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'We don't pick our team on race': Foster defends team selection

(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has defended his team’s lineup to face Fiji this week after being asked whether the Fijian heritage of some of his players led to their selection for Saturday’s test in Dunedin.

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Foster has made sweeping changes to his side to face the Flying Fijians at Forsyth Barr Stadium this weekend, with only George Bridge and Rieko Ioane the sole survivors in the starting team that thumped Tonga 102-0 in Auckland last week.

A further six changes have been made on the bench as the All Blacks selectors hold true on their promise to provide their entire squad with opportunities to impress ahead of next month’s Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup series.

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Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith named to start for the All Blacks against Fiji

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Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith named to start for the All Blacks against Fiji

Many storylines have been thrown up in the wake of Foster’s wholesale alterations: Aaron Smith will make his All Blacks captaincy debut, Beauden Barrett starts at first-five for the first time in two years and Brodie Retallick will play in his first test since 2019.

Another storyline raised at Thursday’s team naming press conference was whether the Fijian heritage of three All Blacks players – Sevu Reece, Hoskins Sotutu and George Bower – played a role in their inclusion in New Zealand’s starting XV.

Foster didn’t take kindly to the suggestion that he picked those players on the basis of their race, though, as he took aim at unspecified media outlets for highlighting the exclusion of some Tongan players in last week’s thrashing of ‘Ikale Tahi.

“Not at all,” he said when asked if Reece, Sotutu and Bower were named in this week’s team due to their Fijian backgrounds.

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“In fact, I was pretty disappointed with a couple of articles last week that poked at us for not picking our Tongans to play Tonga, and I thought, ‘Well, we don’t pick our team on race. We pick our team on what’s best for the All Blacks’. So, the answer is no.”

Foster’s comments come days after Reece, who was born and raised in Fiji until he moved to New Zealand as a schoolboy in 2014, described the chance to play against his homeland as “a dream come true”.

“It’s going to be almost a dream come true if I get the opportunity to play on Saturday and play against some very close mates of mine that I grew up playing with,” Reece, who will start on the right wing this weekend, said on Tuesday.

Sotutu also has close ties to the Pacific Island nation, with his father, Waisake, playing 12 tests for Fiji in 1999, while Bower was born in Wellington to Fijian parents and rejected the chance to represent Fiji at the 2019 World Cup.

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After having made his test debut last week, Bower will be superseded as the newest All Blacks prop by Highlanders youngster Ethan de Groot, who will make his test debut from the bench on Saturday.

The 22-year-old Southland product was in outstanding form throughout Super Rugby and is primed for his first international appearance in front of a large contingent of friends and family from his hometown of Gore.

“There’ll be a few people coming up I’d say,” De Groot said on Thursday. “I found out on Tuesday [that I’d be playing] so I rang my parents.

“My old man’s in Australia at the moment, he left a couple of days after the team got named, but they’re just super proud. Mum’s coming up, so it’ll be cool.”

De Groot added he expects his Highlanders teammate Smith to carry on from where he left off in Super Rugby as he takes the field as All Blacks captain for the first time in his career.

“I think he’ll be more like the same, just chirpy as, heaps of energy on the field. I think he’ll be good for it.”

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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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