All Blacks perform haka as the Springboks watch. Photo / Photosport
All Blacks perform haka as the Springboks watch. Photo / Photosport
COMMENT:
The logistics have been cleared for the Rugby Championship to go ahead this year, but right now, neither South Africa nor Argentina will be in a rush to come to New Zealand.
Those two nations are desperate to get back to playing football, but the fact they still haven'tmanaged it will be making them highly nervous about what they are seeing in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
They want to play the Rugby Championship, but not at any price. Not with their dignity on the line which it will be unless they can find a way to get at least six weeks, if not eight, of the same sort of bruising rugby under their belts that their fellow New Zealanders now have.
It was another weekend of priceless entertainment in New Zealand. Another weekend of dramatic, brave, high-intensity football that ebbed and flowed to the death on both occasions.
The quality was remarkable, as it has been in the past month, and this is what's counting against the Rugby Championship taking place.
Getting the Boks, Pumas and Wallabies here won't be the barrier. It's the lack of rugby the former two have played and putting undercooked athletes up against New Zealand's mass of in-form players would end in horrible results.
The Springboks could be left dejected if they don't soon get high-level rugby under their belts. Photo / Photosport
The Boks are world champions, but their athletes can't play like the world champions they are if they don't have any football behind them.
And time is running out. New Zealand's players are in the zone now. Nearly all of them. The All Blacks are currently facing multiple selection dilemmas in just about every position.
Playing only local derbies might not be sustainable financially, but there's no doubt it has given the best talent here a two-month window of football that has asked them the hardest questions and left them in great shape to play test rugby when the time comes.
The battle at Eden Park between the Blues and the Chiefs was of such ferocity that it might seem like a step down to play the Wallabies. The game just never stopped for breath and there were giants everywhere.
Ofa Tuungafasi is a different player to the one he was last year. He damaged the Chiefs just as he's damaged every team he has played this year.
Ofa Tuungafasi has gone to a new level for the Blues. Photo / Photosport
He can no longer be considered the last-quarter finisher by the All Blacks as he's been the past few years. He's a starter now, an important one as he's set new standards in regard to workrate, ball carrying and tackling.
Rieko Ioane and Ian Foster can fight out which jersey he wears for the All Blacks, but he'll be wearing one all right.
Ioane is back. Really back. His acceleration has returned. His confidence is obvious, desire all there, and while he didn't escape at Eden Park, he so often nearly did and his little blasts did their bit to ensure the pressure stayed on the Chiefs.
Rieko Ioane is back to his best. Photo / Photosport
And then there was Beauden Barrett, finally snugly attired in the No 10 jersey. He didn't pop the roof off as such, but he looked an awful lot more like the Barrett everyone knows.
Barrett is the consummate pro so he wears whichever jersey he's asked, makes all the right noises about it and finds a way to make himself useful on the field.
It's not his style to moan or even hint that he's bothered by his personal desire making way for that of the team.
He's had plenty of great games at fullback. He's never looked out of place there, arguably establishing himself as the best No 15 in the world last year when he was asked by the All Blacks to set himself up as the second playmaker.
Barrett has such an array of skills - and depth of confidence to apply them - that he's the sort of player who could look like he belongs in any position in the backline.
But in his head, he's a first-five. That's his happy place. The position which he feels is his natural home and there's no doubt he was a different sort of player at Eden Park with No 10 on his back.
Beauden Barrett looked more at home at No 10. Photo / Photosport
He was in a proactive mindset. More dynamic in his movement, more decisive in his decision-making and more inclined to be bold with his attack game.
Like Ioane, there were little flashes: half breaks and offloads that opened the Chiefs and created momentum and the Blues know they have to keep him in the No 10 jersey if they are to stay in the hunt as potential champions.
And that list of top performers could be extended to Peter Umaga-Jensen at the Hurricanes, Will Jordan at the Crusaders and Anton Lienert-Brown at the Chiefs.
The list could in fact be almost endless and the Boks and Pumas know the clock is ticking and know the dangers that lie ahead if they can't soon get on the field.
