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Speaker 1: NEWSTALKSIB Rugby commentator Elliott Smithers with us, make good morning.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, like cold, yes, cold.

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Speaker 1: But it's indoors and so who cares? Is that stadium

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Speaker 1: too small for a first Test against somebody who's esteemed

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Speaker 1: as England? Do you reckon?

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Speaker 2: Quite possibly? Look at I know that they were looking

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Speaker 2: potentially at Eton Park for the first match, but they

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Speaker 2: bet some reason swapped them around to have this match

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Speaker 2: in Dunedin. Obviously, perhaps christ Church if there was a

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Speaker 2: proper stadium, there might have been the sentimental option if

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Speaker 2: they had the biggest stadium that was ready incomplete for

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Speaker 2: the Scott Robertson's first Test. But as it is, that

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Speaker 2: Sudneden and that's the option we've got tomorrow night.

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Speaker 1: Done as a buzz.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah. It feels like there's a real test vibe

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Speaker 2: around the city, which, to be sure, I haven't felt

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Speaker 2: for quite some time. It feels like there's a sense

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Speaker 2: of the unknown with the Scott Robertson era starting and

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Speaker 2: all sorts of different questions around how this team would

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Speaker 2: look before it was named yesterday, So there is a

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Speaker 2: real sense that this is a Test match city and

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Speaker 2: we're heading into some of the unknown, perhaps for the

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Speaker 2: first time and quite some time with this this all

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Speaker 2: Black stuff.

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Speaker 1: And what about the England side of the equation, because

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Speaker 1: that's a bit different, thank god. So it's not the usual,

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Speaker 1: you know, to open the season.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, And look at this England team has had

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Speaker 2: more time together than the All Blacks. They finished the

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Speaker 2: sixth Nations really really well. They beat Ireland, they lost

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Speaker 2: to France narrowly in Leon. They beat Japan a couple

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Speaker 2: of weeks ago. And this isn't the old England teen

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Speaker 2: man rugby sort of style. Steve Worthwick has managed to

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Speaker 2: imprint some style on this team. They've got an ability

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Speaker 2: to actually use their outside backs. It's not the sodgy

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Speaker 2: old England side. So they have players in that team

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Speaker 2: that are capable of causing the All Black some issues.

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Speaker 2: Have certainly been together longer than the All Blacks have

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Speaker 2: as well, so that could create the All Black some

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Speaker 2: issues tomorrow night.

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Speaker 1: Are we going to have that whole rust thing if

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Speaker 1: it doesn't go well and go they weren't together long enough.

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Speaker 1: We're going to do that again this year if you know?

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Speaker 2: Well, possibly, but I mean you look at the team. Yes,

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Speaker 2: they've lost some players white lock Brod you metallic, Richie Wonger,

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Speaker 2: Dane Coles, isn't there, Sam Kaine. But a lot of

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Speaker 2: these players, I think eight or nine of them started

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Speaker 2: in last year's World Cup finals. So while you've lost

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Speaker 2: a lot of experience, a lot of these players have

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Speaker 2: played before. You got the will Player of the Year

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Speaker 2: in Artista Via back there again. Yeah, Damian McKinsey is

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Speaker 2: playing ten for the first time and a wee while

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Speaker 2: in terms of the big Test, but he's been around

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Speaker 2: seven years in this team. A lot of the players

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Speaker 2: in this team. There's no debuitantes in the twenty three bikes,

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Speaker 2: So in terms of the RUSS you could possibly make

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Speaker 2: that argument they've only got together last Wednesday, But this

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Speaker 2: is a nucleus of a team that has actually been

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Speaker 2: together without the coaching staff of course, for a number

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Speaker 2: of seasons. Now.

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Speaker 1: Raiser look comfortable, very comfortable.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it looked like he he just stepped up in

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Speaker 2: style from the Crusader's job. Spoken to a couple of

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Speaker 2: times in the last week or so, and it doesn't

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Speaker 2: feel like anything fazes them. And you know you got

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Speaker 2: this job March twenty first of last year. He's waited

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Speaker 2: a long long time to actually coach in All Blacks,

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Speaker 2: and you get the sense he just wants to get

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Speaker 2: a game under his belt. He can dismiss all those

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Speaker 2: questions about how he's feeling and the nerves and everything

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Speaker 2: like that and just get into test match drugby rather

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Speaker 2: than concentrating so much on himself and that story to

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Speaker 2: how he's got to this point. So once we get

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Speaker 2: to tick off seven oh five tomorrow night, those questions

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Speaker 2: can start being answered and he can start talking about

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Speaker 2: stop talking rather about himself.

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Speaker 1: I only got twenty seconds. Let's call it, and I'll

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Speaker 1: hold you to it.

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Speaker 2: All right, I'm going to go to the All Blacks

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Speaker 2: by five tomorrow night. I think a tight start to

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Speaker 2: the season, but I'm saying the All Blacks get a

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Speaker 2: winning start under Scott Robertson.

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Speaker 1: You're a good man. You have a good weekend. Elliott

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Speaker 1: Smith is calling it for us.

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