A good news, Brad news scenario
Foster picks his first squad of 2022, the Pulse find no life in the Stars, NZ can't dig out troublesome Root... and more troublesome puns.
It seemed sensible to wait for the first All Blacks squad of 2022, moving year, to be named before nudging your inboxes, but after poring over the names it occurred to me I have no strong thoughts on the squad (newcomers in bold).
Props: George Bower, Nepo Laulala, Aidan Ross, Angus Ta’avao, Karl Tu’inukuafe, Ofa Tu’ungafasi.
Hookers: Dane Coles, Codie Taylor, Samisoni Taukei’aho.
Locks: Scott Barrett, Josh Lord, Brodie Retallick, Tupou Vaa’i, Sam Whitelock.
Loose forwards: Sam Cane (c), Akira Ioane, Dalton Papalii, Ardie Savea, Hoskins Sotutu, Pita Gus Sowakula.
Halfbacks: Finlay Christie, Folau Fakatava, Aaron Smith.
First fives: Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo’unga, Stephen Perofeta.
Midfielders: Jack Goodhue, David Havili, Rieko Ioane, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Quinn Tupaea.
Outside backs: Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Will Jordan, Sevu Reece.
The absence of TJ Perenara is probably the most eye-catching, though I believe Brad Weber is unluckier.
“Nines, particularly, there’s been a couple of good names – particularly TJ and Brad, who have missed out,” Ian Foster said. “But we have had five nines playing really well.’’
Whenever I have watched the Chiefs this year, Weber’s influence appears to be on a par with that of Aaron Smith at the Highlanders. Having said that, Folau Fakatava projects as a special talent and a more dynamic presence off the bench, which, let’s face it, you’re going to spend a lot of time sitting on with Smith in the team.
Other notable omissions include hooker Asafo Aumua, props Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax, loose forwards Shannon Frizell and Luke Jacobson, wing George Bridge and utility Braydon Ennor. All played for the All Blacks last year.
There seems to be some angst in some quarters over the make-up of the props but chiming in on those choices would carry as much weight as my take on the macroeconomic conditions of Central America and the Caribbean.
For me, the biggest pinch point is the midfield, with a lot of decent but uninspiring players vying for a spot at No12 next to Rieko Ioane. Decent never used to be good enough for the All Blacks and I’m intrigued to see if fullback Jordie Barrett has a hit out at second-five before the season ends.
Handily, the NZ Herald has included pen portraits of the six newcomers.
Less handily, but perhaps more interestingly, Stuff’s Paul Cully names his unlucky five.
Intriguingly, TVNZ’s Patrick McKendry tells how the selection of Pita Gus Sowakula reveals the type of game Foster wants to play.
The first of three tests against Ireland kicks off at Eden Park on July 2.
ANZ Championship final
Central Pulse 56
Auckland Stars 37
After the excitement of the Mystics-Stars semifinal I was expecting more drama from this, but it appeared the Stars played their final a few days earlier.
This feeling only grew when Stars’ leadership made noises in the post-match about how proud they were to be there when they could have been watching the final at home.
The moments immediately following an embarrassingly lop-sided defeat are not the best time to extract wisdom, but I’m not sure they’re the right time for “just happy to be here” sentiment either.
Veteran defender Anna Harrison, with her last chance to pick up a winners’ medal, summed it up better than her coach and captain when she said the Pulse went for them at the sound of the opening whistle and the match was effectively over by quarter time.
The Central Pulse thumped them. It’s impossible to say the score flattered them. If anything they took the foot off the pedal and ran their bench to keep it even remotely respectable.
Kelly Jury was the best player on the court and you could make a case that she’s the most improved player in the country over the past 12 months. She dominated Maia Wilson whether the Silver Ferns shooter was paired with Amorangi Malesala or Jamie Hume.
At the other end of the court Aliyah Dunn (44/47) and Tiana Metuarau (11/13) seemed unruffled by Elle Temu and Harrison, no matter whether the latter was in athletic or theatrics mode.
With an eye to the Commonwealth Games’ squad, the trials for which are being held this week, it will be interesting to see whether Pulse’s dynamic midcourter Maddy Gordon has done enough in a limited season to force her way into Noeline Taurua’s affections. On the other side of that coin, the Silver Ferns coach will surely be concerned with the final no-shows of Wilson and Gina Crampton, who have been fixtures in the starting seven.
International netball might be a different beast, but a domestic final is probably as close as you can come to replicating the pointy end of the Commonwealth Games.
Taurua has been handed a pointer as to who might handle that pressure better, and who might just be happy to be there.
Notes from Trent Bridge #3
NZ 553
ENGLAND 473-5
I was tempted to write something clever and Twitterish like “Joe Root - that’s it, that’s the Notes”, but it is clear from some of the correspondence I have received via SMS, WhatsApp and email, that there is a familiar elephant in the room that still needs addressing.
What were Gary Stead, Kane Williamson and Tom Latham thinking when they left out Neil Wagner both here and at Lord’s? That’s the gist of the mail I’ve received.
I did write briefly about this yesterday in NFTB#2, which was for paying subscribers. It is repeated for convenience below in italics.
Kyle Jamieson was in every sense head and shoulders above the rest in London and had to play. Tim Southee was very good in the first innings and even though Joe Root made him look like a net bowler in the second, his leadership and brilliant hands gave him a selection edge.
In my mind, that left Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Matt Henry fighting for two spots.
Wagner, due to his record, his point of difference and the likelihood this would be a dry surface, would have been the first of those three I picked, but there are people paid far more than me to make those decisions and they disagreed.
This is speculative but I’m not sure Henry gets picked in the XI if Williamson is captain, but Stead is a big fan of the Cantabrian. He has been in rich form in the past year, picking up 20 wickets including 7-23 against South Africa on his home ground last summer.
With the benefit of having seen another long day of toil in the field, it seems a) that it was another poor misread of conditions by Stead and his brainstrust and, b) Wagner - and Patel for that matter - would have been very handy in these conditions.
What we don’t know, however, is how Wagner has been bowling in the nets or the one warm-up match he played at Chelmsford, where he went wicketless in 19 overs.
Just on numbers alone, however, it does seem bizarre that he has been ignored. He has a better average and strike rate than Southee, Boult and Henry and although his numbers against England in England are slightly worse than his career stats, they’re still good.
Certainly, if you did nothing but fiddle with the abacus, it makes little sense to prefer Henry (test bowling average approaching 40 and a strike rate 22 balls higher than Wagner’s), and despite his reputation as a specialist in English conditions his numbers are still inferior on that metric.
Kyle Jamieson’s back injury may pave the way for a Wagner return in the third and final test, but it seems that by then the best New Zealand can hope for is a series draw after a deflating day in the field in Nottingham.
As I might have mentioned, Joe Root eh, what a player, described here by fellow centurion Ollie Pope as England’s greatest ever.
PIC OF THE WEEKEND
Black Fern Ayesha Leti-I’iga attempts to evade the tackle of Canada’s Elissa Alarie during the Pacific Four Series match at Waitakere’s Trusts Arena. New Zealand won 28-0, scoring four tries, two to Ruby Tui.
N(ot) R(eally) L(ooking)
How good were the Warriors in the first 15 minutes of each half!?
Apart from that, nothing to see here. Move on…
