All Blacks hoping for right balance in last pool outing against Uruguay

New Zealand’s Damian McKenzie (center) is tackled by Italy’s Manuel Zuliani (left)

A total of nine changes suggests New Zealand wants a snatch-and-grab game against Uruguay today [Friday, 03:00], the main prize a Rugby World Cup quarterfinal.

Qualifying for the quarters is the All Blacks’ priority, true. But they say there’s a lot more riding on their final Pool A match.

Coach Ian Foster was at pains on Tuesday to point out how hard it was to pick his side — he said he wasn’t focused on the quarterfinals though he still had an eye on them and beyond.

Recently injured players have been given more game time: Captain Sam Cane and prop Tyrel Lomax make their first starts in the tournament, and Shannon Frizell and Jordie Barrett start their second straight matches.

Some fringe players have been given another chance to shine: Backs Cam Roigard, Leicester Fainga’anuku and Damian McKenzie.

Some guys have been rested: Brodie Retallick, Ardie Savea, Aaron Smith, Rieko Ioane and Mark Telea.

And some front-liners have stuck around to ensure nothing goes haywire: Beauden and Scott Barrett are in the reserves, and a 150th cap has been given to lock Sam Whitelock, who will take the Rugby World Cup appearance record outright. His 23rd match will surpass England’s Jason Leonard and New Zealand’s Richie McCaw.

The All Blacks also don’t want to mess up the confidence they got from thrashing Italy 96-17 last Friday. Aesthetics matter to them. In evidence, Foster saying he’d have rather watched a 96-17 clinic in running rugby than the Ireland-South Africa edge-of-your-seat epic.

“For us, we are at our best when we are on edge,” Foster said. “Sometimes our opponent puts us on edge, sometimes the situation puts you on edge, but at all times your own internal standards have to be the edge that really matters the most.”

The All Blacks will have to go internal for an edge because nobody expects them to lose to Uruguay.

Foster talked up the Uruguayans. He loved their attitude, passion and ambition and complimented Manuel Ardao, who has a tournament-leading six turnovers. Los Teros have had an eye-catching tournament: They beat Namibia 36-26 last week for their fourth ever Rugby World Cup win, gave France’s second string a big scare, and led Italy at halftime before running out of steam.

To get into quarterfinal contention, Uruguay must beat the All Blacks by at least 80 points.

That’s what made Foster’s matchday picks a decent think: Knowing they should register a big score while also trying to max out their last pool match to fine-tune their quarterfinal preparations.

“You are making decisions now to make sure that we are building the continuity and not taking the step back in the areas we feel we need to grow,” Foster said.

“But we also have to make smart decisions because, let’s face it, we want to do well on Thursday and then we want three more games (quarterfinal, semifinal, final). We want to make sure we’ve got the energy in the tank to do that.” MDT/AP

Lineups

New Zealand: Damian McKenzie, Will Jordan, Anton Lienert-Brown, Jordie Barrett, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Richie Mo’unga, Cam Roigard; Luke Jacobson, Sam Cane (captain), Shannon Frizell, Tupou Vaa’i, Sam Whitelock, Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor, Ofa Tu’ungafasi. Reserves: Samisoni Taukei’aho, Tamaiti Williams, Fletcher Newell, Scott Barrett, Ethan Blackadder, Finlay Christie, Beauden Barrett, Caleb Clarke.

Uruguay: Rodrigo Silva, Gaston Mieres, Tomas Inciarte, Andres Vilaseca (captain), Nicolas Freitas, Felipe Etcheverry, Santiago Arata; Manuel Diana, Lucas Bianchi, Manuel Ardao, Manuel Leindekar, Ignacio Dotti, Diego Arbelo, German Kessler, Mateo Sanguinetti. Reserves: Guillermo Pujadas, Matias Benitez, Igancio Peculo, Juan Manuel Rodríguez, Santiago Civetta, Agustin Ormaechea, Felipe Berchesi, Juan Manuel Alonso.