Frizell and Hemopo must show mettle in battle of loosies
This Saturday could signal the end of the phoney war for a couple of fringe All Blacks who will be asked to deliver compelling proof they are good enough to stay with the national team.
That may come across as a little cold and dramatic but it is the nature of the beast as the likes of Shannon Frizell and Jackson Hemopo have been with the squad since June and played just once.
They need to expand their body of work and a test against Argentina in Nelson seems as good a place as any to get these two involved.
The coaches like them as athletes, like the way they have trained the house down in recent weeks, but the moment of reckoning is coming as these two are going to have to convert promise into performance.
It’s probable both will be in the match day 23 to play Argentina in Nelson and both will be under a bit of pressure to deliver because they are holding places in arguably the most competitive position in the All Blacks set-up.
The inescapable truth for Hemopo and Frizell is that the All Blacks need answers about them as they try to piece together their loose forward puzzle.
They need to find out whether these two are genuine test players and realistic candidates to take to the World Cup.
At the moment, all the signs are good. In the one test Frizell played, he started to look quite capable. Same with Hemopo, who had only 15 minutes against France but managed to make himself visible in that time.
Frizell is a supremely well put together specimen with the sort of frame that could probably carry 115kg without a struggle and allow him to keep his ranginess.
He is direct and urgent — all good qualities for a blindside who may evolve into aNo8.
Hemopo has impressed the coaches with the way he has fitted in and they like his aggressiveness and ability to punch above his weight in the contact zones. He’s a bruiser with a big heart and that works well whether he is used at lock or blindside.
But looking the part and being the part are not the same and the test against the Pumas in Nelson is likely to sit as a major landmark in their respective careers.
The All Blacks coaches won’t expect these two to set the world on fire, but they will need to see the basics done well.
They will need to see both men keep their composure, run and tackle hard and confront the Pumas physically.
They will need evidence of the indisputable kind that these two are the sort of characters who could be taken to Japan next year and crunch and grind their way through 80 intense minutes of knockout football.
The pressure to deliver is partly coming from the impending time constraints. It is barely more than a year until the World Cup kicks off and opportunities for fringe players to impress are limited.
There is this weekend’s game against Argentina, probably the return fixture in Buenos Aires, and the tests against Japan and Italy.
It’s a ruthless world where there is little room for error — one poor performance now could kill a World Cup dream for an emerging hopeful.
One poor performance and doubt can creep into the selectors’ thinking.
And it has to be that way because there are 11 loose forwards at the moment chasing either five or six World Cup spots.
Potential won’t cut it any more — not when there are players such as Vaea Fifita, Matt Todd, Jordan Taufua and Akira Ioane hoping to make it to Japan, as well as the near certainties such as Kieran Read, Sam Cane, Liam Squire and Ardie Savea.
This is why the All Blacks talk of internal pressure being greater than external.
It takes depth of character to confront the cut-throat reality and use it as positive motivation but that’s what both Frizell and Hemopo need to do this weekend if they get the chance.