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'Who's going to be that Jerome Kaino': The All Black who 'must' start at blindside

Shannon Frizell of the All Blacks runs through drills during a New Zealand All Blacks training session at Mount Smart Stadium on September 22, 2022 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Rugby World Cup winner Israel Dagg believes Shannon Frizell could be the new Jerome Kaino for the All Blacks, and explained why the Test regular “must” start at blindside flanker.

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Frizell has been given regular minutes and opportunities throughout an up and down international season for the All Blacks, and has for the most part done the black jersey justice.

The Highlanders enforcer has become a mainstay of the All Blacks’ matchday squads, and has started four of the last six Tests in the No. 6 jersey.

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While the All Blacks are always under some degree of pressure and scrutiny, New Zealanders were undoubtedly eager to see the men in black put on show in Cardiff last weekend.

And that’s exactly that they did.

While a number of players stood out in the 55-23 win, including record-breaking scrum half Aaron Smith, the new-look loose forward trio has been a popular topic of discussion.

Running out alongside Frizell was Dalton Papali’i at openside flanker, who replaced the injured Sam Cane, and world class Number Eight Ardie Savea.

All players appeared to play their roles to an elite level, which had former All Black Dagg comparing Frizell to an all-time great.

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“Shannon at six, he is a must,” Dagg said on SENZ Mornings.

“We’ve been looking for, ‘who’s going to be that Jerome Kaino that comes in and adds that real oomph at the six position?’ He is our guy.

“He does all the hard work, he carries extremely well, he defends really (well), he’s another lineout option, he’s a big man so he’s a genuine lineout option there for Sammy Whitelock and Scotty Barrett.”

Captain Sam Cane will miss the rest of the Northern Tour after fracturing his cheekbone against Japan in Tokyo.

But the All Blacks have found a more than suitable replacement in Papali’i, who was one of the standout performers during the dominant win at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

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While the Blues flanker potentially has an opportunity during these final two Test matches to stake his claim for that coveted No. 7 jersey, Dagg believes the All Blacks have found their “top loose forward trio.”

“With Sammy Cane’s absence, and we never want an injury to play that part, but Dalton Papali’i really showcased his importance to this team,” he said.

“Not only over the ball and his defensive prowess, but his ability with the ball. Look at him when he made that big break.

“He’s got gas, he’s an actual, genuine ball player and that’s what you want from you loosies, not to be one dimension (but) to add something different.

“I think we’ve really cemented our probably top loose forward trio. Ardie Savea, just so, so good, don’t even need to talk about him anymore.

“But Dalton Papali’i really had his best performance in the black jersey.”

The All Blacks are on a five-Test winning streak at the moment, and will be looking to keep their unbeaten run alive when they visit Murrayfield to take on Scotland this weekend.

New Zealand will then finish their international season with a blockbuster against England at Twickenham, less than a year out from the Rugby World Cup.

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Comments

3 Comments
G
GH 911 days ago

He's a hell of specimen but I don't think he has Jerome's temperament yet for pressure games. Ardie is the enforcer now.

A
Andrew 912 days ago

Now play this trio week after week to get their combination gelled. Sadly, Foster will still tinker and thus the Scots game will probably be a stinker.

M
Mike 912 days ago

Agree with this, this trio has the balance of skill and power missing for the past few years.

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B
BC 56 minutes ago
Black Ferns reward 18-year-old's form in team to face Wallaroos

Yes, I think that NZ have to work on their forward play if they are going to go the whole way again. I don’t know too much about your forwards but there do seem to be some familiar names still being selected that have come up short in the past. You have considerable talent in the backs but you will need the ball. There is much truth in the saying “forwards win matches and the backs decide by how many”. I would agree with your comment about Leti-I’iga and Woodman has a lot to assimilate in very few matches as a possible 13, perhaps the hardest position to play. I shall watch your match on Saturday with much interest, though not in the middle of our night.


Unfortunately two of Ireland’s top forwards have been ruled out by injury. I’m not sure they have enough depth to cope with that in the latter stages of the WC.


The performance of France at Twickenham was a surprise, you never know which French team will turn up. Having said that, for most of the match they were second best, but some slack tackling, complacency?, and their Gallic pride got them close on the scoreboard. I was there and whilst eventually grateful for the final whistle, we never felt their late flourish would prevail. When the Mexican wave starts after 25 minutes, you know the crowd thinks it’s already all over. You are right though, do not write off the French, they have strong forwards and flair in the backs. Give them an inch and they will take a mile. On their day they are a real handful for any team.

4 Go to comments
B
BigGabe 1 hour ago
'Love him or hate him, Henry Pollock has got the rugby world talking.'

Fair commentary. I am not sure it would probably work against him though, since his temmates have come out and said that they enjoy it. Similarly, Irish fans seem to enjoy Lowe’s celebrating and English fans their “plastic energy” players.


Oof, that Stormers comment..as a Stormers fan, it hurts to be a Stormers fan. We can be so good, but also we can collapse like a house of cards. I do think that there is a line, I would agree with you. But I also very much think that the rugby public blows it out of proportion when someone gets exuberant (Lowe annoys the daylights out of me, but that’s his game and he is good at it. I am sure plenty of people find Faf annoying too). I’m not sure rugby will go the way of the NFL though, I do think that on a cultural level rugby playing nations (and the cultural demographics that go into playing rugby) differ vastly from the US. The US as a nation is very much about bravado. Similarly, the argument about rugby devolving into football, it is a sport that rewards theatrics so naturally theatrics enter into the culture. I don’t see rugby going that way, there is something different about rugby and the people that it attracts. Perhaps it is the gladiatorial aspect, or the lack of insultingly large paychecks. I am not sure, it would be interesting to conduct a study on this to be honest.


Yes, my examples go back quite far and are sporadic inbetween. But this makes me wonder - does rugby not have so many showboats because it doesn’t attract showboats or because it doesn’t allow showboats?

13 Go to comments
W
Werner 1 hour ago
URC teams aren't proving Stephen Donald wrong

3 things:


1) I don't think you have an understanding of what sort of politics goes on in SA, you are assuming it's very competitive and performance focused same as NZ, I can tell you it's a lot greyer and more ambiguous but green and gold goes along way in greasing wheels. Often revenue at the state and national level are prized more by some in the SARU despite the impact of accepting it, but you will never heard them own it.


2) While we're comparing national teams performance to gauge the ‘domestic’ comps, you do realise that both Ireland and Scotland are higher in rankings and have better recent record than Fiji and Australia who are in the SRP right? And when was the last time either of them made a final in SR? 2014! But here's the thing…. I never said URC is better than SRP, imo they are about the same each with their benefits and different style. Where as you harp on about how crap URC teams are but not why SRP is better. Have SRP teams faired better against European teams? No? So how do you know and ‘demonstrate’ this inferiority? both have a range of good and bad countries competing (URC has slightly more higher ranked teams). Both are dominated historically by one country and team (Leinster/crusaders). So what is this demonstrable fact I'm missing? What's the point of difference other than subjective opinion


3) let me understand this, the only decent team in the URC is Leinster as they are good enough to make Eurochamps finals but not good enough to make the finals of the URC the last 2 years. So they despite beating Leinster (the EC finalists and good team) the other URC teams are still crap?

50 Go to comments
P
PR 2 hours ago
'Love him or hate him, Henry Pollock has got the rugby world talking.'

There are degrees of taunting. In my opinion Pollock is slightly OTT. Nothing offensive, just what Australians call “a goose”. Like James Lowe and Ben Earl. Celebrating wildly and often towards the crowd throughout the game. “Plastic energy” as Bongi calls it. It’s the kind of behaviour that turns a hostile crowd more hostile and motivates opponents even more - so probably works against your own team. Pollock is young and having the time of his life so his antics are understandable but I think most people find that kind of showboating annoying - hence the ‘love him or hate him’ tag.


The reason why the behaviour of Pollock makes headlines is because it is still quite rare in rugby. Your examples go back to 1974, 2003 and 2022. Of course there are chirps between players during a game but what Pollock is doing is more like the showboating you see after a touchdown in NFL. He’s not the only one of course. Just about every Stormers try comes with an elaborate handshake or routine. Perhaps the future of rugby is more like NFL but I reckon it will always be annoying to a lot of people.


Also, unless you are Matt Williams or Gregor Townsend, 6-2/7-1 was never against the spirit of the game. It’s an argument brought up by pundits to get attention or frustrated coaches who are trying to justify poor results. Most coaches, players and supporters get it. Even World Rugby gave it the thumbs up. It should be celebrated for its innovation.

13 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ 'Love him or hate him, Henry Pollock has got the rugby world talking.' 'Love him or hate him, Henry Pollock has got the rugby world talking.'
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