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As the rugby world counts down to the start of a World Cup that will likely smash records in terms of audience, revenue and indeed hype and hyperbole, the All Blacks, probably underdogs to beat France in Saturday’s opener, could do worse than to turn to Sam Whitelock for a little guidance.
Whitelock will earn his 147th cap when he runs out in the No.5 jersey against France in Paris, which means Richie McCaw’s record 148 for the All Blacks is potentially only a few weeks away.
Already a Crusaders legend and deep into his journey to becoming an All Black one, Whitelock, 34, is in his final campaign in the black jersey before he moves to France to play club rugby with Luke, the youngest of his three brothers.
Whitelock isn’t one to cultivate media attention. He weighs his words carefully and can be economical when using them but few among the All Blacks who spoke at this morning’s team naming press conference, including head coach Ian Foster, skipper Sam Cane, fullback Beauden Barrett, halfback Aaron Smith and loose forward Ardie Savea – experienced all – hit the target as accurately as their team’s lineout kingpin.
“It feels like that weird little calm before the storm,” he said. “We’re trying to rush slowly to get to the game which will be challenging as it always is.”
The All Blacks, missing Jordie Barrett at second-five due to a knee injury which is responding well to treatment (he has been replaced by Anton Lienert-Brown), appear confident that their preparation is as good as it can be – record defeat to the Springboks at Twickenham notwithstanding.
Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they? If nothing else, the impression must be given that everything is going to plan but no one will truly know until they enter the maelstrom at the Stade de France.
Foster appeared in relatively good humour and joked about spies. Cane stared intently ahead, Barrett spoke about what the players have been doing to relax (golf, cards, the usual) and Aaron Smith spoke about his match-up with France skipper Antoine Dupont. Savea opened with “bonjour tout le monde” and laughed, saying he had always wanted to greet a room that way.
Whitelock remained, as usual, business-like. “We’re pretty excited just to get stuck in rather than waiting and talking about a World Cup.”
There is no doubt that Barrett’s injury is a wrinkle, likewise Tyrel Lomax’s gashed leg, Brodie Retallick’s knee injury (which he travelled with), and Shannon Frizell’s hamstring problem.
As a result, Dalton Papali’i’s starting role at blindside flanker appears more of a compromise than anything – the All Blacks are effectively starting three openside flankers against one of the bigger packs in the game – but Emoni Narawa’s back problem, which will force him home, may give Foster and company an opportunity to bring a better balance to the squad.
The 18-15 split between forwards and backs always seemed problematic when Foster could easily have taken an extra forward at the expense of Narawa, who has played only one Test, or Caleb Clarke, and now it’s likely the selectors will call up either lock Josh Lord, loose forward Samipeni Finau (both in Paris along with Brad Weber as injury cover), or Ethan Blackadder.
Blackadder was in rampaging form for Tasman against Manawatu recently on his return from injury and would add a harder edge along with a specialist No.6 option to the loose forward mix. He can also cover lock.
Foster said he would decide after Saturday’s game but there appears little chance he will bring in a like-for-like replacement for Narawa when the All Blacks already have Will Jordan, Beauden Barrett and Mark Telea (all starting), along with Leicester Fainga’anuku (on the bench), Clarke, Damian McKenzie and perhaps David Havili as outside back options.
The All Blacks’ run to back-to-back World Cup glory in 2015 was marked by their friendly and open demeanour in front of the media and Foster and company have started this one in the same way.
It may or may not be significant in the long run. This match against France, the No.2 nation in the world, will be difficult, and a potential quarter-final against Ireland and South Africa just as challenging.
There will be huge pressure to match France’s physical presence without Retallick and the improved Frizell but they wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. And with Whitelock in the mood in his fourth World Cup, who knows?
“We’re in a good place,” Foster said. “We’ve had a good prep and we had a great Rugby Championship.
“If you look at the performances against South Africa, Australia, suddenly we’re World Cup favourites. Then we don’t do very well at Twickenham in a warm-up game and suddenly we’re the worst All Black team ever. We smile at that and we’re quite excited about where we are at.
“We know what’s coming but it’s going to be amplified. There’s an opening ceremony, it’s a special occasion. That’s what World Cups are about. We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, it’s a privilege to play this first game.
“We know there’s going to be an onslaught early but we just have to make sure we’re the ones involved in doing that as well.”
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