Peter Lampp is an experienced sports commentator and former sports editor based in Manawatū.
OPINION: We’d have to assume next year’s messiah, Scott Robertson, would have selected Northcote’s finest, Shaun Stevenson, as a prime pick in his first All Blacks’ squad.
Let’s just hope Razor, the All Blacks’ coach-elect, got straight on the blower and implored Shooter to stick around and not take any calls from Wayne Bennett at the Redcliffe Dolphins.
Last year Stevenson was flown to Queensland to meet Bennett at his farm near Toowoomba.
To benefit rugby league, Ian Foster and the Blues have already wasted the brilliance of Roger Tuivasa Sheck.
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* All Blacks Barometer: Who’s in Stuff’s 33-man squad ahead of the World Cup in France?
The massive irony is that Stevenson, supposedly defensively deficient in Foster’s eyes, is that he is injury cover for Mark Telea who defensively was chasing shadows in the Super Rugby semifinal at Christchurch.
All right, the entire nation can see Will Jordan will, or should be, at fullback in the upcoming tests, but Stevenson can easily fit on the wing.
Fiona Goodall/Getty Images
Shaun Stevenson is injury cover for Mark Telea (file photo).
They keep going for Caleb Clarke who barrels out of the defensive line and when it comes to altering course, he’s like the Titanic throwing out a canoe anchor.
There will be bombardments of up-and-unders at the World Cup and Stevenson gobbles those up. They’ll shunt Beauden Barrett from the bench to fullback, but both he and brother Jordie have been off their oats of late.
By picking a squad of 36, upwards of a dozen will be training fodder.
Judging by the way in which Razor’s Crusaders dismembered the Blues, Robertson and Scott Hansen would have made darned useful All Black coaches this year.
We must wonder whether All Blacks’ assistant-elect, Leon McDonald, is on the same tactical wavelength as Razor because Robertson produced coaching par excellence with that rush defence and counter-rucking.
He and his cadre will probably cook up another antidote to nullify the Chiefs in the final.
Fozzie, as the ingratiating Sky Breakdown cheerleaders refer to him, would do well to take that tactic to France.
It was similar to what England did to Steve Hansen’s lot at the World Cup in Japan.
Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
Manawatū’s Drew Wild (left) may be up and running in time for the Turbos’ game against Wellington (file photo).
The Christchurch suffocation gave Richie Mo’unga an armchair ride.
The Blues weren’t allowed time to breathe and it’s questionable whether the Blues’ All Blacks props, Nepo Laulala and Ofa Tuúngafasi, are the gents for such a high-paced game.
Having Foster, as the chairman of selectors is worrying, perhaps offset by him having voices of reason in his ear in the form of Joe Schmidt and Jason Ryan
But again we have Sam Cane back as captain, which means he must start, which again puts the loose trio out of whack because Ardie Savea (my captain) must also start and that will be at No 8.
It means having to carry two openside flankers in the lineout. No 8 requires a bruiser and it seems that is Luke Jacobsen now that the highly-skilled, if less physical, Hoskins Sotutu, couldn’t even make the C team to Tokyo.
Rookie Dunedin dentist Christian Leo-Willie, who has been playing at No 8 only because Cullen Grace keeps getting injured, is Japan-bound, as are guys heading overseas next year, Pita Gus Sowakula, Alex Nankivell, Jack Goodhue and Brad Weber.
Foster must still believe second five-eighth is a playmaker position.
He shunted Ngani Laumape from All Blackdom and now has ignored Levi Aumua who carved up for Moana Pasifika, has been deemed good enough by the Crusaders to replace Goodhue next year and yet couldn’t even get a trip with the second-stringers.
Cameron Roigard, last season ranked behind Jamie Booth at the Hurricanes, brings a grunty left boot which is invaluable in the wars of attrition that is test rugby today; if he gets a run.
Folau Fakatava has been consigned to the Japan also-rans and yet he is a game-changer.
Turbos triage
New Manawatū coach Mike Rogers probably didn’t need the extra work.
In the space of a week, injuries have struck and amongst them No 8 Tyler Laubscher (knee) has been ruled out as has hard-working lock Micaiah Torrance-Read with his anterior cruciate knee ligament injury .
Fullback Drew Wild has flown home after tearing knee cartilage while playing for the Houston Sabercats. He hopes he won’t need surgery, but if he does it would be a cleanup and he’d hope to be back running within four weeks and may be fit for game 1 versus Wellington on August 5.
Neither of last season’s two frontline Manawatū wings, Tima Fainga’anuku (Tonga) nor Ed Fidow (Samoa), was named in their respective pre-World Cup squads. Fainga’anuku was unavailable for personal reasons so might still be a chance for the Turbos if the coins stack up.
Manawatū has been 26-year-old first-five Brett Cameron’s saviour. It got him back into Super Rugby and now he’s in the All Blacks XV to Japan where he got his one outing for the All Blacks in 2018.