Plummer ignoring the noise as he targets another shot with the All Blacks

Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie seem to have been swapping the All Blacks No. 10 shirt over and back for ages now with neither of them ever fully claiming ownership. Plummer is definitely in the conversation in terms of a possible third way.

ALL BLACK DUTY: Will Jordan of the New Zealand All Blacks embraces Harry Plummer after winning The Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup against Australia Pic: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Soccer has made serious inroads in New Zealand in recent decades, the Springboks have usurped their age-old rivals at the top of rugby’s tree, and nothing speaks louder for the All Blacks’ slippage more than the fact that Ireland have won five of the nine last meetings.

Don’t let any of that fool you, the ABs remain big business and bigger news.

To witness the fallout this last week from Joe Marler’s remarks about the haka was to be reminded of the cultural touchstone that is this emblematic franchise. And the pressures fostered by rugby’s place in the nation’s heart and soul penetrate much deeper again.

Harry Plummer will start at out-half and as vice-captain for the All Blacks XV side that takes on Munster at Thomond Park on Saturday evening having steered the Blues to a Super Rugby title and made his Test debut against Australia during the Rugby Championship.

It has, by any standards, been a wildly successful year for the 26-year-old whose opportunities with club and country came via injury and illness to others. But maybe his greatest achievement in 2024 was opening up recently about his mental health journey.

Plummer fell into a familiar trap as a younger player in paying too much heed to the opinions of others, not least on social media. 

“You start feeding the dark side of your head,” he said recently in a video shot for New Zealand’s Movember charity.

Injuries and illness are other obstacles he has had to overcome but the abuse suffered at the hands of ‘fans’ – those on keyboards and in seats - was every bit as difficult and it was detailed in a story written by his brother Benjamin, a journalist with the New Zealand Herald.

Benjamin wrote about five years of abuse, death threats and personal attacks directed at his sibling, and how the family had to sit and listen to the vitriol expended by people around them when watching games from the stands.

Harry is in a much better place now. He has been off social media completely for over a year and has leaned instead on a tight family and circle of friends, his fox terrier Archie and a new-found love of golf that has segued into a Next Shot Golf fashion range.

Going public with his story was designed to help others as much as himself.

“The reaction was quite humbling for me. I have been quite busy the last couple of months, so I probably haven’t been able to reflect too much on some of the achievements I’ve had, but I got lots of messages from family and friends and people I don’t know.

“That’s the whole reason I came out about my own journey with my mental health and, where I am at now I am no means a complete figure of a human being in a mental space, but definitely worlds apart from where I started.

“The goal of it all is to create awareness and if I can change one person’s mind on it then I feel like I have done my job. Fully focused [on rugby] at the moment but, yeah, that is a big part of who I am.” 

Plummer is one of seven Kiwis on duty in Limerick who have already earned at least one run at Test level, and one of a select few whose absence from All Blacks squads through most of the Rugby Championships was fervently debated back home.

Some of the others in that bracket would include Shaun Stevenson, Hoskins Sotutu and Ruben Love. 

Sotutu is said to be injured and hasn’t travelled north, but the other two will be part of the pageantry this evening and looking to further their claims.

COMPETITION TIME: New Zealand's Harry Plummer kicks a ball during his team's captain's run at Sky Stadium in Wellington on September 27. Pic: Grant Down / AFP

This is not Broadway. The actual All Blacks will face England at Twickenham earlier in the day on Saturday but there has been plenty of cross-pollination between the two Kiwi touring squads and coaching tickets that have been working in harmony for months now.

The door remains very much open.

As for the situation at No.10, Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie seem to have been swapping the shirt over and back for ages now with neither of them ever fully claiming ownership. Plummer is definitely in the conversation in terms of a possible third way.

Justin Marshall, a man who knows a bit about good out-half play, weighed in on this back in June when Plummer was omitted from Scott Robertson’s Rugby Championship squad when stating that the Auckland man had not been ‘unlucky’ to have lost out.

Playing in Vern Cotter’s forward-dominated Blues side suited Plummer, according to Marshall. Yes, he did say that Pummer had been a reason for their Super Rugby title, but he wanted to see him shine at a higher level again before any elevation to Test level.

Plummer himself is keeping all that talk at a remove.

“We’re footy players and we know how to deal with disappointment more than most but you’re right in that I don’t see stuff online and that it is probably a bit easier to deal with those challenges. My focus the last few years has been about enjoying my rugby.

“I get an amazing opportunity this weekend to play with guys I haven’t played with before, and against teams I have never faced before, so that’s what I’m looking forward to. I’m really looking forward to my time with these boys.” 

Three more Kiwis to watch in Limerick:

Fabian Holland 

No, not a relative of former Munster player Jason. Holland is bona fide Dutch. Born and bred in Alkmaar, he swapped dreams of playing football for rugby and moved to New Zealand as a 16-year-old to attend Christchurch Boys High School to pursue it.

Still only 22, the lock plays for Otago and the Highlanders and is described as a player with a strong skillset who loves the dark arts side of the game. Holland has already played for the Kiwi U20s and younger brother Quinten is currently following the same path down under.

Du’Plessis Kirifi 

Captain of the side, Kirifi’s unusual first name comes from his father Jack who was a fan of Springbok great Morne Du Plessis and the flanker was outstanding seven days ago with 12 carries and 27 tackles when Wellington beat Bay of Plenty in the NPC final.

Kirifi was called up to the All Blacks’ main team four years ago and is one of those with the XVs believed to be on the cusp of involvement again. Now aged 27, he has been linked with a move overseas as well so it’s close to now or never for his international ambitions.

Shaun Stevenson 

One of the seven involved here to have won a Test cap already – and just the one in his case, last year. Another man for whom the biological clock is ticking, the Chiefs full-back/wing is 27 and has played U20s, with the NZ Barbarians, XVs and 12 times with the Maoris.

XVs coach Clayton McMillan has bigged up a man blessed with size and speed and a nose for the tryline, including his Test debut against the Wallabies. The back three is an area loaded with competition but he brings good NPC form in with him from North Harbour.