It came as no surprise to see Scott Robertson install Scott Barrett as All Blacks captain.
Which isn’t to say I don’t have mixed feelings about it.
Barrett is a good bloke. He’s thoughtful, sincere and cut from the traditional captaincy cloth.
He’ll represent the team well in the ceremonial aspects that come with being skipper.
You can rely on Barrett to be affable with sponsors and media, to treat the blazer brigade at New Zealand Rugby with respect and to not say or do anything that will tarnish the brand.
He’s a safe choice, in other words.
On the park, he’ll play. We’re so short of locks that there ought not be any questions about his place in the side, as there always was with Sam Cane.
Barrett will also be able to translate Robertson, which shouldn’t be overlooked.
There isn’t always much that Robertson says that makes sense. You assume his messaging is better-understood within a team but, outwardly, the new coach talks in riddles.
Barrett’s been there, done that with Robertson and any confused players can come to him with the confidence that he knows what the coach means.
I look at the squad of 32 named to play England and I suspect the All Blacks are in for a few hard years.
Barrett is probably better-equipped to be explaining losses than Savea might be. Savea’s heart is arguably too near his sleeve.
You don’t have to be the captain to lead. Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Dane Coles and Aaron Smith were all leaders in the previous All Blacks group.
Just as Savea, Codie Taylor, Jordie and Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Anton Lienert-Brown and Patrick Tuipulotu will be now.
I’m sure other players see themselves as having something to offer in that regard, but I don’t.
As I mentioned, if you look at things honestly, Barrett was the logical captaincy choice.
From NZR, to the coaching staff and sponsors, Barrett fits the profile: rural background, rugby family, Crusaders pedigree, no discernible ego.
The kind of fine young man you’d be happy for your daughter to marry.
None of that’s without merit, but it’s not 1960 anymore.
Savea would be my captain every day of the week, but I doubt he would be Robertson’s.
From the moment he was named as coach, Barrett was going to be the skipper.
I like the tradition of rugby in New Zealand. I thought we had values and a culture that had stood us in good stead for decades.
I’m not one for changing things because someone in marketing or the diversity and inclusion departments says we have to move with the times.
But this is a team that has to reinvent itself.
There’s been too much continuity and succession, too much of the same ideas, too much reliance on the coaching tree of Wayne Smith.
Maybe Robertson and Barrett will work wonders. Maybe, despite the sameness of this squad to the preceding ones, they’ll get more out of these players than Ian Foster did.
But, at first blush, we seem to have the same types of athletes, suited to the same type of footy that hasn’t been consistently effective for years now.
We have no locks. We’ve got loose forwards that can play multiple positions, but don’t demand selection in any.
There’s no reliable first-five eighth or fullback in this 32 and minimal midfield options.
The wings are okay and Will Jordan will surely be fullback once he’s fit, leaving Damian McKenzie or Beauden Barrett to hopefully become the first-five Richie Mo’unga wasn’t able to under Foster.
I can’t say having Savea as skipper would’ve changed any of that or made the team demonstrably better.
But I doubt the naming of Barrett as captain inspired confidence in anyone. They’d have understood the rationale, but the excitement would’ve been nonexistent.
I wish Barrett well. Just as I wish the same for Robertson, having pushed his barrow for years now.
I just didn’t look at the squad and captaincy announcement and feel as if this All Blacks team’s future is any brighter than it was before.
I’ll look forward to being proved wrong.
