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'We've got a big six foot eight lock coming in, and a six foot nine lock on the bench'
By Ben Smith
The All Blacks have named an inexperienced locking group to take on Argentina but head coach Scott Robertson is excited by the āfresh bloodā coming through the position.
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Sam Darry will start for the All Blacks for the first time after debuting in San Diego against Fiji while Tupou Vaaāi packs down next to him. Off the bench will be four Test lock Josh Lord.
Robertson explained that Blues lock Patrick Tuipulotu succumbed to a calf injury while captain Scott Barrett was earlier ruled out for both Argentina Tests.
āObviously with Patrick [Tuipulotu], he had a calf injury, so Sam Darry comes in and Josh Lord has come back from a couple of games,ā Robertson explained.
āSo perfect timing for us. Thereās some fresh blood coming through with the second rows, the locks. Samās been impressive since heās come in.
āAnd Josh has, you know, wore the black jersey before, and heāll get straight up to the mark and standard.ā
Some might be concerned with the All Blacks locking stocks in the post-Whitelock and Retallick but Robertson was adamant that they have the talent to fill the void.
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On state of the locks position he highlighted the tremendous athletes that the All Blacks have coming in.
āItās exciting. I think is exciting. Weāve got a big six foot eight lock coming in, and a six foot nine lock on the bench, and theyāre good athletes,ā Robertson said.
āWhen someone retires, someone gets an opportunity, and itās their opportunity, so we set them up the best we can to perform, and theyāve done themselves as well.
āTheyāve owned the role and the opportunity this week, and on Saturday night with a performance, they can, you know, keep that jersey.ā
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Perfect timing, was he being sarcastic? šš
this apparently didn't mean s##t in today's game. Well done Pumas!
The All Blacks second row of Vaaāi and Darry have more caps than Argentinaās second row as surprising as it may be. Vaaāi will be the most experienced lock of the four starting locks.
Time for Vaaāi to step up and dominate the lineout and be that big bruising ball carrying second row that Barrett is.
The time is now for Vaaāi, he is in his third season now. The time for grooming is over.
Looking at the lock selections there seems to be a focus on the aerial side of things and then worry about ball carrying, clean outs, maul defense etc for later.
Our insistence on having athletes that can play an open style of rugby first and foremost comes at a cost when opposition sides decide to play a forward orientated, possession and territorial based game plan. We need to take our "learnings " from our losses during the last cycle and a.) have a plan b for when we meet this style of rugby and b.) identify forwards especially, that we can develop who when necessary can be included to combat that style.
A "horses for courses " philosophy can be beneficial if used effectively.
Interesting all this talk of meat and potatoes coming through.
Tall doesn't mean much unless it's accompanied by pure strength, bulk - upperbody & core. None of these 3 locks have displayed this type of power, as yet. I expect the Argies pack will try to bully us with that well known prime Los Pumas beef. Hopefully we'll be up for the challenge.
They can try all they like. It wont work. Vaii, Lord and Darry are quality.