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The two 'All Black calibre players' to watch at the Chiefs this season

(Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images)

Chiefs halfback Brad Weber has highlighted two players as All Blacks of the future ahead of this year’s Super Rugby Pacific campaign.

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The festive season is a special time of year, as everyone celebrates alongside family and friends before ushering in another chapter.

But for rugby fans, the New Year is also a turning point.

When the clock strikes 12 on New Year’s Day, the countdown to Super Rugby Pacific well and truly begins.

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The highs and lows from last season are left untouched in the history books; now, as players battle through yet another gruelling preseason, is their opportunity to make their mark once again.

But this year means more – it has to be considering it’s a World Cup year.

For some all-time greats, this might be their last opportunity to win silverware with their beloved Super Rugby franchises, while stars of tomorrow stand on the cusp of greatness and opportunity.

As some players prepare to take the next steps in their careers, it’s quite clear that the next generation of Super Rugby talent and All Blacks is bright.

Two rising stars at the Chiefs have been endorsed as All Blacks of the future ahead of this year’s Super Rugby campaign, by one of New Zealand’s premier halfbacks too.

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All Black Brad Weber believes halfbacks Cortez Ratima and Xavier Roe have the potential to don the coveted black jersey sometime in the future.

“The good thing for us is that we don’t have a lot of turnover this year, there’s a lot of guys (staying on),” Weber told SENZ Breakfast earlier this week.

“I think we’ve only lost maybe one or two so a lot of continuity which is good, but I certainly am excited by our two backup halfbacks.

“Cortez and Xavier, I think, for the future are going to be two All Black calibre players that (are) already outstanding at the moment.

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“They certainly keep me on my toes, I’ve got to keep performing – I don’t have my spot locked in – but certainly for the future those two are going to be seriously good I think.”

Weber has played at the highest level, having played for the All Blacks at a Rugby World Cup and captained the Chiefs in Super Rugby.

But even though his career has been massively successful up until this point, that’s not to say it’s all been smooth sailing.

An injury in 2017 saw Weber miss out on a clash against the touring British and Irish Lions.

Weber admitted that he “didn’t deal” with the lows of the sport “very well” earlier in his career, as he spoke about the importance of mental skills coach Aaron Walsh at the Chiefs.

“Outside of your normal coaches he should be the first one signed up,” he added.

“Mental skills coaches for me over my Super Rugby career and All Blacks career has been massive for me.

“Walshy’s a great man, he’s got a lot of gold nugget in there. Just sitting down and chatting through your experiences how you’ve handled high pressure environments and high pressure situations, and how maybe you do things differently.

“Especially in rugby, you come into some pretty high pressure environments or situations where you need to make some big, big decisions really, really quickly, and how do you deal with that? How do you deal with mistakes?

“To be honest at the start of my career I didn’t deal with them very well at all.”

In review, the Chiefs should be more than pleased with how their Super Rugby season went last year.

After placing fifth in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in 2021, the Chiefs placed third in the new-look 12-team competition last year.

They fought valiantly against eventual winners the Crusaders in Christchurch, but their season came to an end with a 20-7 loss in their semi-final.

But revenge can be a beautiful thing in sport.

The Chiefs will have an opportunity to right the wrongs from that tough semi-final loss, as they take on the Crusaders in their season-opener next month.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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