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Speaker 1: But so we've got the initial All Black squad of

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. The new Scott Robertson era has begun.

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Speaker 1: Your new captain, Scott Barrett, Adie Savia, Jordy Barrett. They

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Speaker 1: share the vice captain's roles. Tony Johnson with us on

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Speaker 1: this Tony, very good morning to you, hi am. I

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Speaker 1: the bolts the things that surprised you Satu to anything else.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, just when you thought there wasn't room for

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Speaker 2: Bolts and all Black selections anymore. There'd been a buzz

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Speaker 2: around for Satiti because he's obviously a player incredible potential,

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Speaker 2: but I don't know that people anticipated that it would

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Speaker 2: be at the expense of Hoskin Setutu. I don't know

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Speaker 2: what else the player could do to be selected. He's

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Speaker 2: been so good for the Blues, but obviously they decided

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Speaker 2: this wasn't room for both of them. I think the

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Speaker 2: one that no one saw coming was big plus of

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Speaker 2: Lee or Tossi, and that when you look at it,

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Speaker 2: if well, he's a huge man. He's very very powerful

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Speaker 2: and great potential. Even George Bell you could say that too. So, yep,

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Speaker 2: surprises which were the talking points, and I guess as always.

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Speaker 2: You know the list of players led by Satutu who

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Speaker 2: didn't make the team, you know, talking for there, and

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Speaker 2: also the selection of Scott Barrett even though it was flagged.

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Speaker 2: You know that Ardie Soviet would have been a very

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Speaker 2: popular choice.

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Speaker 1: Yes, indeed, what are you expecting from the Robertson era.

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Speaker 2: Well, this selection to me says I don't think they're

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Speaker 2: going to try and change things dramatically from the off.

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Speaker 2: You know, so Tutu's a guy for example. I think

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Speaker 2: if they were going to expand the game with his

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Speaker 2: incredible range of skills, he might have been the player

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Speaker 2: to base it around. But you know, I think they

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Speaker 2: won't try and do anything radically different at first. You know,

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Speaker 2: you've got a tough series against England, and if you

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Speaker 2: want to beat England you've got to take them on

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Speaker 2: up front. Nothing changes there, and I think if they're

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Speaker 2: going to be changed, they'll be incremental in the way

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Speaker 2: they sort of change the style as time goes on.

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Speaker 2: They've got plenty of time to do that.

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Speaker 1: I suppose does he change you reckon under the pressure.

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Speaker 1: You've seen so many people over the years. You start

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Speaker 1: off with one character and then the pressure of the

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Speaker 1: all black coaching job gets to them and they sort

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Speaker 1: of buckle a bit. Is he the sort of person

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Speaker 1: who might fall for that or not?

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Speaker 2: No, I don't think so. He is who he is.

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Speaker 2: He hasn't changed at all through a very long and

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Speaker 2: successful career with the Crusaders, So no, I think he's

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Speaker 2: going to be the same boat. And look, you know,

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Speaker 2: I think it's exciting, you know, to think of it

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Speaker 2: as a new era, just you know, going through the

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Speaker 2: unlucky players. I mentioned hostinstitute is Sam Dowry. I think

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Speaker 2: that's probably the one area where I'm not convinced they've

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Speaker 2: totally got it right. They've only picked three locks. One

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Speaker 2: of them, Patty Tweeplok, who was phenomenal in the final,

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Speaker 2: has been carrying an injury. And I think, you know,

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Speaker 2: along with the likes of you, Reuben Love, Ricky, Rickygelly,

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Speaker 2: I think Sam Dowry to me, I'd have had him

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Speaker 2: in there.

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Speaker 1: Okay, what about England? I mean, do we know much

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Speaker 1: about them? And is this the way to start the season.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's the way the Graham Henry era started. Back

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Speaker 2: in two thousand and four. They had a couple of

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Speaker 2: tests against England. Did very well England. Of course, you

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Speaker 2: know that they had a warm up game at the

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Speaker 2: weekend they played against Japan, so they're going to be

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Speaker 2: one step ahead in that they've had at least had

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Speaker 2: a game together. So it's going to be straight out

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Speaker 2: of the blocks into a tough series, and they will

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Speaker 2: be tough. There is definitely a sense, just just reading

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Speaker 2: what you do, that they think this is a great

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Speaker 2: opportunity to catch the All Blacks, perhaps at a transitional

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Speaker 2: stage or coming off a World Cup or starting a

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Speaker 2: new era. They really see this as a chance to

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Speaker 2: win a series.

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Speaker 1: And you Zeeland, just the Fiji thing in San Diego.

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Speaker 1: Is rugby in America going any place good or not?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Yes and no. I mean they've got the Major

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Speaker 2: League rugby over there, which has been going along. Okay,

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Speaker 2: it's not going to displace or it's not going to

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Speaker 2: join you know, the Big four that the hockey, the bar,

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Speaker 2: all the football and baseball anytime soon. But it's great

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Speaker 2: that they've got a professional league, although you know, teams

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Speaker 2: are finding it hard to survive. Look, it's got its

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Speaker 2: popularity and it certainly is growing in some areas. The

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Speaker 2: Olympics help that as well. This won't hurt because the

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Speaker 2: games that the All Blacks have played over there have

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Speaker 2: proved to be very popular.

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Speaker 1: Good stuff might always good to catch up with Tony Johnson,

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Speaker 1: rugby commentator This.

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Speaker 2: For more from News Talks B Listen live on air

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