8 Jun 2018

The real All Black storylines are overseas this weekend

5:34 pm on 8 June 2018

This week was supposed to be a tough one for the All Blacks.

All Blacks captain Samuel Whitelock talks to the media during the captain's run at Eden Park ahead of the first test match against France.

All Blacks captain Samuel Whitelock talks to the media during the captain's run at Eden Park ahead of the first test match against France. Photo: PhotoSport

Injuries and Jordie Barrett's inability to find his way home dominated the news on Monday, but by the time the team was announced on Thursday morning, it was clear that normal transmission had resumed.

So much so that Barrett is starting at fullback, and the rest of the team is a predictably powerful group of experienced campaigners. There's only one potential debut, that of late call-up prop Karl Tu'inukuafe.

This outfit will beat the French, probably in mostly scratchy fashion with couple of bursts of trademark All Black brilliance. It'll be comfortable, but give us enough to mull over next week before the second test in Wellington.

But, it's unlikely that the talk will be about that test on Sunday morning - at least in the worldwide rugby news. The All Blacks against France isn't the only series starting this weekend, and two other matchups make it pale in comparison. Just what is going to happen in Brisbane and Johannesburg, where Ireland are taking on the Wallabies and the Springboks welcome England?

While June test matches are a notoriously poor barometer of how strong a northern team really is (just look at the B side France have sent down), there are strong narratives to both the English and Irish series. They may be polar opposite, but ones that will play directly into what is shaping up as the most important All Black end-of-year tour in years.

English rugby is in disarray at the moment. They've lost their last four games, with the latest being what resembled a game of touch against a still-hungover Barbarians side. The vultures are starting to circle around coach Eddie Jones, with the previously unthinkable notion of him being cast aside before next year's World Cup suddenly becoming more and more likely.

At the start of the year, a series loss in South Africa might have been excusable - provided they'd won the Six Nations and played some good rugby in doing so. Neither of those things happened, and Jones has courted controversy by selecting Brad Shields to slot straight into his test side despite never having played a game in the English Premiership.

They're playing a Springbok side that hasn't exactly covered themselves in glory lately either, losing to Wales in bumbling fashion last weekend in Washington DC of all places.

Meanwhile, things couldn't be more different for the Irish. Fresh off a Grand Slam, they've headed down under to hammer home the hype around their World Cup chances. They're up against a fresh looking Wallaby side that's desperate to recapture the attention of the public after a somewhat disastrous start to the year for the code in Australia.

With all due respect to France, these are the four sides that are going to be the big games for the All Blacks this year. The Wallabies and Springboks need to be overcome for another Rugby Championship win, but it's looking like the most anticipated tests of the year will be against their opponents later on in November.

The All Blacks/England test was announced two years ago, and success in South Africa will put the hype train back on the tracks for that one. However, even if this series is a blow out and they lose, the interest around their showdown with the All Blacks will be massive anyway because of the implications it could have on Jones' employment.

So it's looking like the All Blacks' match in Dublin will be the biggest international of the year. The Irish will fancy their chances against the Wallabies, but while their historical touring form is not great at all, it will be a very good chance for Steve Hansen and the All Blacks to check out what they'll be up against in November.

You only have to talk to an Irishman for roughly three seconds before they bring up their solitary victory over the All Blacks in 2016, so the pressure for that test is likely to be immense.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs

We have regular online commentary of local and international sport.