All Blacks v France
Kick-off: 7:05pm Saturday 5 July
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Live blog updates on RNZ
While it wasn't quite a nuking in terms of squad selection, the dust is settling over the announcement of the first set of All Blacks yesterday. Scott Robertson and his staff have made some big calls and were on hand at Taranaki's Coastal Rugby Club to explain their thinking.
The most popular selection was that of 111kg midfielder Timoci Tavatavanawai. The Highlanders skipper was on the radar early in Super Rugby Pacific, but Robertson explained that Tavatavanawai wasn't hampered by his side's disappointing last place finish.
"I think it was the entirety of the season…just the ability for him to keep the consistency of his performance, and in big games, tough games, the back end the games. He started, he finished," said Robertson.
"He had hard minutes. He played a lot of rugby, one the highest. And for him to keep doing it over and over really impressed us."
Probably the biggest surprise was the omission of Ethan Blackadder, a decision that Robertson admitted wasn't easy. However, he admitted that due the expected attrition rate of the 13-test schedule, Blackadder will be involved.
"Ethan will be in and around us at some stage. You know, I'm just pleased he's got his body right and he's been consistently on the field."
Meanwhile, forwards coach Jason Ryan had special praise for the leadership qualities for Du'Plessis Kirifi, who has waited a long time to be back in an All Black squad. Kirifi was called in as injury cover by Ian Foster in 2020 but didn't make it onto the field.
"We believe that Du'Plessis has really earned his spot. It's a great story of someone who stuck at it," said Ryan.
"He's gone away, he's worked on himself and his game and he's been tremendous. And I think the leadership responsibilities he's had with Wellington and the Hurricanes brought the best out of him…. he was phenomenal in the All Black XV (last season), he led that side really well."
MC Laura McGoldrick interviews the All Blacks coaching staff Assistant Coach Scott Hansen, Head Coach Scott Robertson, and Assistant Coach Jason Ryan. Photo: Andy Jackson/Getty Images
The much criticised All Black rest and rotation policy seemed to go out the window this Super Rugby Pacific season, with many cases of players being on the field for the entirety of their availability. But Scott Hansen wasn't worried about the physical state of the squad and explained that the expectation on players now is to adapt to covering positions across the park.
"I think where the game is at the moment, you can have creativity around when you use your talent," he said.
"We're going to look at that within the All Black environment around how can we put our best people in the best spots. So an example of that is you might be wearing 12 or 14, but there may be a role where we need to align differently on the field. So we're going to be really open to how that looks within our game. What Super (Rugby Pacific) showed us, was the talent that we have around New Zealand and their ability to move around the field, whether it be to 10 to fullback and the like."
Hansen added that like Blackadder, the door is not closed on the other players that were not named.
"All those players have been spoken to, there's been care around what that looks like for them in the coming weeks. A number of them will still have the opportunity to come in, prepare with us and there are still opportunities through the year."
