, so actually put the requirement on those outside him to produce.
That was actually the scariest game though, aussie were in it big time (and we have started to see why immediately following that game with the Nov window) that game were they never really were in Bled 1 were Dmac put of on 4 or 5 and could have been 8 tries, they were never going to catch up in time.
That's not on 10, that's on the coaches, and others to contribute.
No chance Ardie was the best player in 2024. Sititi or Lomax, with Vaai and Ofa "most improved". Ardie was good, but not as good as 2023, he looked decidedly undercooked coming back from Japan and wasn't anywhere near his best for the England, and didn't hit his straps until the NH tour.
Jordan should definitely be back on the wing. His decision making was terrible, he lost the ball so many times in contact trying to push a crazy pass, 4 or 5 times in one game, that insane quick throw in hospital pass, numerous other moments where he took the worst option available. Just as much promising ball died with him as it did with Ioane. I don't know if he was "overplaying" trying to make a case for being the second playmaker but he is definitely not that.
Jordie needs to be used properly. He is not a battering ram, or a DDA style 4th loose forward. He is a genuine playmaker who can come into first receiver and have DMac/BB playing off him very comfortably as he been able to do seamlessly at Leinster with only 10 days prep, with the addition of being a strong ball carrier. He was used in this role successfully by Schmidt and it gave the backline a lot more variation and adaptability. At the moment they look like Warren Gatland is the attack coach which is embarrassing when you look at the riches available. Leinster have already made better use of JB in one half than Razor and co did all year.
Reiko has not been able to gel with anyone on attack despite playing alongside Barrett, DMac, JB, Jordan etc.. for years. It is not going to happen and he needs to be jettisoned. A 5 on 2 overlap to win the game went begging against France when BB and Reiko were unable to coordinate simple running lines between them. BB very clearly wanted to take the ball to the line and put Reiko through a big gap, but Reiko was hanging back on a holding thinking the ball was going to ALB (which was probably the better play) and in the end ALB decides to run into the gap and BB, Reiko, and ALB ended up within a few feet of each other, almost stationary, with the ball being knocked on by Reiko after a terrible pass from Barrett that was designed for Ioane steaming through the gap rather than standing beside him. The French defence made such a bad read that had Reiko caught the ball, even while stationary, we probably still would have scored. It's the kind of thing a social team that doesn't train would have run in easily, yet B.Barrett and Reiko with 200+ tests between them, probably having played 70+ together were clueless about. Reiko's defence is excellent, but he has become such a drag on attack that he is definitely a net negative.
Your criticism's of Jordan don't have a lot to do with him as a full back.
I agree he struggles to make the team if he's not fb.
He's certainly been asked to bring something extra, it's exciting, he's a very one dimensional player otherwise.
You should read Nick Bishop's article, the 40min didn't even match numbers of one performance against Ireland. I agree though, his running ability is so bad (he is only good at crash ball) that he and the forwards need to switch roles. Ardie and Sititi should be running off Jordie, not the other way round that it is now. Dmac is too small to be used in that role at international level. You might find gaps like were in that game but not very often.
It's Rieko, and yep, he'd be a better 14 (bombed that try in the WC final playing 11) than Jordan, but still behind Tele'a for me. So he's a class back up who'd be the sides best defender in case of emergency.
Always a good read. Ioane shifts to second five with Proctor at centre and Quinn Tupea off the bench. Reece lacks pace and Caleb needs to be involved a lot more. The Allblacks lacked in the outside backs and should have Jordie at fullback with Jordan and Telea on the wings. I like Cane but slow and Savea is fading.
Rieko has played like one game at 12, for the Blues, and Laumape ran around, through, and over him all night long. Plus Ioane has never kicked a ball in his life, so not exactly a great option for a second five-eigth.
Proctor at 13 yes. But they gave him next to no chances this year. He'll probably leave in frustration long before he's ever given proper game time.
Nice, you're a man after my own heart. Rieko is the man we need at 12, we need a link man in there someone and Proctor is the guy. Jordie has the skills but not the smarts. Rieko is simply better on the carry and defence at the moment. Jordan would be great bench cover for Caleb and Tele'a
That is the worst AB backline suggestion I have read yet.
As long as Razor and Hansen's favourite word is "experience," I don't see much hope of change on the horizon.
Bingo. If you're in the 'leadership group', you are not subject to form. Not exactly creating competition for places when only injuries are giving newer guys a shot.
Defensively our inside backs do a reasonable job but lack penetration on attack and do not create enough opportunities for our wingers who tend to be starved of the ball. That said we need to develop backs that can do a better job and are able to counter stifling rush defences. Not an easy fix eh?
This journo has been singing this narrative for the last 2 years. Everyone else has moved on and accept that unless someone better arrives on the scene then we need to support the coach.
If the best centre's were on tour like they have been the coaches would get a look at what they bring and decide on which way they wanted to go.
Been saying it for a while- Reiko is not able to gel and the quicker they find another proper center the better. I still feel their lock combination is clunky- they need to invest in Darry as a 5 lock. He has ability to dominate middle of lineout and we saw his worth for Blues in their campaign last year. Then Ardie is wonderful, but they need a tall skilled 8. While Wallace is world class he will be found out when games get tight. So fix centers, sort out flyhalf, get a proper 8 and settle on Darry and the rest are bloody good.
What is it about Wallace that will be "found out" in a tight game?
Defensively our line out has gone to another level this year. S.Barrett, Tuipolotu, Vaa'i, and Sititi have won more ball against the throw than anyone. It has become a genuine weapon.
Why do we need a tall no.8? And what about Ardie or Sititi is not skilled?
Line out jumpers need be fast off the ground, not 3cm taller.
Darry got game time and looked OK, but the incumbents all played better.
Unlike SA we don't have 6 world class players that are 2m+. They are in the team because they are good, not because they are tall. Picking a player just because they are tall is the weirdest thing I keep reading in comments on this website.
At 1.85m Sititi is 6 inches+ shorter than a lot of the guys he jumping against and beating, try telling them that you need to be 2.03m rather than 1.98m. Total nonsense.
It floors me that in this day and age, we’d be writing and reading articles about a relationship between two consenting adults.
We’ve reached rock bottom and I’m appalled. Offended even.
I think Jordie and Rieko are stunning and brave. Why should they have to break up!?
Given that Jordie went abroad to play for Leinster, while Rieko stays at home, their partnership just might be a thing of the past.
You are obviously watching a different pairing - centers who can’t distribute and don’t score tries (2 tries in 12 games)
According to Cantab they lack penetration.
Average Ardie was NOT the best All Black forward. Jeez I know it’s opinion but bro…
I think you will find if you look at the facts, i.e. the stats, that Ardie was well above average. Being above (or top) most other forwards in most categories. Was he at his best? Probably not, but a huge contributor none the less. Less leg-drive highlights and more of a workman-like contribution. Besides, he's probably due an off-form season; all top players have them. Look at Taylor, 2 seasons or so ago he was genuinely poor, but after a breather from domestic duties, he was probably the best hooker in the world this season. Ardie had to play back-to-back seasons when he went to Japan. So give him a break, I reckon. A literal one, that is.