Another World Cup, another relatively unknown New Zealander making waves out wide. Well, even better. It appears as though head coach Steve Hansen has doubled down for the 2019 campaign and unearthed a pair of excellent rookie wings.
Four years after hot-stepping Nehe Milner-Skudder burst on to the scene, theCrusaders duo of George Bridge and Sevu Reece played eye-catching roles in a 23-13 victory over South Africa on Saturday that represented a firm statement of New Zealand's quality.
Who could have thought that the All Blacks would have begun the World Cup without either Ben Smith and Rieko Ioane in their starting team? Hansen is a strong believer in prioritising form over reputation, right here and right now. Last week, before being named to face the Springboks, Bridge and Reece enjoyed lunch together in Tokyo, as highlights of the 2015 tournament rolled across a screen in the background.
Bridge, an easy-going character whose grin does not appear to have faded for the past fortnight, took a "wee moment" to allow everything to sink in. Following the game on Saturday, in which he latched on to Beauden Barrett's offload and sliced over to score the All Blacks' first try, there was a brief opportunity to reflect.
"Aw, mate, it's been a dream my whole life just to be amongst it," Bridge said of his World Cup debut.
Bridge's finish in Yokohama, capping off a sequence that swept from touchline to touchline, epitomised New Zealand's uncanny ability to soak up pressure, force opposition errors and capitalise ruthlessly. Directly from a restart, the 24-year-old chased Aaron Smith's box-kick. He climbed to compete with Duane Vermeulen and South Africa's No8 spilled. Halfback Smith gathered the ricochet and found Richie Mo'unga, who stabbed a clever kick-pass across his own 22 to Reece. Smith followed up to receive an inside pass for a third touch in the move and the effervescent Ardie Savea powered deeper into Springboks territory. Then comes the clever part. Like most New Zealand backs, Bridge possesses an intuitive feel for the game.
"Sevu made a good break up the sideline and when the ball came out to Beaudy, I just saw that he had a prop in front of him," explained Bridge.
Review a replay and you will see him point Barrett towards South Africa tighthead prop Frans Malherbe. "I told him to have a go and, from there, he managed to get the offload and I was in support," said the scorer of eight tries in six caps.
Bridge is aware he has only just started, but he already looks and sounds like a player at home when the stakes are highest.
"I've only really had one year in the team but the coaches are pretty massive on us being able to express ourselves as players," he said. "Obviously, there are all the structures and stuff, the way that we want to play. But there's also the push for us to play what we see.
