All Black changes in pipeline this week
Whitelock, Smith, Barrett candidates for rest as Hansen juggles his resources All Whites look to keep cool in Honiara cauldron
The big hint has been dropped that the All Blacks will look to start managing workloads of senior players this week and take the chance to field some different faces against the Pumas.
Change is on the agenda but what head coach Steve Hansen hasn't made make clear is the extent of the selectors' plans.
Hansen said well before the British & Irish Lions arrived in June, that he intended to tackle 2017 a little differently having become aware of how hard it is for individuals to hold their form and energy through to the end of November. He has suggested that the selection management strategy will focus more on the back half of the season when the All Blacks play seven tests in nine weeks and travel round the world twice.
But a home test against Argentina represents an opportunity for some of that thinking to be implemented in New Plymouth. The Pumas are a side the All Blacks respect, but they are currently ranked ninth in the world, creating a little room for Hansen to consider his options, both about who starts and who is on the bench.
The obvious candidates to be rested this week are Sam Whitelock, Aaron Smith and Beauden Barrett.
Scott Barrett could start in place of the former, with Whitelock given the week off. TJ Perenara and Lima Sopoaga could come in for the latter two — who both drop to the bench — and be given the chance to build their combination and also gain invaluable experience in managing the game plan.
‘‘I wouldn't call whatever we do experimenting,’’ said Hansen. ‘‘If you go out there and you have an All Blacks jersey on then you are a good player.
‘‘It is well documented that we have a big season and we are not even halfway through it and we have still got a lot of travelling to do.
‘‘So at some point we are going to have to be smart about who we select.’’
Some of the desire to change the team will be tempered a little no doubt by the relative lack of game time some regular starters have had.
Dane Coles has missed most of the season due to injury and the desire is presumably to keep him going.
Liam Squire is another who is short of game time having missed eight weeks with a broken thumb. He's still trying to find his feet at this level so potentially he will start again with Vaea Fifita given a place on the bench.
With Owen Franks having been forced out of action ahead of the Dunedin clash, the Nepo Laulala/Ofa Tu'ungafasi combination at tighthead has already taken its first steps.
The back three is definitely going to change in makeup as Ben Smith has begun his sabbatical. Israel Dagg is going to come back into the side, the question now is whether it's at fullback or wing.
The preference is to use him on the wing and that will give the selectors the choice of handing a test debut to David Havili or persevering with Damian McKenzie, who for all his obvious talents and excitement, was loose in periods in both tests against the Wallabies.
‘‘It's a fine line,’’ said Hansen on trying to balance the need to win, keep players fresh and have in mind the dangers the Springboks pose next week and therefore the need for continuity of performance.
‘‘On one hand you're looking to grow your squad. On the other hand you're trying to grow combinations.
‘‘If you chuck in all the travelling as well there's a lot of juggling. Whatever we do it will cause some conversations so that will be good for the game.
‘‘The expectation will be that we will field a very good side and we'll go from there. It doesn't matter who plays, the expectation is we play well and that won't change.’’ The All Whites are confident they can deal with heat, humidity and hostility of Honiara.
In New Zealand football circles, war stories abound of the challenges of playing in the Solomons Islands’ capital, recognised as one of the most difficult places to go in the Oceania region.
Most of those tales spring from the 2012 Oceania Nations Cup, which was dubbed the ‘Horror in Honiara’ after the All Whites failed to even make the final.
They were beaten 2-0 by New Caledonia in their semifinal, in one of the biggest shocks in New Zealand football history.
Tuesday’s challenge will be different — it’s not a tournament situation like 2012 and the All Whites have a commanding 6-1 lead — but the heat, humidity and intimidating crowd will all be factors.
“I’ve got bad memories there — that’s the worst one for me,” said seasoned midfielder Michael McGlinchey.
“The conditions, the heat, the crowd gets on their side . . . you need to stay focused and concentrate the whole time.”
Today’s match will be played at 3pm (NZT), the same timing as 2012 when temperatures got as high as 40C and pitch-side humidity was close to 100 per cent.
“With the humidity especially, I don’t think people understand how difficult it is,” said McGlinchey.
“At halftime you wear an ice vest to cool your body. It’s very hard to deal with. But we need to be smart on the ball and make sure they do all the running.”
The Solomon Islands team struggled on the slick Albany surface last Friday (several members of their team went shopping for new boots with longer studs before the match) and desperately missed the impetus and attacking threat of Micah Lea’alafa, arguably their best player who was unable to travel to New Zealand because of a visa issue.
Across Anthony Hudson’s tenure the All Whites have a solid record in the Islands. A depleted squad was unconvincing but unbeaten at the 2016 Nations Cup, conceding only one goal during their five matches in Papua New Guinea. They’ve been similarly miserly during this qualifying series, with a scoreless draw in New Caledonia followed by 2-0 win in Fiji.
New Zealand have never lost to the Solomon Islands, in 11 previous encounters, dating back to 1980. However, the last four matches played outside this country have been close.