Cane wary of threat from Irish

All Blacks skipper Sam Cane may be nailed-on to start the opening July test against Ireland at No 7 – but that’s far from the attitude he’s taking into an important series for the New Zealanders.

Cane is the first to acknowledge he has a serious challenge for the starting openside position in the form of Blues No 7 Dalton Papalii who showcased his talents in a tantalising stint off the bench in Saturday’s Super Rugby Pacific final at Eden Park.

Papalii has had an outstanding season for the Blues, though missed the quarterfinal and semifinal with an untimely appendix operation. He returned via the bench for Saturday’s final, and played most of the second half, including one sensational burst upfield where he beat both Leicester Fainga’anuku and Will Jordan on a mazy run.

There are many who see Papalii as the form No 7 in the New Zealand game, and deserving of the starting spot for the three tests against Ireland, starting with Eden Park’s series opener on July 2.

It’s unlikely All Blacks coach Ian Foster is among them. Cane, who played well for the Chiefs before picking up a knee injury late in the campaign, will be seen as a starter, with Papalii either used off the bench, or potentially as a No 6 with Foster flagging repeatedly his belief the Aucklander could play test rugby in that position.

An All Blacks starting loose trio of Cane, Ardie Savea and Papalii, though potentially explosive, could also be seen as too lightweight to run up against a side of Ireland’s stature. All three are opensides by inclination, though Savea has been playing mostly at No8 in recent years.

Cane told his attitude for the two-week buildup to the opening test was he had to earn his starting spot, and that he was not guaranteed it with the skipper’s armband.

Cane confirmed he was ‘‘feeling good’’ after his MCL tweak late in the Chiefs campaign and felt ready to make whatever contribution required during an Ireland series that carried plenty of implications.

After finishing 2021 with backto-back test losses against Ireland and France, the All Blacks are aware of both the need to hit the ground running in 2022, and the challenge they face from an Irish side which has won three of its last five against the New Zealanders.

‘‘The way the Irish have played for the last few years, they’ve really moved up in terms of world rugby and the quality of rugby they put out has been so consistent. They’re now a genuine top contender,’’ the All Blacks captain said.

‘‘They’ve pretty much had our number as well … we’ve lost to them in Ireland twice and once in Chicago. It’s been 10 years since they came out here, and it’s going to be a massive series.’’

More so for the All Blacks, in many ways. Ireland are at the end of their long season, and it would be understandable if they were a little below their best. But the New Zealanders are coming off their worst season since 2009, have had serious questions raised about their forwards, and need to make an impressive start to 2022.

‘‘We never try and start slow,’’ said Cane of the theory that it usually takes the All Blacks a test or two to hit their stride. ‘‘It’s one of the challenges of coming from Super Rugby and trying to bring players from five teams together.

‘‘There won’t be much room for starting slow at all. The two weeks’ preparation we have will be really important.’’