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The Unlucky Five: Where did the five dropped All Blacks go wrong?

From left: Asafo Aumua, Josh Ioane, Dalton Papalii, Karl Tu'inukuafe and Shannon Frizell have all been cut by the All Blacks.

When the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship squad was announced four weeks ago, just over half a dozen hearts were broken up and down the country.

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For the likes of Akira Ioane, Waisake Naholo, Luke Whitelock, David Havili, Nathan Harris, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and Tyrel Lomax, their omissions from the 39-man squad didn’t spell the end of their World Cup hopes, but it certainly made it a lot more difficult for them to board the plane to Japan in under two months’ time.

Today, that 39-man squad shrunk to 34 players, and with the reduction in squad size came an increase in broken dreams.

Asafo Aumua, Dalton Papalii, Josh Ioane, Shannon Frizell and Karl Tu’inukuafe have all been given the chop by head coach Steve Hansen ahead of the Bledisloe Cup series against Australia.

Shannon Frizell at All Blacks training. (Photo by Mark Tantrum/Getty Images)

Those two matches in Perth and Auckland will act as the final auditions before the 31-man World Cup squad is named in a few weeks, and although it isn’t implausible to suggest that any one of that quintet could yet make it to the quadrennial tournament in September, their odds of doing so have been heavily dented.

Even though it’s likely those players could still yet feature at a World Cup either this year or in 2023 thanks to their youth and talent, their culling from the squad should bring with it an overwhelming sense of disappointment for all involved.

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So, where did it all go wrong for the unlucky five players?

Well, Aumua’s dropping appears to be the most logical out of the lot, given that he was one of four hookers in the squad, and with one needing to go combined with the fact that he was the only uncapped player in that position, it made sense to release him back to Wellington for the Mitre 10 Cup.

The only other hooker that would have been in contention to get cut would have been Liam Coltman, but with five tests to his name and a proven ability to make a nuisance of himself with ball in hand and at the breakdown, he always had the upper hand over Aumua.

Consequently, Aumua’s removal from the squad has paved the way for Coltman to accompany incumbents Codie Taylor and Dane Coles as the three rakes to head to Japan.

In contrast, one of the more surprising moves is the release of Josh Ioane back to Otago for the provincial season.

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Called into the side to cover for Damian McKenzie following his season-ending knee injury, it seemed as if Ioane was being groomed to join Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga as the third-choice first-five in Japan.

Chiefs fullback Damian McKenzie leaves the field after sustaining a season-ending knee injury against the Blues in April. (Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images)

Named on the bench for a potential test debut against Argentina in Buenos Aires a fortnight ago, the 24-year-old wasn’t called upon as the All Blacks battled their way to a tense 20-16 victory.

Hansen cited that thrusting the uncapped Ioane into the boisterous cauldron of Estadio Jose Amalfitani with the game in the balance so late in the fixture would have been unfair on the Highlanders pivot.

That led many to assume that he would have been included in the Bledisloe Cup squad, where he could have been blooded at international level before the World Cup.

He has been invited back in a training capacity to watch and learn during the second week of the Bledisloe Cup series, but his exclusion from the trimmed squad means that if Barrett or Mo’unga come down with an injury, the All Blacks will be forced to rely on an uncapped player in one of the most vital positions on the park.

While not everyone expected Ioane to be included in the final World Cup squad, it’s not an ideal situation for the All Blacks to be in after four years of meticulous planning leading into the biggest event in the sport, which makes Ioane’s culling a slight shock.

Continue reading below…

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One of the biggest areas that needed reduction was in the loose forwards, and the number of players in that broad position has been slashed from eight to six after Papalii and Frizell were shown the door.

With Frizell a specialist blindside and Papalii able to cover both flanker roles, the duo would have been gunning for the vacant No 6 jersey left free by Liam Squire, who has made himself unavailable for test rugby.

Also contesting for that spot is Vaea Fifita and Luke Jacobson, both of whom have survived the drop.

Jacobson’s retention makes sense, as he adds value through his versatility across the back row, while his debut off the bench against the Pumas emphasised his large appetite for defence with eight tackles from eight attempts.

Although he provides versatility as a second rower as well as a blindside flanker, Fifita’s presence in the squad, however, is one that some would have raised eyebrows at after lacklustre outings against Argentina and South Africa.

He had the chance to make amends for his error-laden performance against the Pumas when he came onto the park against the Springboks as Brodie Retallick’s injury replacement with 20 minutes to play, but without stamping his authority on proceedings in that cameo display, it looked as if his hopes of a World Cup appearance had been dashed.

That hasn’t been the case, though.

Instead, it’s Frizell – who was seemingly the incumbent blindside option in Squire’s absence and bolstered his credentials with a strong offensive showing in the second half last week – and Papalii, who can consider himself unlucky after being handed only three minutes off the pine against South Africa to prove his worth, who have felt the pinch of the All Blacks’ squeeze.

There’s a feeling that Papalii was deserving of another chance against the Wallabies due to a severe lack of game time, especially with the amount of promise he possesses, but, without any injuries, he’ll be unlikely to wear the black jersey this year.

That leaves Karl Tu’inukuafe, a fan favourite among All Blacks supporters who now seems a long shot to cap off his fairytale rise with a World Cup crown this year.

Last year, he was regarded as the second-best loosehead prop in the country behind Joe Moody, and was the premier No 1 during their end-of-year tour to Europe while Moody was injured.

It was unsurprising to see why.

Coming into the side with a reputation as a damaging scrummager, Tu’inukuafe honed his micro-skills with ball in hand, which helped him evolve into a handy contributor in general play.

However, a virus which struck him down at the backend of the Blues’ Super Rugby campaign, as well as the re-emergence of the previously injured Atu Moli, has seen Tu’inukuafe slip down the national pecking order, with Hansen demanding more mobility out of his front rowers.

“It’s not that he’s done anything wrong,” Hansen said on Wednesday.

“It’s just that we’ve said that we want mobile, ball-playing props who can also do their roles.”

It’s an aspect of Tu’inukuafe’s game which Hansen described as one of his not so “strong areas”.

“When you talk about mobility, you’re talking about people’s ability to get back up from the ground and defend and get back and be a ball player,” Hansen said.

“In today’s game you need props that can do more than just scrum and lift in the lineout so that’s been our challenge in the last 12 months that we’ve put to our front rowers and some of them are progressing really well with it and others are struggling.”

Karl Tu’inukuafe’s fairytale rise into the All Blacks has come to an unfortunately abrupt end. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

With six props still remaining in the Bledisloe Cup side, another big man is set to face the chop when a further three players are culled for the World Cup squad.

That much is expected, but what wasn’t was Tu’inukuafe’s sudden fall from the national side just a year after his rapid and unanticipated rise.

That might make him the unluckiest out of the five players who have been let go by Hansen, and with just a few weeks and a short series of Mitre 10 Cup fixtures left between now and the World Cup squad announcement, time is running thin in those five’s unlikely bids to regain their place in Japan.

In other news:

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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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