Middlemen do the job
New-look midfield pleases Foster
If it ain’t broke . . . the All Blacks have given a strong hint they don’t aim to veer too far from the Anton Lienert-Brown-Jack Goodhue midfield combination that played so well for the vast majority of Bledisloe I in Sydney.
Assistant coach Ian Foster said after their training hitout in Auckland yesterday they were not bringing any midfield cover into the squad in the wake of Ryan Crotty’s departure to deal with the head knock he received in the 12th minute of Saturday’s 38-13 victory. It was his sixth in the last year-and-a-half and has some fearing for his future in the game.
But with Sonny Bill Williams still not quite right (he did train yesterday) and Vince Aso (whom the coaches regard as their next midfielder off the rank) dealing with a major wrist problem, the All Blacks will push on with the trio of specialists they have on hand, with Jordie Barrett lurking as a potential fourth option.
That should see LienertBrown, providing he recovers from a leg knock in Sydney, and Goodhue reconvene the combination that began when LienertBrown came on for Crotty after his ‘‘friendly fire’’ head collision with Goodhue.
That should leave Ngani Laumape, the other option in the No 12 jersey, to step into the bench role, with Foster confirming that the Wellington cannonball would be part of the 23 for Saturday night’s sold-out potential Bledisloe Cup clincher against the Wallabies.
‘‘We’re pretty happy with the three we’ve got,’’ Foster said of his midfield options. ‘‘When Anton first came in [to the All Blacks] he played a bit at 12 and a bit at 13 and people probably took that for granted, but he has adapted to test-match level in both positions really well.
‘‘It’s been a while since we put him back to 12, but he played there against Canterbury and Otago and that proved quite beneficial. We’re delighted with way he handled it and delighted with his combination with Jack.
‘‘Jack played a really sound, level-headed game for a young man in just his second test on such a big occasion. They’ve both banked a lot of confidence from that game and Ngani is training the house down.’’
Foster was impressed by Goodhue’s clarity in Sydney. ‘‘He wasn’t over-thinking things and wasn’t trying to make up options on the ball. He just did what was obvious.’’
Lienert-Brown had a light training hitout yesterday as he dealt with a blow to the leg from Sydney but Foster was confident there would be ‘‘no concerns’’.
‘‘We’ll keep an eye on Anton’s leg which is trending really good and make a call later in the week. Whichever way it is, there will be three midfielders on the park through that 80 minutes.’’
There is a call to be made in the back three, too, with star wing Rieko Ioane out with a hamstring strain. That should be a tossup between Jordie Barrett or Nehe Milner-Skudder, with Damian McKenzie also in the mix.
Milner-Skudder might just have the inside running after the 2015 World Cup winner came through a strong showing for Manawatu last Saturday.
Foster admitted the call to release him for that match was now looking an inspired one.
‘‘He needed a good runaround on the wing . . . his instincts were sharp, he looked good on the outside, and it was just a shame they beat Waikato.’’
Tighthead prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi also trained ‘‘reasonably fully’’ and was a ‘‘possibility’’ to return to the match day 23 at Eden Park.
The All Blacks were also planning as though they would see a different Wallabies outfit on Saturday night than the one which fell off 40 tackles and muffed seven lineouts en route to a second-half shellacking.
‘‘We know we’re playing a wounded beast, and we know if we don’t play at the levels we need to we’ll be in trouble,’’ added Foster.