Kaino remains on outer
Loose forward joins All Blacks at training but return to test rugby stays up in the air
Jerome Kaino has rejoined the All Blacks but, for now at least, his return to the test rugby arena remains uncertain. With Hurricanes loose forward Vaea Fifita nursing shoulder bruising after his standout efforts against the Pumas in New Plymouth, Kaino joined the All Blacks at the start of this week and trained with the team at the Blues training base yesterday.
All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster confirmed Kaino would make his second appearance for Auckland, who play Southland in Invercargill on Friday in the NPC, and therefore won’t feature against the Springboks the following day in Albany.
After leaving the All Blacks three weeks ago in Sydney to return home and deal with an off-field personal matter, Kaino must still prove to management his frame of mind is such that he is ready to return. Even then, the form of Liam Squire and Fifita make the situation difficult.
“We’ve had on-going conversations with him,” Foster said. “He’s had one game of Mitre 10 Cup and he’ll have another one as he’s been out of the game for a little while. He’s got to show us he’s in the right condition and shape to come back but it’s great having him back.”
Fifita will be assessed as the week progresses, as will Israel Dagg who is nursing an on-going knee complaint. Dagg failed a head injury assessment test against the Pumas but is believed to have improved in that area. But if his knee does not recover, Nehe MilnerSkudder may take his place, with Rieko Ioane expected to return to the left wing.
“It was quite a starting debut wasn’t it so he’s a bit sore,” Foster said of Fifita. “We’ll get a better handle on it tomorrow.” Despite Fifita’s headline performance — Sam Whitelock suggesting he’d have sore hamstrings if he could run that fast — Squire is expected to be preferred at blindside as the All Blacks revert to their strongest available side for the Boks. On that basis, Sam Cane and Ardie Savea will also switch to their traditional roles in this team, at No 7 and No 6 respectively. Collectively, the All Blacks loose forwards and pack need to tidy up their work at the breakdown after the Pumas exposed them there. Too often in New Plymouth the Pumas were more urgent in getting over the ball. Once in place, the likes of Pumas captain Agustin Creevy are incredibly difficult to move. By targeting the breakdown the Pumas found success slowing and disrupting the All Blacks ball, making life challenging for TJ Perenara from the base. Just as the Boks are expected to target Damian McKenzie at the back after his struggles under the high ball so, too, will their loose forwards look to follow Argentina’s lead and play spoilers at the breakdown. “We knew they had a lot of good jacklers in their team,” Savea said, using a neologism for players who can pilfer the ball at the tackle. “South Africa have similar guys in their team so we’ve got to make sure we sort that out so we can play some footy.” So much of the All Blacks’ game revolves around pace. Aaron Smith’s return at halfback should help in this regard but the more the Boks limit the speed of the All Blacks ruck ball, the better chance their defence has of pressuring Beauden Barrett who is having issues combating collective line-speed and individual shooters.