Cane ready to take on Kamikaze Kids
All Blacks No 7 Sam Cane will get a closer view of Eddie Jones’ Kamikaze Kids when he flies into the first ruck in the World Cup semifinal on Saturday night.
England coach Jones is expected to start specialist fetchers Tom Curry and Sam Underhill, who he has dubbed the Kamikaze Kids, against the All Blacks and no doubt hopes they can pilfer mouth-watering turnover ball, as well as tackle anything that twitches in a black jersey at Yokohama Stadium.
The trend of starting specialist opensiders on either of the scrum has gained popularity this year, something Cane knows all about.
Cane has been joined in the All Blacks’ forward pack by Ardie Savea, who now wears the No 6 jersey and has proven to be a valuable asset with his highenergy output around the paddock.
The Wallabies, who also started two fetchers in Michael Hooper and David Pocock – dubbed Pooper – when they lost 40-16 to England in the quarterfinal last weekend, already have an insight about the talents of Curry and Underhill after their team succumbed in Oita.
Between them Curry and Underhill made 36 tackles, and later a beaming Jones dubbed them the Kamikaze Kids. Now for their duel against the All Blacks flankers in the semi, which could be something to savour.
Removing the option of starting a larger speciman at No 6 might make some conservative selectors wince, but Cane could understand the logic.
‘‘It probably shows where the game has evolved slightly, where the three [loose forwards] – particularly the flankers – roles don’t differ too much,’’ Cane said.
‘‘It just depends, I suppose, on a coach and what make-up he wants from his loose forwards too.
‘‘Teams are so structured and probably the best chance to attack from unstructured is turnover ball, so you might increase your chances ever so slightly.’’
The All Blacks won’t need to be reminded about the third member of the English back row, Billy Vunipola. Although the latter’s form has not been top drawer at this tournament, he can hurt opponents with his crunching tackles and ball carries.
Right now, however, the pinup stars of the English pack are the two flankers.
The All Blacks are expected to retain the team that started the 46-14 win over Ireland in the quarterfinal in Tokyo last weekend, and if Matt Todd, another opensider, hasn’t recovered from a sore shoulder he will likely be replaced by Shannon Frizell on the bench.
Cane, 27, will once again wear the No 7 jersey although for how long is uncertain.
Coach Steve Hansen surprisingly replaced him at halftime against Ireland, electing to send lock Scott Barrett on as a tactical change.
Although there was some risk involved in taking 66-test veteran Cane off, Hansen did so in the knowledge that the All Blacks were ahead 22-0 at the break.
Hansen will want his back row combination of captain and No Kieran Read, Cane and Savea to not only prove they can mix it up with the northern counterparts at the breakdowns and on defence, but with their ball running skills also.
While Cane and Savea have only started four times alongside each other in the new-look back row, they have gained an understanding of how to operate in tandem with no glaring errors.
‘‘I would love to think we have room for improvement, absolutely,’’ Cane said. ‘‘Ardie has been working really hard on some of his set-piece work, which a No 6 is required to do a little bit more. But, pretty much, bar the set piece our roles are pretty interchangeable.
‘‘Whether that is attack or defence. Things have been going all right.’’