Aotearoa Kiwis vs England Debrief
But do you want Littlefinger's help?
Forget all the fluff around the Denver Test between Aotearoa and England, focus all your energies on what this game actually was and you'll a find a starting point. As expected, England managed a fairly comprehensive win and when you think of the predicament the Kiwis were in with a fresh team, selected by a new coach coming up against a very similar England team that went close to beating Australia in the World Cup final; yeah, all good.
There is no real need to harp on about the negatives, as there were many and right now, negatives are fantastic. The major aspect of the Kiwis that held them back in this game was a complete lack of leadership, organisation and generally being without a guiding force. None of that should have been a surprise to anyone though and I was pretty clear in previewing this game, that a halves pairing of Te Maire Martin and Kodi Nikorima would not steer the Kiwis to victory.
918 Likes, 10 Comments - NZRL (@nzrugbyleague) on Instagram: "The Kiwis at @sportsauthorityfield #DenverTest #TeIwiKiwi 🇳🇿"
A lack of leadership sounds like a silly point to raise when Maguire didn't name a captain and let's start there because this decision made complete sense. Maguire was coaching his first Kiwis game and was without three of the leading captaincy candidates in Adam Blair, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Jesse Bromwich. The yarn rolled out by Maguire (instead of dwelling on who wasn't there) was that he wanted to see which leaders emerged and I like that move as this camp was an opportunity for anyone in the squad to stand up and impress Maguire with regards to leadership.
It's not that having a captain impacted the Kiwis performance, more so the lack of general leadership in grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck and dictating how it would be played. Everyone was kinda in shell-shocked 'wow, this is international footy' mode and no one out there was super comfortable with that, which I believe made it look as though everyone was cruising; no one was out there demanding that the team level-up and follow the leader's actions.
Hello, World!
Being in that 'wow, this is international footy' mode and then the heat/altitude combo which clearly had an influence, combined in a bad way.
The closest any player in that team came to stepping up to the leadership plate, was Nelson Asofa-Solomona. Every tackle had some international whack to it, he squeezed out offloads easily and well, we all know what happens when Nasty NAS runs the footy. Based on what Asofa-Solomona offered here, there's a legit possibility that Asofa-Solomona could move into Kiwis legend status by the next World Cup.
1,742 Likes, 24 Comments - 𝒩𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝒜𝓈𝑜𝒻𝒶-𝒮𝑜𝓁𝑜𝓂𝑜𝓃𝒶™ (@nasolomona) on Instagram: "Two snotty nose cousins get to play together in the same team tomorrow for the first time, so proud..."
As long as Asofa-Solomona is available, he'll be in the middle for Aotearoa and he may be joined by his cousin Ken Maumalo. Maumalo took his work carting the footy up field from the Warriors into the international arena, where it is of greater importance and as we have consistently seen this year with the Warriors, Maumalo's footwork is just as lethal as his size in the middle. It's huge for the Warriors and in the level above, against better kickers etc, it's even more important.
And this is where we slide into abundance; the depth is kinda crazy.
Maumalo has developed into a winger who could start for the Kiwis throughout the next World Cup cycle, but Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Jordan Rapana, Jordan Kahu and Jamayne Isaako might have something to say about that. Extrapolate this out to the entire team and it's completely reasonable to suggest that Maguire's Kiwis squad to face Australia and then tour England in October/November, will be completely different.
In Denver, there was more than enough within the Kiwis performance to be intrigued about the Kiwis schedule later this year. While they lacked the class and nuance to grind with England, moments of razzle dazzle produced points and in the first half there were signs of a defensive attitude that Maguire would have been impressed by. Sure, it fell away as England settled into their work, but I came away from that game with a seed, the same seed Maguire would have taken.
There were moments from other lads that Maguire would have noted; Esan Marsters could be a long-term centre option, Leeson Ah Mau would be excellent in a full-strength Kiwis pack and the buzz that Watene-Zelezniak plays with demands to be in the mix regardless of who is available. It's tough to highlight indivdiuals though as everyone showed something of note, but against grizzly English opposition in different conditions, they couldn't sustain the intensity or execution.
This is not only a starting point because it's the first game after last year's World Cup, the first game with Maguire as coach, it's a starting point of a low key rivalry between Aotearoa and England. Aotearoa head to England for three Tests later this year, meaning four Tests total in 2018 and we can stash this game away for a few months before encountering the Poms again.
Winning the battle, losing the war comes to mind. Like Gandalf riding into Helm's Deep, or even pesky Littlefinger's appearance at the Battle of the Bastards; reinforcements are coming for the Kiwis.
Hit an ad to support the Aotearoa Kiwis content.
Or jump on Patreon and support the Niche Cache directly, we drop bonus stuff for the Patrons and take care of the homies.
Peace and love 27.