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Will Jordan on whether he’d beat Boks Kolbe and Arendse in 100m dash

Will Jordan of New Zealand in action during the Castle Lager Rugby Championship match between South Africa and New Zealand at Emirates Airline Park on August 31, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

13 tortoises are roaming the gardens behind the All Blacks’ team hotel in Cape Town. Tortoises with numbers two, three and seven were spotted trekking across the grass on Tuesday afternoon before Will Jordan sat down for an interview.

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It just made sense that the first question asked of Jordan had to do with the reptiles, with the All Blacks competing against each other to be the first person to take a selfie with all 13. For those wondering, Beauden Barrett was among those “looking for a photo” on Monday.

This playful competition among the nation’s best male rugby-playing talent mirrors their far more serious preparation for the Springboks. Just as some players are looking to win the tortoise challenge, each All Black is also competing for a spot in the starting side.

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Jordan started on the right wing last weekend opposite Kurt-Lee Arendse, and two-time Rugby World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe wore No. 14 on the right edge for the Boks. Those three men are some of the fastest athletes in Test rugby at the moment.

Whether it’s standing tall in defence, changing the game with a try or leaping up to claim a high ball, Jordan is constantly in competition with the world’s best. But, when asked whether he’d beat Arendse and Kolbe in a 100-metre dash, the All Black couldn’t help but smile.

“I don’t know. I guess it’d be interesting,” Jordan told RugbyPass.

“It’s always hard to tell on a rugby field. You don’t get too many opportunities to open up and see the top-end pace.

“They’re certainly pretty quick, particularly off the mark. Over a 100, not sure. Maybe someone will get an intercept this week and we’ll find out.”

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Other than the trio of Jordan, Arendse and Kolbe, there are a lot of great wingers around the rugby world. Scotland has Duban van der Merwe who has scored some freakish tries, Ireland has James Lowe, and Damian Penaud almost always stands out for France.

But, if you were to keep writing down names of the world’s best wingers, it’d be pretty hard to look past all four speedsters currently in New Zealand’s squad. Jordan started in the No. 14 jersey last week while Caleb Clarke lined up on the left edge.

On the bench, last year’s World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year, Mark Tele’a, looked to add impact after being named as the team’s final reserve. Tele’a has a habit of breaking tackles and scoring stunning tries in both Super Rugby Pacific and at Test level.

Finally, Sevu Reece is a bit of a forgotten force within the All Blacks. The 27-year-old missed last year’s Rugby World Cup through injury, and while he returned to the Test arena for the first four All Blacks Tests of the year, it won’t be easy for the flyer to return to the First XV.

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“It’s good fun. There’s some real characters out there on the wing,” Jordan explained.

“Sevu’s a guy I’ve played a lot with and brings a lot of energy and power to the position, and I thought against England he was fantastic.

“Obviously, Mark over the last couple of years has really nailed his opportunities at Test footy. Such a hard man to tackle – breaks defenders at will.

Match Summary

4
Penalty Goals
1
3
Tries
4
2
Conversions
2
0
Drop Goals
0
106
Carries
100
3
Line Breaks
7
12
Turnovers Lost
15
7
Turnovers Won
3

“Caleb, I’ve been really impressed with him over the last few weeks. Probably struggled a little bit last year, didn’t get as many opportunities as he wanted, but this year’s been fantastic. Two tries on the weekend but the stuff he did in the air, competing there, winning us the ball back, and such a great carry off first phase.

“It’s great. The good thing is we’ve all good different skill sets so we all bring something different to the table and it does certainly push you to keep performing well because you know if you don’t there’s someone there ready to go.”

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Comments

13 Comments
G
GrahamVF 105 days ago

Easy peasy mate. All you have to do to beat Cheslin is run the 100m faster than 10.7. That's his official time in an athletics meeting. Don't forget his cousin broke Johnson's 4oom record and is still the WR holder for the 400m. Don't think the Barrett boys have that kind of speed pedigree.

G
GM 105 days ago

It's the out-of-hand kicking that is a worry with Jordan. Allied to the fact that you'd then probably have a back three in Tele'a, Jordan and Clarke without a recognised kicker amongst them. On the other hand, some of BB's kicks have been lamentable, so maybe there's not that much to lose by giving him a shot. I can see someone like Nana-Seturo, who has a James Lowe-like left boot, replacing a Sevu Reece for the northern tour.

T
Toaster 105 days ago

I’d like to see Narawa play again

Dropped like a sack of spuds


Now killing it at centre for BOP

B
BM 105 days ago

Quickest guy on that field was Grant Williams

T
Toaster 105 days ago

Well Mounga ran down Kolbe for a start


TBF I couldn’t believe Jordies pace

Kriel who is quick and KLA couldn’t catch him

D
DA 104 days ago

corner flagging, different angle and one player with a ball avoiding players and one not. So for a start baseless comment

T
Terry24 106 days ago

Jordan is correct: the two SA wings probably quicker off the mark but he might be close in top speed which might take him a bit longer to reach. It's not just a matter acceleration or of top speed, its a matter of having the strenght/endurance to run very fast with all the other running, tackling etc going on in the legs.

That's why 100 metre sprinters are not rugby wingers. In the old days a winger/back might even have had the aerobic appearance of a 1500m runner as the aerobic requirement was much larger compared to physical power.

D
DP 106 days ago

Put this guy at 15 and Dmac/Barrett at 10.

R
Rooksie 105 days ago

Yes but not sure on BB or Dmac

T
Toaster 105 days ago

It probably will happen but I’m still worried about Jordan at FB

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Tom 4 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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