All Blacks playmaker the key to a Wallabies victory

The All Blacks have given the Wallabies a whisper of a chance tomorrow at Suncorp Stadium.

All Blacks five-eighth Lima Sopoaga stretches in Brisbane yesterday. Picture: AAP.

If it weren’t for the fact that New Zealand have won each of the dozen Tests that Lima Sopoaga has played, it could arguably be said that the All Blacks have given the Wallabies a whisper of a chance tomorrow at Suncorp Stadium.

That 100 per cent winning record is, granted, a tad misleading. Sopoaga has started only once at international level, in his very first Test against the Springboks in July 2015, and the rest of the time he has been on the bench, in all but one Test as back-up to five-eighth Beauden Barrett.

Given that Barrett has neatly solved the problem of who is the greatest player in the world now that Dan Carter has retired from All Blacks duties, it is no disgrace to be his deputy. Still, Sopoaga’s chances have been limited to cameos, save for his most recent taste of Test football when he came off the bench for 55 minutes after Barrett was concussed against the Boks in Cape Town. Indeed, that same lingering injury has again opened the door for him here.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika predictably warned that, even with a change of playmaker, the All Blacks’ threat is undiminished. “A different proposition to Barrett but no less dangerous,” was how he described Sopoaga.

And, indeed, he may very well believe that, given that he got to coach the Highlanders five-eighth in 2015 when he took charge of the Barbarians against Argentina and Gloucester in Britain. “I know the quality he brings to a game,” he said.

Still, there’s a Mandy Rice-Davies “he would say that, wouldn’t he?” quality to his unfettered praise for Sopoaga. Less encumbered by protocol, however, is Cheika’s predecessor as Wallabies coach, John Connolly, who unequivocally described Sopoaga as “the key” to tomorrow’s contest.

“Sopoaga is not quite in the same mould as Barrett,” said Connolly. “We’ve been used to seeing Barrett really attacking the line. Sopoaga, too, will have a go at the line but perhaps not with the same threat.

“And New Zealand have a history of falling into a hole when they have to make a sudden change at five-eighth. We all remember Aaron Cruden’s problems when he started for the first time in Sydney in 2010 when, I think, Carter was ruled out with an ankle problem.”

(The All Blacks won that match 23-22 but only after Colin Slade was sent on at the hour mark to replace Cruden after the Wallabies had gone ahead 19-6.)

Much will depend, said Connolly, on how Sonny Bill Williams approaches the contest. The All Blacks inside centre attempted to play “too cute” in the Dunedin Test, he said, and as a consequence was dominated by his Wallabies counterpart Kurtley Beale.

If SBW responds this time by deciding to play more directly, it could increase the pressure on Beale, but perhaps reduce it elsewhere on Australia. With Barrett directing operations from five-eighth, regularly bringing his strike weapons out wide into the action with deft kicks, there perhaps was no need for Williams to overplay his hand. But how he and midfield general Ryan Crotty now respond to Sopoaga calling the shots could go a long way to determining how much influence New Zealand’s deadly back three of Damian McKenzie, Waisake Naholo and Rieko Ioane are able to bring to bear.

It certainly makes a pleasant change for the All Blacks to be forced to swap and change their personnel. And while it has been little noted that lock Brodie Retallick has again been left behind because of a family tragedy, the absence of the player voted best in the world in 2014 will undoubtedly weaken the world champions.

His replacement, Scott Barrett, Beauden’s brother, is an honest toiler who has never let New Zealand down but it now opens the door for the sole newcomer to the Wallabies starting XV, lock Rob Simmons, to cement his place anew in the Australian side.

Simmons has Izack Rodda’s decision to submit to shoulder surgery to thank for his place in the starting team and it might seem strange that a 28-year-old who has started in 50 of his 77 Tests is indebted to a four-cap rookie for his chance. But until Rodda’s injury, the youngster looked to be establishing his place in the tight five, leaving Simmons to battle away for scraps off the bench.

Certainly, with Retallick not cluttering up the contest, Simmons has a chance to restore the Australian lineout as a real positive.

Rodda’s injury, it must be said, also has had another, somewhat disturbing impact. There are now no Reds players in the starting team and while Queenslanders might content themselves with having played a role in Simmons, Will Genia, Tevita Kuridrani and Sean McMahon, it still is a worrying sign when one of the two heartland states is without formal representation in the national team.

Still, there is a note of compensation, with new Reds coach Brad Thorn having shifted his allegiances from the All Blacks — the team he played for from 2003, the year they wrested the Bledisloe Cup from Australia — to the Wallabies.

Australia: Israel Folau; Marika Koroibete, Tevita Kuridrani, Kurtley Beale, Reece Hodge; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Sean McMahon, Michael Hooper (c), Jack Dempsey; Adam Coleman, Rob Simmons; Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Scott Sio. Replacements: Stephen Moore, Tom Robertson, Allan Alaalatoa, Lukhan Tui, Ned Hanigan, Nick Phipps, Samu Kerevi, Henry Speight.

New Zealand: Damian McKenzie; Waisake Naholo, Ryan Crotty, Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane; Lima Sopoaga, Aaron Smith; Kieran Read (c), Sam Cane, Liam Squire; Scott Barrett, Sam Whitelock; Nepo Laulala, Dane Coles, Kane Hames.

Replacements: Codie Taylor, Wyatt Crockett, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Matt Todd, TJ Perenara, Anton Lienert-Brown, David Havili.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (ENG).