The cross-code star will rejoin the Warriors ranks in 2024, signing a three-year deal and making the current Super Rugby campaign his last with the Blues. Video / NZ Herald
OPINION:
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s return to rugby league, and the growing calls for muscular Levi Aumua as part of the All Blacks midfield for the upcoming World Cup, raises the issue of the shape and style of that midfield – and second five-eighth in particular.
Aumua’s strong form for Moana Pasifikahas brought into focus questions about the way the All Blacks may want their midfield to operate in France. Dancers and prancers or the power option? Aumua has reminded many that the All Blacks have never fully replaced the power of Ma’a Nonu, Sonny Bill Williams and even Ngani Laumape at second-five.
Jordie Barrett is the clear choice as No 1 second-five but coach Ian Foster was initially reluctant to select him there, and with the midfield stocks injuries are increasingly frequent interventions.
Barrett’s puzzlingly delayed selection tends to underline that the All Blacks now see the need for gain line proficiency coupled with an offload game. The recent defeats by England (2019 World Cup), Ireland and Argentina were an amalgam of factors – but the midfield often looked next to powerless against three monster defences.
Against England, Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue gave their all and got nowhere, the latter being substituted by Williams to make things happen. It didn’t. Against Ireland, the All Blacks tried Quinn Tupaea (now injured until NPC rugby in July) and David Havili inside No 1 centre Rieko Ioane – and also got nowhere.
Moana Pasifika's Levi Aumua has emerged as a contender for a spot in the All Blacks' World Cup midfield. Photo / Photosport
Havili and Ioane started when the All Blacks lost to Argentina last year. Look, too, at France’s thrashing of England this year and the role played by second-five Jonathan Danty – 112kg of thrust and power.
Is Aumua the right choice? Like many in the midfield mix, he is primarily a centre than a second-five and is some way from the finished product. His one hit-out at a higher level (for the All Blacks XV v the Barbarians last year) produced a quiet first half (he wasn’t alone; the team as a whole spluttered); his second half was better but he spilled a ball that led to a key Barbarians try.
His distribution can be wayward; he sometimes drifts out of games; his offloads can be hit-and-miss; his kicking skills are limited at the top level. None of which is to say he can’t be coached into being a key second-five; there is no doubt about his attacking potential; his defence is good.
Nonu was an imperfect specimen when selected for the 2003 World Cup (though he didn’t become a starter for the All Blacks until 2008) – a punishing runner but initially with little appreciation of the finer sciences inherent in an international midfielder. Nonu’s apprenticeship lasted five years; Aumua’s would have to happen in less than five months.
The All Blacks brains trust might also look hard at the Highlanders’ Thomas Umaga-Jensen, whose twin brother Peter has just returned from, you guessed it, injury. Thomas also has a way to go – his offloading game is not yet fully developed; his link play is maybe not as good as Aumua’s but he made big dents in the Crusaders defence and is another circa-110kg midfielder able to get over the gain line and set his forwards a decent target.
Goodhue in top form would be a cinch for the World Cup squad – the classy centre is an instinctive player with a decision mechanism that rarely fails. He nearly always takes the right option; his distribution and support play are top drawer.
But there’s a reason he’s played only 18 tests for the All Blacks (13 at centre, five at second-five) – injuries again. His last few test matches under Ian Foster saw him at 12 with Lienert-Brown at centre - maybe not his best position though coach-elect Scott Robertson also apparently likes Goodhue better at 12 than 13. Tupaea (14 tests, with seven starts) briefly provided some strength at 12.
Counting Ioane and Barrett as certainties, there are as many as nine midfielders (even without Tuivasa-Sheck) vying for what will likely be only a few slots, even in a squad expanded to 33 players: Aumua, Thomas Umaga-Jensen, the Hurricanes’ Billy Proctor and All Blacks Lienert-Brown, Goodhue, Peter Umaga-Jensen, Braydon Ennor, Havili and Tupaea.
David Havili is held in high regard by All Blacks head coach Ian Foster. Photo / Photosport
Of that list, only Havili, Tupaea and the two Umaga-Jensens can be considered specialist second-fives. Squad selection being what it is, care is taken with back-ups and planning for injury; a second power runner behind Jordie Barrett’s forthright style may be considered necessary.
Foster’s regard for Havili is clear; the Crusaders’ man has silky skills and a clever kicking game – but is among those seen to struggle to penetrate the massed defences of the north. Midfield is a tough gig; even Tuivasa-Sheck’s dancing feet couldn’t earn him a ticket to the ball and his own defence knocked him down the rankings.
Foster won’t want to leave Goodhue and Lienert-Brown behind so the squad midfield could look like this: Barrett, Ioane, Goodhue, Lienert-Brown and one of Tupaea (if he has time), Aumua or Thomas Umaga-Jensen.
