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Jason Ryan provides update on All Blacks loose forward stocks

Ardie Savea, Sam Cane and Shannon Frizell. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

The All Blacks will have at least one of their unavailable loose forwards from their first Bledisloe Cup match of the season back on deck for this weekend’s rematch at Eden Park.

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Shannon Frizell and Ardie Savea were both absent from the last-minute victory in Melbourne, with Frizell on the mend from a rib injury suffered against Argentina earlier in the month and Savea on parental leave.

Regular second-rower Scott Barrett shifted into the blindside flanker role for the victory while Hoskins Sotutu was given his first run of the season at the back of the scrum.

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While Frizell’s availability won’t be confirmed until later in the week, All Blacks forward coach Jason Ryan noted that Savea returned to training on Monday and is very much gearing up to take on the Wallabies in Auckland.

“Shannon’s obviously had that niggly rib which we knew about so he’s just got to get through Thursday and see how that pans out,” Ryan explained.

“Ardie’s come in fresh and selectable … He’s got a lot of mana in our group. He’s fresh here but he’s just had another baby so I’m sure there’s been a couple of sleepless nights.

“He’s great for us, he’s a real energy giver. We get a lot of energy off him in our group. Having that week off will definitely freshen him up and he’ll be sharp and ready to go.”

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While Barrett was industrious on Thursday night and Sotutu also had his moments to shine, it’s fair to say that the Wallabies backrow of Rob Leota, Pete Samu and Rob Valetini probably got the better of their New Zealand counterparts.

Australia’s strength at the breakdown didn’t necessarily catch Ryan and the All Blacks by surprise, but that didn’t make it any easier to counter.

“I thought Valetini was huge for them,” he said. “He’s played great Super Rugby as well and Pete Samu as well [impressed] as a ball-carrier.

“They’ve got athletes that can give you really good variation, their contact work and their leg drive in their carries, good variation around their lineout. Not really a surprise but definitely the breakdown becomes a big area and getting quick ball [is tough].”

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Complicating matters last Thursday was that the sole member of the loose forwards trio to retain his spot from the previous win over the Pumas, captain Sam Cane, managed just 24 minutes before having to leave the field for a head injury assessment, bringing Dalton Papali’i into the mix.

“I think [the All Blacks backrowers] had their moments – as the whole pack did,” Ryan said of their performance. “There was times where we had really good intensity in that area and times we could have been better.

“Like any combination, it takes a bit of time and [when] you get a bit of changes, you’ve got to find your rhythm early, especially in Test matches.”

While Cane passed his late-night HIA test following the win over the Wallabies, the All Blacks will unsurprisingly play it safe with their captain which means that he, like Frizell, won’t have his availability confirmed for Saturday’s match until later in the week.

“It’s World Rugby protocol and it’s a protocol for the All Blacks,” said Ryan of the concussion procedures. “We have got the utmost interests for our players so we’ll do everything we can to get that right and there’ll be no risks at all.”

One man who will likely be retained in the starting line-up, regardless of which jersey he’s asked to wear, is Barrett, who Ryan suggested has been the most impressive member of the All Blacks pack throughout the season to date.

“I’d say he’s probably our best performing All Black forward, to be honest. He’s been outstanding in every role, he’s a huge part of our forward pack. And he prepares accordingly and he’s playing some really good rugby.

“He’s been consistent and I think that’s followed on from his Super Rugby season and he’s hit the All Blacks running. He’s a pivotal part of the All Blacks team and our forward pack.”

The All Blacks will name their team on Thursday for this weekend’s match with the Wallabies – a match which could decide who takes home the Rugby Championship trophy.

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
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Nickers 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

43 Go to comments
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