Changes up front for ABs?
The All Blacks name their Rugby Championship squad next Monday. In the lead up, past All Blacks will combine to name a squad in a six-part Stuff series. Former prop Kees Meeuws kicks it off with a surprise or two in the front row.
Before anyone blows a gasket due to the absence of Dane Coles, step away from your keyboard, take a deep breath and study Kees Meeuws’ reasoning.
It’s not that the 42-test prop doesn’t rate him, he’d just rather the 31-year-old isn’t unnecessarily rushed back from a knee injury, despite All Blacks coach Steve Hansen indicating the rake should be fit for the second half of the championship.
Hansen named two hookers – Codie Taylor and Nathan Harris – and five props in his 33-man squad for the French series in June, although Highlanders hooker Liam Coltman trained with the squad as cover for Harris (maternity leave).
Meeuws is all for Coles training with the squad as a wider training group member, but wants to see him playing in the Mitre 10 Cup before donning the black jersey again on the end-ofyear tour.
‘‘Get him match-fit. Let him get comfortable again in the role and the position. Get him game time. We’re in no rush. We’re a year out from the World Cup, it’s our goal to get him fit for the World Cup.’’
With Coles out of the picture, Meeuws is keen to retain Crusader Codie Taylor as the starting hooker, while he’d rather Coltman over Harris. Including an appearance off the bench in the third test against France in Dunedin last month, 28-year-old Coltman has just two tests to his name.
‘‘For me, Liam Coltman is probably the most underrated player,’’ Meeuws said. ‘‘Codie Taylor is bloody awesome. Liam is just as good as Harris, but hasn’t been given the opportunities.
‘‘Those three guys are all great players, they’ve got their own strengths they bring to the game. [Coltman] is a leader, he’s super tough and he’s underrated.’’
Meeuws has also taken the selection axe to the props, dropping Tim Perry for 135kg behemoth Karl Tu’inukuafe, who replaced Perry for the French series after he tweaked a hamstring at a training camp.
It completed a remarkable rise up the ranks for new Blues recruit Tu’inukuafe, who played in all three tests against Les Bleus, and helped bulldoze their scrum with his first act in the black jersey.
‘‘When he got on he impressed. He’s super powerful at scum time,’’ Meeuws said.
‘‘When you go up against the South Africans you want a devastating scrummager and he is that.’’
While he was tempted to bring back Chiefs tighthead Nepo Laulala, who hasn’t played since breaking his forearm in March, Meeuws opted to stick with Ofa Tuungafasi and Jeffery ToomagaAllen behind ace Owen Franks.
‘‘I’m sure they will be talking to Nepo because he is a bloody great scrummager, too. But he just needs some game time,’’ Meeuws said. ‘‘One wise thing to do would be to keep him involved with the squad but to keep him playing in the Mitre 10 Cup.
‘‘They need two dedicated tightheads. Tighthead is harder to play, even though ToomagaAllen can actually play loosehead if he needs to, at a push. Ofa does a lot around the field. Scrummaging-wise, he’s getting better and better and better.’’