Hinton’s list of endangered All Blacks

Marc Hinton over at Rugby Heaven has a very interesting article in which he lists the All Blacks who he believes are in danger of losing their spots after their disastrous tour of South Africa.

If Graham Henry is to retain any credibility in the wake of arguably the worst back-to-back All Black performances in the professional era, then the coach has to bring out the selection axe ahead of Bledisloe II in Sydney.It’s as simple as that.

Henry has a fortnight to ponder personnel changes ahead of the Wallabies rematch, but make them he must as he searches for his team’s missing mojo. To prevaricate now will see the coach lose the last vestiges of support he has from a wavering public.

Actually I’m not sure if Henry has any support left outside of the cheerleaders who would support the All Blacks even after a loss to Pakistan.

The coach simply can’t afford not to react to the South African shambles. It wasn’t that the All Blacks lost those twin matches in the Republic, but how they lost them. Between the schoolboy errors, the braindead rugby and the complete absence of poise under pressure, the once-mighty New Zealanders resembled a rugby version of Michael Campbell.

This is a particularly salient point, we can handle All Black losses but when the manner of those losses is so dreadful, that’s when the New Zealand rugby public gets upset.

Where had their game gone? Had aliens invaded their bodies too?

As good a theory as any.

So, accepting that Henry has to make some changes as he searches for a spark to reignite his side’s season, the question is where do they come?

Wing Joe Rokocoko surely tops the endangered All Blacks list after a performance which confirms his complete lack of form, but he’s got some company.

I think everybody’s figured this out by now. So you can be almost certain Rokocoko will be in the team to take on the Wallabies.

Henry and his lieutenants must also be taking a pretty close look at hooker, loose forward, halfback and first five, while tighthead prop will also come under the microscope when a fit-again Neemia Tialata comes back into the mix.

There are issues at all these positions, so far Donald seems to be the best of a bad bunch at first five, Andrew Hore seems to be the only option at hooker after the injuries to Keven Mealamu and Corey Flynn, while I remain unconvinced that Jerome Kaino is the answer on the side of the scrum.

First things first. Rokocoko must go. That surely is a no-brainer.

Yeah but who said the coaching staff have a brain between them. It’s been obvious that Rokocoko has not been up to it for a while now and they’ve continued to pick him.

In should come Hosea Gear, who deserves his chance, though some consideration could also be given to Cory Jane who didn’t exactly disgrace himself against the Wallabies in Auckland. Lelia Masaga would be a left-field callup if it was decided to go the Extreme Makeover route.

They couldn’t do much worse. In fact I think Jane was remarkably unlucky to be dropped after the Wallabies game.

Halfback has also become a conundrum. Supposedly the All Blacks were spoiled for choice there with their three-headed monster.

Instead they now have three No 9s simply struggling for form, with no one appearing too happy either with their lot, the game plan or what the heck they’re supposed to deliver out there on the field.

Brendon Leonard is out of sorts, and his sporadic opportunities are not allowing him to build form. Jimmy Cowan appeared baffled by his instructions last weekend, and may also be struggling to accept a role that’s been whittled down to 40-45 minutes.

And Piri Weepu, the supposed impact man off the bench, has looked out of sorts in that role the last fortnight.

Exactly, the half back wine has turned into vinegar and we’re all stuck drinking it.

What to do then? They could start Weepu and give him his chance, but that would involve a major back-flip in thinking which is something these coaches are reluctant to do. How often have you heard them admit they’ve got something wrong?

They couldn’t admit they got it wrong against France in 2007, they’re not going to start now.

First five must come into the equation, if only because you have a player of Dan Carter’s class hovering on the fringes now.

My initial thoughts prior to the Durban disaster were that Donald should be left to carry on his progress in the test arena and Carter given more time to rebuild his fitness and confidence in the provincial game.

But the weekend has changed my thinking. Donald continues to look so uncertain at times in his backline direction, that Carter must now be all but a certainty to return.

Carter needs at least one if not two more Air New Zealand Cup outings before he could be considered for the call up, and he’s going to get those against Auckland and Waikato in the next couple of weeks. Then the selectors will need to reassess the situation.

Lastly comes the loose forward mix. Richie McCaw is safe, that’s a given, even if he was outplayed by Boks comer Heinrich Brussow at the weekend.

But his mates are not so assured in an area where the All Blacks badly need some impact. Rodney So’oialo has been struggling at No 8 and consideration must be given to starting Kieran Read there.

And as solid as Jerome Kaino has been on defence at blindside, a fit-again Adam Thomson would surely offer much more attacking spark in his best position against the Wallabies.

Looks like I’m not alone in my thinking here. Kieran Read will make an excellent number eight, doing the hard grafting work that Reuben Thorne used to do, allowing flashy players like McCaw and Thomson to do what they do best. I actually think this couple be a formidable loose forward trio if they ever get the chance to take the field.

MARC HINTON’S ALL BLACKS SQUAD: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Hosea Gear, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Sititveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Piri Weepu; 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (capt), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock. Reserves: Aled de Malmanche, Neemia Tialata, Jason Eaton, Rodney So’oialo, Jimmy Cowan, Luke McAlister, Cory Jane.

Glad to see someone putting their neck out and picking a team. It’s hard to argue with any of the selection there really, although I would swap Jane and Gear simply because I think Jane offers more under the high ball, an area we a sadly lacking, and provides a second option for kicking from the back, assuming the All Blacks take up kicking to relieve pressure again.

Similar Posts:

• Hinton and Johnstone on AB loosies
• Junior All Blacks Squad Named
• Denial is not just a river in Egypt
• Donald’s move to pivot role shows All Blacks ready to attack
• All Blacks team for second test against France named

The Hinton’s list of endangered All Blacks by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.