Come on down Mr Sam Cane.
Congratulations to our new All Black captain, announced last night by coach Ian Foster to replace the retired Kieran Read.
I think this will be a very popular choice among the players.
From what I know, and let's be honest I'm not great mates with any of them but I do by way of my job get to spend more time than most people in their vicinity and talking with them, Sam Cane is both well-liked and very well-respected.
Not to say the other leading candidates aren't as well but, in the head-to-head contest with Sam Whitelock that we all presume it was, the Chiefs man right now is the right choice.
For a start it (also) straightaway demonstrates a newish direction for our new coach. Whitelock we know would've done as sterling a job for the ABs as he's previously done with both them and the Crusaders, yet somehow (for me) the Cane version of Sam represents change more than the Whitelock one would.
It's just a perception thing but sometimes something as innocuous as that can make a real difference. I guess I just believe, for whatever reasons, that Cane brings a longevity to the team Whitelock no longer can.
The Chiefs man has played 68 tests compared to 115 for his Crusaders counterpart.
Sam Cane has every chance of leading us from now all the way through to RWC 2023, whereas Sam Whitelock by then will be long since retired.
The other potential candidates Mr Foster and his fellow selectors would've considered included Dane Coles, Brodie Retallick and possibly TJ Perenara. For a start your captain HAS to be one of the first names down on your teamsheet. He HAS to start every major game.
Neither TJ or Dane are dead set sureties to be top dog in their position while Retallick, for mine, should be left alone to reclaim his post as the best player in the world. What of course this also implies is that Ardie Savea is now at best our #2 #7 OR he becomes our new #1 #8.
I can't help but feeling enthused about this on a number of levels. Most importantly it feels like we're about to get our game back. Look forward to a series of announcements coming this weekend regards return dates for competitive code here and in the meantime celebrate the naming of our new captain.
It's a great piece of news.
Yesterday's zero new cases for the second day running wasn't bad either.
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