Tew kidding himself

He's got to be joking!
NZRFU deputy chief executive Steve Tew surely had his tongue planted firmly in his cheek when he said there " a number of world class New Zealand first-fives"playing in the current NPC.
Tew was responding to questions as to why the NZRFU rejected overtures from Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper to have Taranaki first-five Brock James play for him in 2005.
James, a New South Welshman, has been the guiding hand behind Taranaki's mainly excellent run of form in the NPC first division series, but apparently can't play for the Hurricanes because he has played sevens for the Aussies and is therefore ineligible for the All Blacks.
If Tew truly believes that finding a replacement for James from within the NPC will be no problem because of the quality of first-fives playing there he must be living on another planet.
The true facts of the matter are that the cupboard is pretty much bare as far as first-fives of international calibre are concerned, let alone of players worthy of the "world class" tag.
Canterbury's Andrew Mehrtens would have been up there with the very best three or four seasons back, but not now.
Age has wearied him yet he still has no equal among Kiwi first-fives when it comes to organising a backline and taking the right options at the right time.
Aucklander Carlos Spencer seems to have present All Blacks coach Graham Henry in his corner, but reliability and consistency have never been his long suits. Therefore he could never be labelled "world class"in any shape or form.
Glen Jackson of Bay of Plenty and David Holwell of Wellington are seasoned campaigners who have been huge value for their provinces but that's essentially what they are, excellent performers at provincial level.
And in any case both are heading overseas to earn some big dollars in the latter stages of their careers so they no longer count as Super 12 or All Blacks possibilities.
A lot has been written about the promise of North Harbour's Luke McAllister at first-five, but while his potential can't be doubted he's still a long way from proving that he has what it takes to succeed at the highest levels.
And the same goes for his North Harbour team-mate Nick Evans, who is capable of making a name for himself at either first-five or fullback, and Cantabrian Daniel Carter, who is seen by Henry as a possible successor to Mehrtens and Spencer on the international scene, but who these days is playing most of his rugby at fullback.
The worry for me about Carter is that he appears to have suffered a loss of confidence, and first-five is a position where any frailities in that regard will be quickly exposed.
What all this says is that far being a position of strength in New Zealand rugby first-five is probably the biggest problem area of all.
Which on face value makes Mr Tew look rather stupid, doesn't it?