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Mark Telea stood down for quarter-final after breaching All Blacks ‘protocol’
By Finn Morton
In a major blow for the All Blacks ahead of their highly anticipated quarter-final with Ireland on Saturday, wing Mark Telea has been stood down for breaching team “protocol.”
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Telea was a shining light for the All Blacks on a tough night against France in the tournament opener last month, and has generally been quite solid on the left edge for Ian Foster’s team.
But two days out from New Zealand’s biggest Test in four years, Foster confirmed that the speedy outside back has been dropped for disciplinary reasons.
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“Yeah, he breached the protocol. Nothing major but enough to keep him out of selection for this week. He has trained well, happens,” Foster told reporters on Thursday.
“It is what it is. For us, it’s pretty clean cut. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. We have dealt with it as a team and moved on.
“We believe in what we stand for and that speaks volumes for the team that we make that sort of decision in this sort of week.”
Leicester Fainga’anuku will run out onto Stade de France with the No. 11 on his back. The utility will be full of confidence after scoring a headline-grabbing hat-trick against Uruguay a week ago
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The other intriguing decision made by coach Foster is naming Finlay Christie on the bench ahead of rising star Cam Roigard. Roigard earned Player of the Match honours against Namibia but had an off night in the All Blacks’ final pool match.
“We just felt it was horses for courses for this particular game,” Foster continued.
“We think Finlay has an edge defensively. I think there will be a lot of action around the ruck defensively. We have been delighted with Cam’s form and in a different type of game, it might have gone slightly differently. But this one here we have gone for that.”
It’s ok, NZ; only 48 more hours until new life under SR technically begins. And just imagine, you won’t have to put up with Fozzy’s ossified bunk anymore.
I can see why they stayed with Christie as he had more experience in bigger games. If Cam hadn’t of made those couple of blunders vs Uru which are a 2nd tier team then he probably would have had a look in. Happy Lester made it in as he can pilfer as well, think Telea will go on to regret his choices as if Lester has a polished game and ABs win it will change the pecking order for that position. Happy also Tamati gets a shot, hope hes a wrecking ball with fast hands.
Lester maybe a better look as he hasn’t been playing. I like the fact that Ofa and Nepo are out lol. Blackadder not on bench is a miss but who would that have changed him up for? I trust that Christie is a better bet than Cam - something they say? Could have been worse …
Games over. A good 20 minutes from Cam Roigard was the only chance they had.
Ooh. Wonder what he did?
Not a “major blow” at all. Not even a minor one. Leicester brings everything that Telea has but more. Especially at ruck, attack physicality, & on D. This move strengthens the ABs imo.
I mean, opposing teams score regularly down Telea’s channel. He has a bad habit of not holding his width & leaving his man unmarked. Plus, his grabby upright tackle technique means he often gets shaken off like a speck of dust.
Sweet as.
Good news. Telea can't defend. Leicester is powerful in attack and defence.