Loose forward Wallace Sititi is, by any objective measure, the All Blacks’ find of the year, a man for whom “the sky is the limit” according to assistant coach Jason Ryan and a player his teammates will be relying on to provide the velocity required to trouble England on Sunday.
“Velocity” was Ryan’s word this morning as he looked at how the All Blacks must start and finish the Test at Twickenham. Another the forwards’ coach used was “impact” and in Sititi, the 22-year-old in his first year with the All Blacks, Ryan has just the man.
Head coach Scott Robertson has been wary about talking the Chiefs’ loosie up too much this season.
Robertson was reluctant to praise Sititi after his exploits in last month’s Bledisloe Cup Test win in Wellington when the flanker opened up the Aussie defence in the middle of the park before sending a perfect pass which led to Sevu Reece’s try.
Perhaps it was an attempt to keep a lid on the hype building around Sititi but Ryan this morning showed no such reluctance. After all, Sititi has taken to Test rugby with such apparent ease that a few headlines probably won’t make much of a difference.
Ryan said Sititi had impressed the selectors halfway through this year’s Super Rugby season after a New Zealand Under-20s campaign during which he caught the eye with his ball carrying and a defensive ability that was “a real point of difference”.
“What we’ve been impressed about in the Test arena is just how natural he seems to be in the way he carries himself,” Ryan said.
“He’s got a lot of leadership qualities. He works really hard with Ardie [Savea] and the other loose forwards in wanting to grow his game, and there is the other side of it around his body and getting his conditioning right for Test level. The sky’s the limit, really, with Wally and we’ve been really impressed with his character.”
'Chaos' - watch TVNZ's analysis of the Test by Scotty Stevenson and Patrick McKendry here
The All Blacks selectors see Sititi as a No.8 who can play blindside flanker and while he started at the back of the scrum against Japan in Yokohama at the weekend, he will almost certainly revert back to the side to allow Savea to wear the No.8 jersey. Openside flanker Sam Cane will almost certainly complete the trio.
There is little difference between the positions in modern rugby and while Sititi’s ball carrying is one of his best attributes (along with tackling and ability to steal the ball at the breakdown), Savea’s isn’t too shabby either.
“The two of them add a massive amount of ball-carry power to our pack and he [Sititi] is such an explosive lineout jumper and gets off the ground so fast," Ryan said.
“That’s helped with our variation – you’ve got Ardie who can jump at the front of the lineout and Wallace around the back. They work hard together and compete against each other hard at training.”
The reference to the lineout was significant when looked at in the context of the two close victories over England in Dunedin and Auckland in July.
That aspect of the All Blacks’ set piece did not function well, with England lock Maro Itoje creating havoc, but it has improved since.
“They were our first two Tests of the year,” Ryan said by way of mitigation. “The group as a whole and the coaching group and everyone [was new], there were new calls. We’ve had time together now so I have no doubt we’ll bring cohesion… we probably know ourselves a little better.
“Around the set piece – the English, especially at home, are formidable and a challenge we really respect.
“England at their home ground is a different team so we know we have to start with a lot of velocity and high impact and get into the game really early.”
Steve Borthwick's men will be lying in wait for their chance for revenge in what is their first Test of their international season, while the All Blacks will arrive with a few more game kilometres in their legs.
As Ryan said, they will also have far more knowledge as a coaching and playing group and much of that would have been developed during their two close defeats to the world champions in South Africa.
“With those couple of Tests in Africa, you embrace the crowd and atmosphere and we exposed some young boys in those Tests who we believe will be better for it,” Ryan said.
“We’re looking forward to that. We know we have to be right on top of our game and start and finish the Tests really well.”
'Chaos' - watch TVNZ's analysis of the Test by Scotty Stevenson and Patrick McKendry here
Potential All Blacks team versus England
Twickenham, Sunday, 4.10am NZT
1. Ethan de Groot, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 4. Tupou Vai’i, 5. Scott Barrett (c), 6. Wallace Sititi, 7. Sam Cane, 8. Ardie Savea, 9. Cam Roigard, 10. Beauden Barrett, 11. Caleb Clarke, 12. Jordie Barrett, 13. Rieko Ioane, 14. Mark Tele’a. 15. Will Jordan. Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua, 17. Tamaiti Williams, 18. Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19. Patrick Tuipulotu, 20. Samipeni Finau, 21. Cortez Ratima, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown, 23. Damian McKenzie.
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