Samuel Whitelock of the All Blacks reacts during the Australian Wallabies v New Zealand All Blacks Tri Nations rugby union match at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Samuel Whitelock of the All Blacks reacts during the Australian Wallabies v New Zealand All Blacks Tri Nations rugby union match at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
OPINION:
Head coaches can deliver a few things; advice, support, friendly encouragement and an occasional kick up a collective backside and the latter is what Ian Foster has landed on the All Blacks with his selection for the test against Argentina on Saturday.
Foster has named his strongest possible side,with the exception of lock Scott Barrett, who may have assumed he would get a run off the reserves bench, and halfback TJ Perenara, Aaron Smith's perennial back-up.
For Foster it is an entirely appropriate course of action and one that reinforces his messages after the at-times shambolic performance against the Wallabies in Brisbane.
Foster described it as disappointing while praising Australia for making more of their opportunities.
He was again gracious – he also personally congratulated Wallabies prop James Slipper for reaching the 100-test milestone - but behind the scenes the language would have been far more direct because, after the promising signs at Eden Park and Sydney's ANZ Stadium, this was a big setback.
It was unacceptable in terms of behaviour – the rising to the Wallabies' bait and giving away needless penalties, including Scott Barrett's blatantly cynical ruck offence in front of his posts in the final quarter, the pushed passes and the general lack of attention to detail – and execution.
Beauden Barrett makes a break with Richie Mo'unga in support. New Zealand All Blacks v Australian Wallabies. Bledisloe Cup rugby union test match. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
It also needed addressing as Foster, only four tests into his reign, is moulding this squad into his own image and therefore there needed to be consequences for those who squandered opportunities.
Another experimental-type selection wouldn't have sent the right message, although it is highly likely several big names will be travelling home to New Zealand after this test at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium and before the second and final test against the Pumas in Newcastle in a fortnight.
So Scott Barrett is out and so is Perenara, a player celebrating a rare start who lost his cool several times in the face of Aussie provocation. A week earlier Wallabies No9 Nic White was too easily put off his game by the All Blacks, and clearly the Australians took more from that and the many other lessons they received from the 43-5 defeat than Foster's men did.
When it comes down to it, the power of selection is the only real power head coaches have, a point rammed home by Wallabies coach Dave Rennie in the aftermath of the 27-7 Eden Park defeat which would have come as a huge disappointment after the encouraging draw a week earlier in Wellington.
Rennie was shocked at the amount of tackles the Wallabies missed in that test as Caleb Clarke and Beauden Barrett cut them to shreds and asked about a potential remedy, the Kiwi replied: "Selection can fix that, can't it?"
Scott Barrett and Perenara are likely to get another chance in a fortnight once Whitelock and Aaron Smith are presumably included in the group heading home early. Foster played down their exclusions, saying they were "rotation" decisions after heavy recent workloads.
But the message has been sent. There is a pecking order and there are consequences for bad decision-making and unacceptable execution.
Richie Mo'unga looks to claim possession. Bledisloe Cup rugby union test match. Australia Wallabies v New Zealand All Blacks. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
One of the few truly hard done by is loose forward Akira Ioane, a man who withstood several setbacks to win his first test cap last weekend and who was sent from the field after 20 minutes to allow for a replacement for the dismissed Ofa Tuungafasi.
Ioane looked to be building into the test nicely but now finds himself out in the cold once again, a case of taking yet another one for the team.
"There's no hiding the fact that we're disappointed with how we played last week and we need to continue in the areas we have done well," Foster said. "We felt as a team that we'd go to those combinations that worked well at Eden Park and Sydney and that's probably come at a cost for Akira."
