Rugby World Cup 2023: All Blacks will be hoping Jason Ryan can perform another magic trick with Shannon Frizell

Gregor Paul in Bordeaux

Jason Ryan’s most impressive trick to date as All Blacks forwards coach has been the remodelling of Shannon Frizell into a robust, bruising and consistently destructive performer.

From being
in and out of the team since his debut in 2018, and the sort of player from whom no one could be quite sure what they were ever going to get, Frizell has been the All Blacks’ most captivating individual story this year.

He’s not been a different player as such, but he’s brought a level of intensity, accuracy and commitment to his work that wasn’t previously there.

It’s as if he’s woken up to his own destructive power – suddenly realised that the secret to this enforcement business is conviction – that self-belief is often the only thing that separates the best and most consistent performers from the also-rans.

The 2023 version of Frizell has, therefore, been almost unrecognisable to all previous incarnations and it says something that when Frizell was at his best in the first three games of the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks were also at their best.

His presence was critical in delivering the high-tempo punchy game the All Blacks want to play.

It’s a plan built on retaining possession through multiple phases and it needs crushing ball carriers to dominate collisions and produce the lightning-quick ball that puts defences under pressure.

And this year, when the All Blacks were running Argentina, Australia and South Africa ragged, it was Frizell, in conjunction with Scott Barrett, who led the ball-carrying charge.

There was more to his game than that though. He brought a defensive edge, too and a presence at the lineout which the All Blacks need as they have a short No 8 in Ardie Savea.

His impact throughout the Rugby Championship was obvious, but perhaps what has better illustrated his value to the All Blacks was the way they struggled without him against South Africa at Twickenham and then in the opening World Cup game against France.

Neither Luke Jacobson nor Tupou Vai’i were able to deliver the volume of destructive ball carries, or the tackling crunch of Frizell and it was no surprise to hear Ryan admit that the All Blacks have missed the Highlanders blindside given the form he was in prior to damaging the hamstring which has kept him out of action for the past six weeks.

And it’s Ryan to whom much of the credit for this revival of Frizell should go.

Listening to Ryan speak and the clear, concise, simple way he answers media questions with purpose and efficiency, it’s easy to see how he’s been able to have an immediate and significant impact on the All Blacks forwards since he arrived in the national team in August last year.

Language is all-important in the coaching game. It’s one thing to have innovative ideas, but another to express them in a way that players fully understand.

And it may be simplifying things too much to say that Ryan’s clarity in terms of what he wants from his players and his ability to express it, has been the catalyst for Frizell’s career revival, but it does seem beyond a coincidence that the 28-year-old has delivered his best year of rugby in the 12 months since the former Crusaders coach has been with the All Blacks.

Frizell gets Ryan and Ryan gets Frizell, and this is why conversations between the two are now ongoing about in which direction the player’s career should head longer-term.

Frizell, so Ryan suggested in Bordeaux, opted to sign a one-year deal to play in Japan next year when he was uncertain about what his longer-term future looked like with the All Blacks.

Ryan said that Frizell didn’t particularly want to leave New Zealand but the offer came in from Toshiba, the money was good, and without knowing where he stood with the national team, an agreement was reached about heading to Japan.

Seemingly, all this pre-dated Ryan’s arrival with the All Blacks and is now a source of frustration, as had the coach been able to get involved in the process, the message would have been clearly delivered to the player that he was valued and wanted.

Whether it would have been enough to convince Frizell to turn down Toshiba will never be known, but Ryan has at least now begun the process of seeing what he can do to persuade the incumbent blindside to stay in Japan for just the one club season and then return to New Zealand in the middle of next year.

If Ryan can do that, then it will be the second and arguably most impressive magic trick he’s performed on Frizell.

The big blindside has a huge role to play at this World Cup, but it’s not inconceivable to imagine that Frizell’s real moment will come in 2027.

Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand’s most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and has written several books about sport.