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The All Blacks 'Bomb Squad' set to take down the Springboks

(Photos / Getty Images)

The Springboks have their infamous Bomb Squad, the combustible clutch of six forwards and two backs that come off the bench against tiring opponents and blow them away.

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The strategy was certainly one of the major reasons they won the 2019 World Cup.

However, with the selection of a new back three against Argentina at Suncorp Stadium this weekend, New Zealand has formed its own Bomb Squad.

It’s shaping like a handpicked platoon to defuse the missiles and torpedoes that will come raining down on the them in their important clashes against the world champions for the last two rounds of the Rugby Championship.

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All Blacks boss Ian Foster talks Damian McKenzie’s selection at No 10 for Los Pumas re-match

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All Blacks boss Ian Foster talks Damian McKenzie’s selection at No 10 for Los Pumas re-match

With Jordie Barrett, Will Jordan and George Bridge being selected in the back three in the next test, you can see the selectors have got an eye on the bombardment that Handre Pollard or Elton Jantjes are set to launch as we will find out who is the number one team on the planet.

At fullback this weekend, Jordie Barrett has shown he’s matured as a leader and influential player, firstly for the Hurricanes and then with his chances in black.

Despite the minor hiccough with the red card against Australia, of which he was exonerated, he has been a rock not only under the high ball in defence but also on attack, narrowly missing out on two tries in the in-goal area from his brother Beauden’s kicks last weekend in the 39-0 victory over Argentina.

Also he picked up placekicking duties just before halftime, slotting four kicks from four.

The Springboks place a high premium on physicality and intimidation and Jordie’s size and attitude is the perfect plinth to place the outside back’s efforts on.

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On the right wing, Will Jordan has been a revelation in test rugby. He’s scored 11 tries in seven tests, five of those in one match against Tonga.

Jordan came to prominence as a fullback for New Zealand under-age teams and Tasman in provincial rugby, but has spent extended periods at the Crusaders on the wing and certainly his rapid pace has seen him excel in the role.

Combine the speed with good hands and elusiveness, and it’s a brave team that punts the ball to wonderful Will.

On September 5, George Bridge made the perfect return to rugby, he came off the bench against the Wallabies and seconds later got on the end of a superb cross kick from TJ Perenara to touchdown.

After an extended run of injuries, he’s brought his energy and expertise back to the left wing.

Renowned for his work under the high ball, he safely answered any questions the Pumas asked of him last weekend and looked formidable in his work rate and strength, narrowly missing out on a try, running for 114 metres in 11 carries and now he tops the competition table for clean breaks, alongside Akira Ioane.

With Anton Lienert-Brown under an injury cloud and Rieko Ioane making every post a winner at centre, this trio is shaping to be important cogs in the All Blacks’ campaign to win the Rugby Championship on neutral soil.

With the Argentinians struggling for territory last weekend, you’d expect they will try to exit out of their half more this weekend. This could be the perfect rehearsal for the Pollard pounding they’ll be bracing for the week after.

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J
JW 3 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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