Telea's absence deprives the All Blacks of one of their best attackers, but to condone his breach would hurt them in different ways, writes Patrick McKendry in Paris.
Mark Telea’s dramatic axing from the All Blacks raises questions – most notably, what breach of protocol he was guilty of which ruled him out of starting on the left wing in the World Cup quarter-final against Ireland.
It was "minor", according to head coach Ian Foster, which would put missing a curfew or a team meeting into the frame.
But while details were short at the team’s hotel located in a soulless business park about 25km east of the centre of Paris yesterday (accommodation, by the way, selected by the tournament organisers), one thing is apparently clear: no matter the importance of this knockout match against the world’s No.1 team, the All Blacks aren’t prepared to compromise on below-standard behaviour.
1News sources say senior players, including skipper Sam Cane, were involved in the decision to leave Telea out of the match-day squad.
His absence will undoubtedly weaken the All Blacks, or at the very least deprive them of options.
The 26-year-old Blues player was a near certainty to wear the No.11 jersey against Ireland. His two tries in the All Blacks' opening World Cup defeat to France in Paris highlighted his form and the statistics show he is one of the most elusive attackers in the team, if not the tournament.
Leicester Fainga’anuku, who scored three tries in the recent demolition of Uruguay, is a powerful replacement but may not have made the match-day squad had Telea been in the right place at the right time.
Fainga’anuku has enormous value on the reserves bench for his power close to the ruck and ability to play wing or, more recently, second-five or centre, but midfield specialist Anton Lienert-Brown may have had an edge there. As it is, Lienert-Brown has been named as backs cover along with Finlay Christie and Damian McKenzie.
A connected issue is that the All Blacks have selected players with workrate and defensive ability for the challenge presented by a powerful and highly structured opponent.
Young props Tamaiti Williams and Fletcher Newell, both 23, have been named on the reserves bench ahead of the far more experienced Ofa Tu’ungafasi and Nepo Laulala, due in part to their greater agility around the fringes where Ireland are likely to attack at the Stade de France on Sunday morning.
Similarly, according to Foster, Finlay Christie’s defensive ability got him the nod ahead on the bench over the rising Cam Roigard.
Telea is lighter on his feet than Fainga’anuku and more easily able to turn on defence. Indeed, Fainga’anuku being skinned on the outside by Italy’s right wing early in that 96-17 thrashing in Lyon was a failure which would have been difficult for the 24-year-old to review.
Another question the Telea incident raises is the mindset of the team as it enters a match against the best team in the world currently on a 17-match winning streak, but probably not in the way an English journalist assumed when he queried it yesterday.
The assumption may have been that a player allegedly being out late before a match of such importance raises issues of complacency, but Foster’s reply probably turned that assumption around.
"I think it says volumes about what we believe and what we stand for," he said. "I think that speaks volumes for the team, that we're willing to make that sort of decision."
Many in the wider rugby world probably tire of hearing about the All Blacks' heritage and standards but dropping one of your best attacking weapons days out from the team’s most important match since the last World Cup is proof positive that they live by them. It may hurt them on Sunday but help them overall.
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