Return of the heavy hitters
Steve Hansen wondered aloud on Sunday if there was ‘‘such a thing’’ as an All Blacks’ first XV.
The New Zealand coach knew good and well there was, because four days later he’s named it.
The only issue in between appears to have been Sonny Bill Williams’ illness, which has seen the midfield back included in the reserves to meet South Africa at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday. Otherwise, injury permitting, this is the side that was always on the cards after last week’s 46-24 win over Argentina in Nelson.
Jordie Barrett returns to fullback, while Ryan Crotty, Rieko Ioane, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith, Sam Cane and Liam Squire are among the other notable inclusions. Williams’ health hiccup has seen Anton Lienert-Brown elevated from the bench to partner Crotty in midfield, while Sam Whitelock replaces the injured Brodie Retallick at lock.
The other shift that might generate discussion is that of Ben Smith to the right wing, to accommodate Jordie Barrett’s selection in the 15 jumper. Smith remains a hugely accomplished fullback, while Waisake Naholo has done well on both the right and left wings so far this season.
But Naholo drops out of the 23 completely, with halfback TJ Perenara, Williams and Damian McKenzie, who’ll primarily cover first five-eighth and fullback, the backline players on the bench.
The Springboks come into this game on the back of losses to Argentina and Australia, followed by the unsolicited admission from coach Rassie Erasmus that his job was on the line. Saturday has got ambush written all over it and the All Blacks have tried to plan accordingly.
‘‘We’ve had a good week’s preparation here in the capital, focusing on what we need to bring to the game through our skillsets, the intensity of our play and our energy,’’ Hansen said.
‘‘We know that we’ll have to be at our very best in all these areas to counter an opposition we know will be desperate following their back-to-back losses.
‘‘You just have to look at our last encounter in Cape Town to understand what kind of beast we will be facing,’’ he said.
New Zealand won that 25-24, but it took a huge amount out of them. Even with a fortnight to recover, they looked a tired side in losing their next test 23-18 to Australia in Brisbane.
‘‘Coaching is only part of it. You need a thick hide, a big personality and comfort at being the boss. It suits Hansen.’’
It’s easier to outline why Steve Hansen should leave the All Blacks job than understand why he would. By the time the next World Cup ends, Hansen will have been in charge as head coach for eight years, two terms that require even US presidents to pack their bags.
That length of tenure has encouraged some vague speculation about his successor – Ian Foster and Joe Schmidt are those most commonly mentioned – but there is something of the cart going before the horse here.
Until the All Blacks coach announces his decision to move on then, one question remains: why on earth would he?
The All Blacks are still progressing. Indeed, it looks like the British and Irish Lions tour in 2017 came a year too early for this crop.
Admittedly, the French and Wallabies provided patchwork resistance but you’d have to be on the churlish side not to see the improvements this year.
Some of it is simply being a year older. Could Ardie Savea have run over Agustin Creevy in 2017 in the way he did in Nelson last weekend? Was Damian Mckenzie ready to unleash his astonishing talents from the bench? Not quite.
But some of those gains must go down to Hansen and his team. Players are getting into the All Blacks and thriving. And so Hansen, seven years into the job as the big boss, is presiding over a side that is getting better and and can improve further still.
Why would you walk away from that? Why would you walk away from a team you think is still improving, from a group of players whose quality you never see the like of again?
Money? Surely those biscuits ads took care of that? The weather in the south of France? Possibly, but it’s a long way from the races.
Perhaps this is all irrelevant. Perhaps Hansen has given the nod to Steve Tew and is letting the NZ Rugby quietly go about securing his successor before making it all public.
Or perhaps it is the opposite. Perhaps Hansen would rather be carried out in a box than leave this job.
As a former coach of Wales he must be keenly aware how he has a position of power as a coach that other clipboard holders must look at with a mixture of envy and frustration.
He largely has mastery over the media, he has a strong relationship with his CEO and board and he has no rivals to speak of: Dave Rennie won two titles but saw no opening higher up and therefore went overseas.
Those set of circumstances are rare in professional sport. They may be unique.
There is something else about Hansen. This job he holds has a brutal set of demands.
Coaching, in fact, is only part of it. You need a thick hide, a big personality and comfort at being
the boss. It suits Hansen. He’s comfortably lobbing hand grenades at World Rugby when he feels the need. He gives New Zealand a presence.
There are reasons why he should go after 2019, of course.
Two terms as head coach may be enough. Either success or failure in Japan next year may be the perfect time to go.
Thinking altruistically, will Hansen subscribe to the school of thought that if he continued he would block the progress and development of others?
He may do. Then again, he may decide that as a relatively young man, in apparent rude health, giving up this All Blacks gig would be like giving up your favourite drop: it’s the sort of decision someone else makes for you.