Aisle be Back: All Blacks v Argentina 1, the NPC and R360

Du Plessis Kirifi lines up at openside flanker for the All Blacks on Sunday morning, whilst Brad Shields, Jackson Garden-Bachop and Julian Savea are all in the Lions team to play Otago on Sunday afternoon.

By Kevin McCarthy

Hot off the press! The All Black team to face Los Pumas in their opening match of the Rugby Championship. And yes, it’s a radically different team with some major changes,  signalling a willingness to experiment and lay the bedrock of future success.

Actually, no it isn’t, and here’s a few reasons why that is a good thing, in case you are feeling underwhelmed.

Argentina is not where you experiment (anymore),

The opening match of a championship you might aspire to win is not where you experiment.

When you’re working on a new way of playing, then fiddling with too much (players, styles) is not how to productively experiment.

And when  you want to build a culture of success and continuity, then experimenting aka rolling the dice is not a great idea.

People may point to Wallace Sititi as an example of chance promoting a potential star who likely would have not been fast-tracked into the hotseat otherwise. But serendipity and sudden injury crises are always just around the corner. In short other talent is going to come through.

The All Blacks really need to bed in their new wunderkind, Fabian Holland, as much as possible, and see whether Tupou Vaai at 6 is a keeper.  Let Billy Proctor keep finding his feet at centre and see whether Reiko Ioane can recreate himself on the wing. And can Dupes prove himself at 7 internationally.

In short, continuity doesn’t mean stasis. There’s still going on.

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Heartening news to see Josh Moorby will be back in the yellow next season and the one after. He was a personal and fan favourite either at fullback or wing, a guy able to find the tryline, and definitely to be chalked down as an asset.

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The Wellington Lions bounced back in game against Waikato and now sit firmly mid-table. Otago, who visit this weekend, are above them on the table, so the  match is important to stay attached to the leading bunch, even so early in the NPC.

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I keep peripherally hearing or reading about R360, variously touted as a series of marquee clubs playing in a sort of global super league.

I don’t know what the name is meant to signify. I do know that where my family came from (the Falkland Islands), the joke was what’s for tea? The answer was 365, aka  mutton. Mutton, mutton, mutton every day.

Will R360 emerge as the F1 of the sport? Your guess is as good as mine. Personally, I suspect wherever such things are launched, then petrodollar sportswashing money is never far behind.

Actually, rugby already has a popular global brand, not perfect, but not too shabby. It’s called international test rugby, fuelled by history, and tribalism Too boring for you?

I vehemently wish R360  none of the best.