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'You're running out of time': Kiwi pundit calls for All Blacks to give Tuivasa-Sheck a shot

(Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

A Kiwi pundit has called for the All Blacks to call upon Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to solve their midfield crisis before it becomes too late for the rugby league convert.

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Tuivasa-Sheck is currently playing for Auckland in the NPC after being released from the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship squad.

The former New Zealand Warrior has been limited to just one bench appearance for the All Blacks during the Irish series in July.

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Sky Sport NZ’s Jeff McTainsh, a stand-in host of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, warned the All Blacks against using Jordie Barrett at second five for this week’s second Bledisloe test in Auckland when the 29-year-old Blues midfielder needs time in the saddle.

“Here’s my stance on it: you’re running out of time to look at Roger,” McTainsh told Ian Smith on his SENZ radio show.

“If you don’t give Roger a proper crack this weekend, then he might not go on the northern tour.

“They know what Jordie Barrett is about playing 12 for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby.

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“If you really want to see what a player can do in their black jersey, you need to give them time.

“As he (Barrett) is also going to be your starting fullback for the All Blacks, then why not give Roger a crack?”

The All Blacks are in need of a new No 12 after Crusader David Havili was concussed in Melbourne and reserve Quinn Tupaea suffered a long-term knee injury.

Jordie Barrett moved into the midfield as cover during the game but head coach Ian Foster has made it clear he sees the Hurricane as a fullback.

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That would present an opportunity for Tuivasa-Sheck to start his first test in front of his home crowd in Auckland.

McTainsh called for the former NRL star to be given another chance and pointed to the success of Sonny Bill Williams who made a successful transition into union.

“There’s more of an opportunity to go, he’s come across from rugby league, he’s been the talking of the town, maybe he’s got a few rough edges but most of them that cross over have.

“Look at Sonny Bill Williams when he came across to the All Blacks. I’m sure himself he’d say there was plenty to work on and he did, and he became a great number 12 with his own skillset which we hadn’t really seen.

“I think you give Roger a go, particularly if Jordie is the incumbent fullback.”

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2 Comments
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Brett 776 days ago

It’s not just rts that’s not getting a fair shake as foster continues to give his aged players every opportunity to prove they are still capable. Hoskins Sotutu never had a good game but how much of that was down to only holding tackle bags since June. There’s no substitute for game time. Time to start showing faith in the younger players

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Willie 778 days ago

Foster was waxing lyrical about Roger a few months ago.
Time to put up Fozzie.

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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Nickers 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

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