THE BREAKDOWN
ALL BLACKS WANT TO GET PHYSICAL
The scar of the All Blacks last defeat can clearly be seen running through the first selection made by new coach Ian Foster.
The All Blacks of 2020 have the look of a side that has decided that whatever else happens this year, they won't tolerate being beaten up by anyone.
The physical edge contained within the 35-man squad is obvious and Foster has put together one of the largest packs of the professional age.
He has picked a squad with such a heavy emphasis on size and physicality that it suggests he is going to rebuild the national team on the basis that the forwards must win the collisions and the backs avoid them.
The piano movers have been brought in en masse to allow the piano players to be able to better do their jobs.
It's a somewhat simple analysis of the squad that's been picked, but it also just about sums it up entirely.
The All Blacks were beaten up by England at the last World Cup and Foster doesn't want that to happen again. He doesn't want to lose the silky and creative touch of the team but nor does he want his All Blacks to never be able to show their imagination because they have been crushed at the collisions.
Nowhere is this physical emphasis more apparent than in the loose forwards, where in every tight call, he's gone with the bigger athlete.
