By WYNNE GRAY
New All Black Troy Flavell began the season thinking he might be a backup lock in the Blues squad.
His professional sporting career hit serious paydirt yesterday when he was told he would partner captain Todd Blackadder on Friday against Tonga.
Among the surprises in coach Wayne Smith's opening selection, Flavell and Crusaders tighthead prop Greg Somerville are the two new caps, with former captain Taine Randell keeping his old No 8 position and Tony Brown starting ahead of Andrew Mehrtens at first-five.
A persistent shoulder injury forced likely No 8 Ron Cribb out of contention.
"Ron is not 100 per cent so Taine Randell will slot in at No 8 and that suits our purposes this week," Smith said.
"He was an original choice in the squad, he was the All Black No 8 last season and he played well in that position during the Super 12."
When injury forced Cribb out of a test debut on his home North Harbour ground, it left his mate from schooldays Flavell to beat him in the race to the black jersey.
"I haven't been training with the team a lot and had no idea I was going to be picked until they read the team out," Flavell said last night.
"I have had a bit of a niggle in my back but the selection sent me out with a fair bit of adrenalin to training afterwards."
On Monday, Smith signalled his intention to try a variety of players when he told the Herald that all 27 players in the squad were of test calibre and deserved a chance to prove that.
But he sidestepped whether he would have chosen the same team had the All Blacks been playing the Wallabies or Springboks this week.
While Flavell has made a swift rise to the top, the 22-year-old Somerville's ascent has been even faster since he made a shock debut for Canterbury in the NPC semifinal against Waikato in 1998.
"I've had a few surprises lately from the Crusaders' win in the Super 12 to the All Black squad - now this," he said. "I've been sleeping pretty well though because the work has been pretty demanding."
Prop Carl Hoeft was not considered because of a calf problem, Norm Maxwell has been brought to Auckland with the team in case of injury or illness while Leon MacDonald and Mark Robinson have gone back to Christchurch to play club rugby this weekend.
The full line-up
Young lock strikes paydirt in surprise All Black selection
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.