Ardie Savea and Wallace Sititi of the All Blacks with the Bledisloe Cup. Photo: Photosport / James Gourley
They say steel sharpens steel and that seems to be the case for loose forwards Wallace Sititi and Ardie Savea as the All Blacks prepare for three big tests on the trot.
The World Cup finalists face England at Twickenham this weekend before taking on Ireland in Dublin and France in Paris before finishing their end of year tour against Italy in Turin.
Savea was one of the 11 All Blacks who travelled to England from Japan early to prepare, while Sititi was one of the shining lights in a patchy All Blacks win over Japan last weekend.
All Blacks players Ardie Savea and Wallace Sititi during the Captain's Run ahead of the test match against England tomorrow in Dunedin. Friday 5 July 2024. Photo: Photosport / Andrew Cornaga
However, the pair have been close while in camp with rookie Sititi's stocks quickly rising after some impressive performances this year.
All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan said the Chiefs loosie has been a standout and has huge potential.
"He caught our (the All Blacks coaches') eye in Super Rugby, sort of midway through. He'd also been pretty well known through an NZ under 20s campaign for around his ball carry and his real point of difference, his defence," Ryan said.
"What we have been impressed by in the test arena is just how natural he he seems to be in the way he carries carries himself. He's got a lot of leadership qualities about him, to be fair, in his own little way. He works really hard with Ardie and the other loose forwards wanting to grow his game.
"Then there's the other side of it around his body and getting his conditioning right to test level so that we can take him further. The sky's the limit really around Wally."
Ryan believes Sititi is reaping the rewards of his own work ethic and desire to learn off others.
"We've been really impressed with the character (Sititi) is. A young guy that's arrived on the test in the test arena, he's taken every opportunity that he's been given. It's a credit to him, really."
Ryan said veteran and current World Player of the Year Savea is playing a leading role in Sititi's test rugby education and said Savea had made subtle adjustments to his game to accommodate Sititi and his strengths and skills.
"I think they really complement each other. Wallace is a No.8 for his franchise (the Chiefs) and he played No.8 for us in the weekend and we see him genuinely as a No.8 who can cover six (blindside). But he's played six and taken his opportunity there and I think the two of them add a massive amount of ball carry power to our pack, which is good.
"He's (Sititi) really such an explosive line out jumper and he can get off the ground so fast. So I think that's probably helped out a little bit of variation where you've got Ardie jumping at the front of the line out and Wallace is jumping at the back. I think that complements both of them and they work pretty hard together and they compete very hard at training. It's a good combo that's keeping everyone else on honest," Ryan said.
Wallace Sititi of the All Blacks (R) right fends off Japan's Warner Dearns. Photo: Photosport / ActionPress / Christopher Jue
Ryan was happy to report no fresh injuries from the Japan game and he was confident the advance party of players they sent to England will help them in this weekend's test.
"Yeah I think so. We had a bit of a hit out with those boys last week and then getting them ahead with a couple of things we wanted to execute and prepare for for this England test, so it gives us a little bit of a head start I guess."
The All Blacks are focused on England but with matches against World No.1 Ireland and last year's World Cup hosts France still to come, Ryan said they were reviewing what they learnt in the back to back defeats to the Springboks in South Africa during the Rugby Championship earlier this season.
One of the All Blacks biggest challenges, and one that has been an issue for them all year including in last weekend's win over Japan, is producing a full 80-minute performance.
"These are three massive test matches and when you look at that South African leg we had two huge test matches over there and we learnt a lot about ourselves and how momentum shifts pretty quick and how accurate you've got to be. We learned that when teams have that momentum they can score so fast," Ryan said.
"Having those tests in Africa, you learn about the crowds and how intense the atmosphere is. We exposed some young boys in those tests, which we believe will be better for it. So we're looking forward to that (the next three tests) and we know that we've got to be right on top of our game. We've got to start and finish these matches really well."
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