I have to say I've never been the biggest fan of the Cake
Tin. The home ground of the Wellington
Hurricanes and the venue for tomorrow's Bledisloe game is a giant, circular
band of metal and yellow seats which are so far away from the action you're
almost in the car park. Compared to some
of the other grounds in New Zealand it's soulless, unimaginative and has an
atmosphere that could be surpassed by spending a night in a morgue. But I predict with confidence that the Tin
will be bubbling over come Saturday night.
Why? Not only is it a Bledisloe
game, but everybody's favourite pantomime villain is coming to town.
In the first match in Sydney we saw some stunning tries and
breathtaking skill, and yet the loudest noise of the day was reserved for the
booing of Quade Cooper whenever he was on the big screen, caught the ball, or
even thought about going near the ball.
I'm working on the assumption that the vast majority of those booing
would be Kiwis, given his history with the men in black and in particular
Richie McCaw, but the noise was deafening – how much louder is it going to be when
the game is actually played south of the Tasman?!
Of course, it wasn't the boo boys who brought about the 29 –
47 loss for the Wallabies last week. The
hosts, despite having a promising looking side on paper – based entirely on
form in Super Rugby – did not gel as quickly as coach Ewan McKenzie would have
liked and, despite impressive bursts from the excellent Adam Ashley Cooper,
Will Genia and Michael Hooper, lacked any real impetus in attack. The vast majority of the tries against them
were down to individual mistakes, but the key issue in attack was that the
Wallabies very rarely had somebody attacking the line. Matt Toomua, making his debut, looked nervous
and happy to pass on the responsibility as soon as he got it, without any
variation in his game – but this did improve with introduction of Quade Cooper,
who took the ball flat to the line and flicked a couple of delicious inside
passes to keep the defences guessing.
McKenzie has stuck with Toomua for this week, but he'll be desperate for
his 10 to relax and show the form he has against Kiwi sides in Super Rugby this
year.
For the All Blacks, however, it was a case of same-old,
same-old. Even when they lose giant,
bone-crunching specimens of blindsides like Jerome Kaino (to Japan) and Liam
Messam (to injury), they manage to replace them with…a giant, bone-crunching specimen
of a blindside, in the shape of Steven Luatua.
It's just not fair. But all the key
ingredients to a classic All Blacks performance were there in abundance in
Sydney on Saturday – power, speed and precision, not to mention some touches of
utter class. Israel Dagg had a
relatively quiet game but his touches with ball in hand were mesmeric when it
came to creating space, in particular for Ben Smith's second try. Is there a weakness to be exploited? Well,
possibly. The All Blacks are
going through a fly-half injury crisis of such World Cup 2011 proportions that
I'm surprised Stephen Donald hasn't flown over with his boots readily
laced. Instead, it's Crusader
utility-back Tom Taylor who shall wear the hallowed All Black 10 jersey – a smart
operator he may be, but he doesn't possess the natural instinct or ruthlessness
of Carter or Cruden. Perhaps, as a
newbie, he could be the weak link?
Maybe, but history has shown that the All Blacks don't really do weak links.
Of course, the fly half Kiwis will be most excited about
setting eyes on will be the one on the bench for the Wallabies. We all love a pantomime villain, and we all
love a show – and that's exactly what the Cake Tin will get on Saturday.
New Zealand Team
News
Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett are both out injured so
Steve Hansen has opted to give Tom Taylor his Test debut. With Taylor in at
fly-half, Colin Slade is named on the bench as his back-up. Brodie Retallick is
also handed a start in place of the injured Luke Romano. In other changes to
the replacements, Charles Piutau, Jeremy Thrush, Dane Coles and Wyatt Crockett
are all called up.
Starting Line-up: Israel Dagg; Ben Smith, Conrad Smith, Ma'a
Nonu, Julian Savea; Tom Taylor, Aaron Smith; Kieran Read, Richie McCaw
(captain), Steven Luatua; Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick; Owen Franks, Andrew
Hore, Tony Woodcock.
Subs: Dane Coles,
Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Jeremy Thrush, Sam Cane, Tawera Kerr-Barlow,
Colin Slade, Charles Piutau.
Key Player
Aaron Smith. Playing
for the Highlanders was a pretty thankless task this season, whilst playing
alongside the likes of Dan Carter or Aaron Cruden isn't much better – rather
like playing next to the big kid at under 10 level with everyone shouting
"Just pass him the ball". But steadily,
the young scrum half has increased in influence in a position that has been
arguably the one area of weakness since the great Justin Marshall retired. Against the Wallabies his delivery was crisp,
his kicking solid, and his threat around the base of the breakdown had the home
pack consistently back-peddling. With a
new 10 outside him, he now has to be the boss and take charge of proceedings,
as well as making sure he gives Mr Taylor as comfortable a ride as possible
with some slick service – the All Blacks cannot afford to have that 9-10
relationship severed.
Australia Team
News
With Hugh McMeniman ruled out for six months through injury,
Scott Fardy is named at blindside. And in the only other change to the
Wallabies' 23-man squad, Kane Douglas replaces Fardy on their bench.
Starting Line up:
Jesse Mogg; Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Christian Leali'ifano, James
O'Connor; Matt Toomua, Will Genia; Ben Mowen, Michael Hooper, Scott Fardy;
James Horwill (captain), Rob Simmons; Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore, James
Slipper.
Subs: Saia
Fainga'a, Scott Sio, Sekope Kepu, Kane Douglas, Liam Gill, Nic White, Quade
Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani.
Key Player
Scott Fardy. The 29
year old may be a bit of a late bloomer in Test rugby but that doesn't mean he
can't make a big impact on his first start.
There are few places less forgiving to learn the ropes at international
level than New Zealand, but if the big blindside carries on his form from Super
Rugby then he should fit right in. The
only way to beat the Kiwis is to rattle their cages and surprise them with raw
physicality, outmuscling them at the breakdown and fighting tooth and nail for every
loose ball. As a number 6, Fardy has to
take the role of enforcer and take the powerful Steven Luatua head on – if he
gets in the faces of the All Blacks, then who knows…he may start a panic.
Key Battle
Tom Taylor v Matt Toomua.
The Canterbury fly half has filled in admirably for Dan Carter for the
Crusaders over recent years, but he's never been blessed with raw attacking
instincts and he's been playing more at 12 and 15 this year. He will be rusty, and nervous, but he will be
comforted by the knowledge that his opposite number is only 60 minutes more
experienced in the international arena.
Matt Toomua was in great form for the Brumbies this year but looked like
he soiled himself every time he got the ball, shovelling it on straight away
without straightening the attack or threatening the defensive line. McKenzie has made a big call in keeping the
youngster in despite Quade Cooper's impressive cameo last week, and with bags
of talent in both sets of backlines, there will be a heck of a lot of pressure
on the newbies to relax into their natural game and to pull the trigger when
the opportunities arise.
Prediction
They say a week is a long time in sport. Well, it’s not that long – I can't see the
Wallabies recovering from an 18 point humbling and sneaking out a win against
the All Blacks in their own backyard. I
do, however, think that we'll see a much better performance this time around –
the players in gold have had one more week to get used to new combinations, and
the news that the Kiwis will have a rookie fly half will have provided some
encouragement. The Cake Tin may not be
an intimidating venue but the Kiwis very, very rarely lose on their patch and
the way their pack throttled their opposite numbers last week makes me think
that, barring a calamitous chain of events, we'll see yet another All Blacks
win (yawn) and the Bledisloe staying south of the Tasman. New
Zealand by 11.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Share your views