Former All Black and now commentator Justin Marshall recently appeared at a Rugby Aid event, and we managed to get this interview with him.
Marshall talks about the All Blacks squad, gives advice to some young players and predicts the Rugby World Cup Winners.
How’d you get involved with Rugby Aid?
I got an email from Mike Tindall; I know him really well having played with him and spent a bit of time in his company. He gave me a lot of information about what he was doing and what he wanted to achieve. To be fair, I had a lot of help with Help for Heroes Charity when I was over here so it was something that appealed straight away to me. Plus the names he reeled off were great so not only would it be great to do something with charity but to get together with a bunch of blokes I hadn’t seen in a while
After a lot of years commentating, is it nice to be on the other side of the camera for once?
It’s kind of weird because when you’re a player and you move into the commentary side of rugby, you’re wandering around the touchline before a game and you remember being the guy warming up out there on the field. It still gives you a strange feeling but it will be good to put the boots on there and get out there for a run.
Did Waisake Naholo get given a winning lottery ticket?
They always had the ace up his sleeve if they could get him right because he’s a point of difference. It’s a good selection because New Zealand has so many wingers who have an equal skill set and they’re incredible players all of them including the players that have missed out. But they’re all similarly balanced, we haven’t got anyone with blistering speed. Julian Savea and Ben Smith can shift, there’s no doubt about that but Naholo can really skin players and that’s just raw speed. What he does is offer something that other teams haven’t seen before, apart from Super Rugby, so they’ve got a weapon that’s not over analysed
Is it a risk to take a player that’s not yet fit?
It’s always a risk but the versatility of the squad that they’ve picked and the way that they can adapt and play other positions will counterbalance that. At the last World Cup, Sonny Bill Williams started on the wing and even Ma’a Nonu played on the wing. Nehe Milner-Scudder is actually a fullback who’s playing on the wing and Ben Smith has showed that he can also play on the wing. Beauden Barrett is probably the second best fullback in the country at the moment so no there’s no risk taken with Naholo because there’s so many players who can play in different positions.
You mention Sonny Bill Williams. Is he lucky to make the Rugby World Cup squad?
You’d be remiss to leave a guy like SBW out of a Rugby World Cup side because he’s got skills that no one else has. When he’s on song, which arguably he hasn’t been up until this point, he gives the All Blacks the edge that no other team has so he has to be there. He has to be given the opportunity to play his way back into better form and if he does, put pressure on the midfield which is better for the All Blacks as a squad.
Who is your Player of the 2015 Rugby World Cup?
If you think about a guy that’s going to shine right through to the World Cup finals, I think Israel Folau. If he plays well for Australia and they get going, he’s a dangerous player he can change a game, he’s that good.
But for me Nemani Nadolo is going to light up the tournament. Straight away Pool A is a pool of interest. With normal World Cups, you can usually cruise into them but with the Pool of Death, Fiji are right in there. They can cause some headaches. The other four teams are focused on each other but Fiji can really sneak under the radar. And a guy like Nemani Nadolo can really play so watch out for him.
Does Australia, England and Wales have to have a real shocker if Fiji are going to cause an upset?
That’s a good point. They probably have to be slightly off their guard as current form shows but the advantage that Fiji has is that they’ve got two or three goes at it so they can quite easily turn up on their day. They’re a bit like the French, they just don’t have the firepower up front but they’re excitement machines. If on their day they get their tales up and play well, they could easily upset one of those teams. But yes Australia, Wales and England would have to be some vulnerability about them heading into the game.
Back to the All Blacks, if they fail to register a better than Quarter Final appearance, is Hansen’s position as coach under threat?
I don’t think so. He’s secure through to the British Lions in 2017. You’d be a fool to extricate a guy like Hansen from the All Blacks given his track record since 2011. They’ve hardly dropped a test match at all, I think maybe 3 or 4 and a few draws since 2011 so it’s an incredibly enviable record that any other sporting organisation would love to have. Also the development has been good, there are a lot of players that weren’t there in 2011 and we’re still the best in the world so he’s doing a good job. He deserves to be there and I don’t think he’s under any pressure regardless of where we finish
All Blacks won the World Cup last time around, they’re the undisputed no.1 team in the world and they have been for as the records show, 12 years. Is the pressure off the All Blacks at this year’s World Cup, especially since it’s in England?
It’s always on the hope nation. The hopes and dreams of the home fans are out for all to see, in the stadiums, walking through the streets – England fans are aware that it’s their tournament and when anyone holds the Rugby World Cup, it’s your time to shine. But the All Blacks don’t often come to a World cup not as favourites, that’s just the way it is.
However the fact that it is here and the fact that there is a lot of interest in Pool A means that there’ll be a lot of pressure on the teams in that pool. This means that the All Blacks can probably cruise into their campaign. Everyone’s been dismissing them straight away saying that they’ve got an easy pool, they don’t do well at away World Cups and that we won’t get a real look at what they’re made of until the Quarter Final. But because of that, I think they’re coming under the radar a little bit
Coming from a former All Black, what would your words of advice be for the young guns in the All Black side – Nehe Milner-Scudder, Codie Taylor, Waisake Naholo?
World Cups you need to treat as a one and only, you never know. 4 years is a very long time. I only went to two through 10 years of being with the All Blacks. I was lucky to get to both of those. And some players don’t even get there. You have to treat the World Cup for what it is – it’s the pinnacle, the ultimate trophy in rugby. Never think you’ll get a second chance to come back and win it, do it here and now. That means putting everything you’ve got into every chance you get, if you do that, itll benefit the team and might even give you a chance to make the next one
Putting your money where your mouth is, the most predictable question ever. Who wins it?
I think it will be a NZ Australia final judging by the way the pools are set out. New Zealand’s got some challenges with France and possibly South Africa in quarters and semis. But the winner in Pool A doesn’t have a bad run and I think Australia is creeping up real quick. I would love to see an All Black England final at Twickenham, I think that would be a fitting finale. It would be an incredible atmosphere at Twickenham and as I can just imagine playing in those circumstances against the home nation on their field and lifting that trophy. That would be the ultimate final to me but I’m unsure whether England have the firepower to get there
