Wholesale changes ‘silly’
All Blacks set to stick largely to winning combination for Perth test
Once bitten, twice shy. All Blacks assistant coach John Plumtree has made it clear they won’t be making wholesale changes for the Rugby Championship clash against the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday.
Not even after back-to-back victories already in 2021 over the same Wallabies they will face at Optus Stadium on Sunday. Not even after a record score put up last time out in a 57-22 shellacking at Eden Park that tucked the Bledisloe Cup away for another year and gave the All Blacks the perfect start to the Rugby Championship.
The New Zealanders will, of course, be forced to make some changes.
The absence of expectant dads Sam Whitelock, Aaron Smith and Richie Mo’unga from this touring party – with uncertainty around when they will be seen again – ensures that. That trio, all key senior All Blacks, started last time out at Eden Park and will have to be replaced for the next three internationals, at the least.
But last year, in similar circumstances, the All Blacks went a little crazy in the wake of their outstanding 43-5 victory over the Wallabies in Sydney and the final matchup against the same foes a week later in Brisbane, making 10 changes in total to the starting XV (eight personnel and two positional shifts).
The upshot was a shock 24-22 defeat to a Wallabies side that recognised a crack in the door and barged right through it.
Forewarned, though, is forearmed. The All Blacks only started their test buildup in Perth on Tuesday and Plumtree gave a strong indication in a zoom call with New Zealand media yesterday that change would be kept to a minimum this week.
‘‘We’ve had a couple of weeks’ break, and we’d be silly to make wholesale changes because of the fact some of our players haven’t had a lot of rugby,’’ he said. ‘‘Some have had a little bit of NPC. We stuck with pretty much the same group through the two Bledisloe games in New Zealand and we’ve got to be conscious of that.
‘‘We’ll have to make some changes, yes, but settling on combinations we’ve been using is probably the smartest thing to do right now. We’re away for a long period of time, and we’ve got a pretty small squad.’’
So, with TJ Perenara likely to get the nod ahead of Brad Weber to start at halfback, Beauden Barrett a certainty to step back into the No 10 role he made his own post-2015 and Scott Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu (probably in that order) set to fill the big boots of Whitelock in the second row, where else might the All Blacks look to flip a player or two?
Plumtree confirmed senior midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown was fit again, so don’t be surprised to see him back at centre and Rieko Ioane returning to the left wing. Maybe there is a switch-up at fullback where Jordie Barrett deserves a chance to stake his claim after Damian McKenzie’s selection in the first two Bledisloes.
Plumtree indicated there could well be a Barrett brothers theme to the All Blacks’ backline for Sunday. ‘‘It’s certainly an option,’’ he said.