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Will the next All Blacks blindside flanker please stand up?
While the evidence isn’t necessarily conclusive, Shannon Frizell’s three-game run against South Africa and Argentina in the All Blacks No 6 jersey this year suggests that he’s viewed by the selectors as the nation’s first-choice blindside flanker.
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It’s effectively a race between him and Scott Barrett to wear the jersey that’s never been satisfactorily filled since Jerome Kaino left it vacant following the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour, with Akira Ioane’s chances few and far between in 2022.
And with 28-year-old Frizell set to depart New Zealand’s shores after next year’s flagship event, the men in charge of the All Blacks in 2024 will have to find a new man to don the No 6 – with England currently set to be their first opposition of the new season.
The state of Ioane’s contract is currently unknown but it’s possible he joined his brother last year in signing an extension until the end of 2023. At 27 years of age, he could easily still push for a starting spot at the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
Barrett, meanwhile, is also off-contract following next year’s tournament but with both Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick set to depart, he will likely be eyeing up a permanent spot in the second row for the next World Cup cycle.
That leaves Dalton Papali’i, Ethan Blackadder and Luke Jacobson as the other recent All Blacks who have been tasked with playing on the blindside flank.
The former sees himself as a specialist No 7 and with both Sam Cane and Ardie Savea on long-term contracts with New Zealand Rugby, might struggle for opportunities in the first-choice loose forward trio.
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The latter, meanwhile, fell out of favour with the selectors this year after jumping between three positions for the Chiefs throughout 2022 and will likely focus firmly on the number 8 role in 2023.
Although a major injury prevented Blackadder from suiting up for NZ this year, his regular selections in 2021 – regardless of which flank he occupied – illustrates his high standing with the current regime and a return to the national fold could be on the cards for 2023. Whether it’s Ian Foster or Scott Robertson in charge of the All Blacks following the World Cup, Blackadder will have his backers and he likely could find himself in pole position to occupy the No 6 jersey for many years to come.
Tom Robinson at the Blues has always been a fan favourite but has never cracked the national squad and his time has probably come and gone.
In Chiefs territory, youngsters Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Samipeni Finau and Tupou Vaa’i will likely share the blindside flanker role in 2023 and, thanks to spending many of their formative years in the second row, would add an extra lineout option to the All Blacks pack.
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Frizell’s Highlanders teammate Marino Mikaele-Tu’u is another option – although he will likely spend the better part of the coming season at the back of the scrum.
In fact, it could be that Blackadder’s greatest challenge comes from within his own franchise.
Cullen Grace, a man who earned one fleeting appearance off the bench for the All Blacks in 2020, started the 2022 season slowly after spending much of the previous year sidelined through injury. Come the Super Rugby Pacific finals, however, Grace was arguably the most in-form loose forward in the country and played a massive part in the Crusaders’ title-winning performance against the Blues at Eden Park.
Grace missed out on selection in the NZ squad for July and then injury once again curtailed his year but with former Crusaders assistant Jason Ryan now in charge of the All Blacks forwards, you suspect that Grace would have been quickly brought back into the mix had he been fit and able.
Grace, like Mikaele-Tu’u and Jacobson, ostensibly prefers the No 8 role over blindside flanker but the differences between the two positions are fading by the season. Should the All Blacks loose their two most experienced lineout operators following 2023, as is expected, Grace’s expertise in that role could give him the upper hand over someone like Blackadder, who is better on the floor but can’t compete with Grace in the air.
There’s another young flanker at the Crusaders who will have also well and truly forced his way onto the selectors’ radars. 21-year-old Dominic Gardiner was a relative unknown at the beginning of the year but two breakout performances for the All Blacks XV on their inaugural northern tour certainly raised his profile.
So while there’s no obvious successor on the blindside flank for the All Blacks come 2024, the cupboard is hardly bare. As the two more experienced options, Ethan Blackadder and Akira Ioane could have the advantage over some of their competitors for the position but a couple of big Super Rugby Pacific season between now and then could quickly upset the apple cart.
