Squire gets help from another hard man
Liam Squire, the All Blacks loose forward with the no-nonsense mullet, is well aware of the shoes he has to fill but his aggressive mindset offers the perfect starting point.
On the face of it Elliot Dixon was the natural replacement for the injured Jerome Kaino this week. Dixon plays six for the Highlanders; Squire alongside him at eight.
But in one succinct casual statement, Squire summed up his major upside for the All Blacks.
Defence is one of Squire’s strengths. He loves getting off the line; he loves contact and he loves knocking people over. His thirst to dish out physical pain will, no doubt, be of use against the Pumas in Buenos Aires on Sunday (NZT).
‘‘It always excites you when you get to put in big tackles,’’ Squire said. ‘‘In defence your eyes light up when you get the chance to make those.
‘‘I’ve been lucky over the last couple of months to train alongside Jerome each week so I’ve been getting tips off him. It makes that transition a little bit easier but I know there’s going to be the expectations to fill that jersey like he does so it’s a challenge.’’
The fact Squire has played three tests off the bench at blindside this season to Dixon’s one start in Dunedin also worked in his favour. All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said Squire had adapted quicker to the test arena.
‘‘We think Liam gives us more at this stage, probably in the lineout more than anything else,’’ Hansen said.
‘‘He’s a bit better athlete and is probably feeling more comfortable at this stage too. Elliot is someone who takes a bit more time to get more comfortable in the area so we’d rather bring him off the bench.’’
Starting from the get-go is a different dynamic to coming off the bench and Squire must adjust his game accordingly. As we saw in the early stages of Ardie Savea’s first test start at openside flanker against the Springboks in Christchurch, sometimes it takes a period for inexperienced players to find their feet.
‘‘Coming off the bench is pretty hectic,’’ Squire said.
‘‘The ball doesn’t slow down and the last 20 minutes when I’ve come on we’ve been up by a few points and the other team doesn’t want to stop the play so you’ve got to catch up quite quick.
‘‘Six and eight they are pretty similar positions.
‘‘When I started out playing provincial and Super Rugby I was playing six and then moved to eight a couple of years ago so I’m quite familiar with the six role. Eight in this team you’ve got to cover what Read does around the field which is a heavy workload. With the six role you get to hang out with the width and score tries with [Dane ]Coles.’’