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Midweek and time to reconvene.

Elliot Smith with me all the way back from the United States, the sleeping giant of world Rugby.

Leam Mapier, Welcome back, jeez one on Joe.

Great to see it.

Yeah, likewise, good trip, was it, wils Yep.

I wouldn't say well arrested, but it's good to be back in tackling another big old.

Bladerslow indeed, Well, your Blakes have just named the team four Saturday Night eleven change, sorry, eleven survivors from the team that were beaten comprehensively, biggest ever defeat for the All Blacks.

Liam.

Just looking at that team, I'm sure our listeners have seen it by now.

Are you expecting more changes?

Not really, I didn't know Scott Barrett was the big surprise.

Didn't know he was injured, didn't know he we didn't weren't told.

He finished that game with a shoulder injury.

Sounds like he trained on Tuesday and did everything he could.

So that was the big surprise.

But Raises pretty consistently maintained faith in his starters, asn't he I thought, maybe lessifying a look who might come into the mix somewhere, But I did expect Caleb Clark to come back.

Can Roy Guards, Cody Taylor was always going to be injected back your starters, same with Cortez lastmile on the bench.

A bit of a surprise to see Peter Lucky injected along with Patrick Tuopolota returning.

So a couple of tweaks, but there's certainly no radical changes there.

No, and those expecting radical change will be sorely disappointed because the players that did suffer that defeat, the worst ever bid an All Blacks team, largely back up again.

But some of those players they bring in have that experience.

Your Cody Taylor instantly makes the line out better.

Can Roy Guard is an instant lift into that back line as well.

Caleb Clark said to bide his time in the NBC, which feels like a bit of an odd one for the last couple of weeks, but he gets his opportunity and hard to argue with too many of those changes that they've made, especially probably for me at hooker and half back and probably on the left wing.

Yeah, I think Caleb Clark has been an oversight.

I think we've been talking for the best part of two three weeks.

White.

Did he really need to play the NPC?

Maybe one game, certainly not too when you're glaring issues are under the high ball.

He's your best aerial exponent.

Get him in there.

Yeah.

Why wait, Well, that's.

The thing I think, to be honest, Torolomax and Tobody Williams have suffered from a lack of game time, perhaps not going back to the NBC, whereas I think for a outside back a wing it it's easier to slot in.

And there's a real lack of consistency there there is, and Scott.

Rolls and see some of the calls and things like that.

But then you go out of the camp and you go back into NPC.

So I would have had Caleb Clark and there're certainly for the Wellington set.

Same with Cam Royguard.

He played one game for Counties and he's straight back in there, so Caleb Clark I would have given him one game max and then he goes back to the left wing.

He was your incumbent at the back end of last year.

He played exceptionally well against the spring Box last year, so I think that was one selection oversight.

But yeah, looking at that team, I don't think you can underestimate, like you say, with Cody Taylor, how much of a difference he should make to the line out.

And Cam Roygard he is among if not he's pushing a bee, considered the best half back in the world on his day.

He upstairs DuPont last November.

He has running threat.

His booming boots will take so much pressure off Boden Barrett and the other kickers in that all.

Black back line.

He just poses so much more of a threat for the defenders around the ruck.

And you know Cortez Latima has head.

He's been a bit patchy, but he should potentially lift the tempo when it comes on later in that game.

So the bench instantly looks strong as well, with too Polo two bringing that physicality, adding that experience, and I do like Larchey's inclusion.

He's versatile and he's a much bigger, more powerful, dynamic ball carrier than Dupless and I think this should be more obviously the spring box Blue the All Blacks off the Park and Wellington, but the Wallaby style will generally be you would suspect more wide, more open, because their strengths are in their back line.

You mentioned can Roygad and Press taking some pressure off Boden Barrett.

I think we probably can't underestimate the fact that the All Blacks got down to their fourth and fifth choice half backs in recent weeks.

I think we've seen that there is a gulf clearly between first and fourth and fifth.

Roy Guard is world class, as you pointed out, and I know was mentioned back into last year that I think was Isaac Boss, who's coached him a little bit in the age Grips could see him potentially being a ten now with that ever happens is by the bye.

But he's got that playmaking mind and I think the All Blacks have missed having that kind of player come out of the back of the ruck option taking wise mean those suffering games are real arm wrestles and a lot of box kicking, but you know Roga would have had we snipe I'm sure once or twice in those games.

How do we look?

And I think the All Blacks certainly missed having his presence at half back, just directing the team and keeping the pulse of the team.

Oh massively.

The difference between him and Finlay Christie is hemispheres and we've touched on some of his strengths there, but one of them we haven't is his size.

And the All Blacks have struggled at times.

You go right back to France in July with their their breakdown and if there's pressure on there, if the ball not pristine, if the halfback's getting man handled, Royguard has the presence of mind, the size of physicality to go for a snight, to shake off defenders, to still deliver under that sort of pressure.

He's by far the biggest half back the All Blacks have it and that does make a big difference.

No, Lesku this week thought he may have seen him potentially off the bench.

They've stuck with the midfield or especially the center.

In terms of Billy Proctor, I thought this week may have been the change to a week to make a change there.

He hasn't.

He's had a lot of opportunities, and I mind the fact that they've stuck with him through the last few Test matches, but time is running out, I think, and this week, you know, I thought he might have been replaced this week, but the other week Limbs is a major pivotal point in his career as test career.

I think for Billy Proctor, it's time to show up.

Yeah, I think that's fair.

He's had a lot of chances and.

That combination really hasn't gelled, which is surprising with Jordie because they've had a lot of time.

I'm together for the Hurricanes, not this year, but prior to that, and yeah, Billy's just hasn't made the step up at this point.

If there was one player in that team that was under significant pressure to talk, you know, whether it was going to be Antoonlina Brown or or leicesterifying Anook, who there was, There's been a lot of conjecture around that Raises held firm and I think credit to him because one hundred percent there is a real temptation to bring in Lester's power and he knows his game well.

He's coached them through the Crusaders so there could be an underlying bias.

Well, he hasn't gone there, so Billy has to deliver.

But you could extend that out to other players within that group because the heaviest defeat in history.

And I think I haven't been around earlier in the week, but I think Cody Taylor spoke really well today about restoring prior about players fronting about the hurts and.

The words that's stung that that have been around.

And when he said that, I was thinking of not us in the media, but things that have been said by people like Karen Reid who questioned basically the hearts, yeah, of the All Blacks team and the way they folded under pressure when the boxerre on that rampage in the last twenty comments from form more Black captains like that sting.

Yeah, they'll see more than columns written by you, I somewhere else from our opposition, whatever I be.

It's those former players suggesting that that I think will really hurt the All Blacks.

Artie Suthing as captain not an unfamiliar role.

In fact, he's already done it twice this year is the third time he's captained the side this year.

I'm not unfamiliar, as I said, but I think it's time of Artie's stand up as a leader as well, because I don't think he did in the back end of that game in Wellington, Chip and Chase in the last two or three minutes and the game was gone by that point, but not really the play that was needed.

I don't think he stood up in that game at all.

Thought he was very very quiet.

So I mean a lot of people are clamoring Friday, so I ve to be the full time captain of this team rather than Scott Barrett.

But I think there has to be question marks around some of his leadership, both as a vice captain.

But you know he's going to have to stand up as a player and as a captain this week.

Yeah that's fair too.

He probably hasn't been at his best for the All Blacks this year, different levels, but could you look at his impact through Former one and PACIFICA best player in the competition by a long way, inspirational every single week.

Maybe that season has taken a bit of a toll.

Not too sure, and you broaden that out to the loose Ford trio.

I think they were very good at Eden Park.

We saw Wallace Tacy.

Carrying really well.

Simon Parker is a real presence on defense and as a trio.

They were massively upstaged in Wellington.

That's not as easy when you're on the back foot and the set piece is disintegrating the scrum.

The line out went to the packs.

So I think there's some a lot of onus on the All Black forward pack to front different kettle of fish against the Wallabies.

It will be you suspect more, more up tempo.

But there's no doubt Joe Schmidt would have watched what's happened with the All Blacks, some of their defensive frailties.

I'm sure he's picked apart a few little set piece plays and I've got got to still target the All Blacks in the air, don't they.

They do because they've seen the frailties there, they've seen the weaknesses.

So as Joe Schmidt would have seen, he would have watched that tape and gone, this is how we can do it, and maybe they go away from their game plan this week and go right.

These guys don't like it the under the in the air, so let's just absolutely hamm with them.

If I'm the Wallabies, you know, I don't know whether you can outrun the All Blacks because they've tried to do it for twenty odd years and have them on the blas the back.

So maybe they just go back into their shells and play spring box like rugby because the All Blacks don't like it that way.

Maybe.

Yeah, Schmidt as a high detail hours go right, so he's catch pass, He's everything done to a very high precision.

He would have been pouring over footage.

And I don't think there's any doubt that the Wallaby strengths are in their back line.

Their midfield has a claim to be the best in the world currently.

Sui Lee and ikto bouncing off each other.

You want to get them the ball in space.

Max Jorgensen probably shift to fall back with Andrew callaway out.

I think that probably nullifies his impact to weave it because I don't think you can inject your pace as much from fullback.

He will be peppered with high balls, maybe not unleashed in the same capacity.

But I think the Wallaby strengths are in their back line and they'll look to use those.

But just on the Wallabies, I think we've discussed it previously.

There's no Dutch Schmidz bought a depth of character, a resilience.

We've seen them come back even when they've lost, they've been competitive.

Talk a couple of the Australian journalists today, Ian Payton and Jimmie Perrin panderam apologies and they made the point that yeah, previous Wallaby's teams, even under Checker and co, they'd be good one week, pounded the next, but now they're competitive every single week.

I'm pretty confident that All Blacks will bounce back this week, but I don't think we'll see the blowouts of previous years.

This Wallaby's team is still missing Will Skelton and Rob Valentini, and that's predominantly why I reckon the All Blacks could well should win because those are two huge presences in that Wallaby's pack and they were front and center during the Lions series when the Wallaby's played their best rugby and everyone seems to be overlooking the fact that the Wallaby's actually lost the last thay out to the Plumbers as well.

Yeah, the comeback sort of overshadowed that a little.

But we're recording this before the Wallaby's team is officially announced, but it sounds like James O'Connor is likely to be a teen and according to a friend of the pod, Christy Dorian, who has some pretty good male big in for them in terms of getting that experience.

They've got some injuries and liner etc.

But this is a guy that is a super Raby champion not so long ago and knows some of the ways the Crusader's boys in that Crusader and that All Blacks team will play.

Yeah, it probably goes both ways.

They know him as well, and.

I don't think it's necessary a compliment to Australian rugby though, is it that you have to fly a guy back from Europe to start a test match?

For you?

A very a guy that's probably over the hill play beyond his best.

It sure he's mature much.

He's the only player in the wall Becau this even one anything.

Well, look, I would much rather have James O'Connor than Tane Edmond, so that's why they're flying him back.

But yeah, not great depth at ten when you have to bring a bloke.

But when did it even a right?

I think Monday maybe into into Auckland.

Yeah, so it's not idea passport is struct for.

Customers as Liam, thank you.

As always, we will reconvene next week after the letters low and our thanks to Last and Bars English and Excess Solutions.

We'll catch you next time on Rugby Direct

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