Rieko Ioane. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
By any objective analysis, Rieko Ioane was one of the Blues’ best players in the hard-fought win over the Highlanders this weekend – and is clearly the All Blacks’ No 1 centre.
So why do we hear detractors so consistently advancing the proposition that he is a better wing than a centre?
The recent passing of All Blacks great Bruce Robertson, perhaps as fine a judge of a pass as ever pulled on a black jersey, created the backdrop for a close look at Ioane’s work at centre against the Highlanders and how the All Blacks might be best served at No 13 in the coming World Cup.
Ioane did the business against the Highlanders in a high-energy display; he constantly probed the stubborn defence, often on the outside break or the spot between two tacklers, always a threat of breaking through. His ball security and defence was solid and that blinding speed was in evidence in a try-saving intervention as Highlanders first-five Freddie Burns seemed likely to score from a kick ahead. Not only that, Ioane rescued the situation from behind his own goal line, getting the ball back in play and sparking a mini-breakout, gutsy stuff.
So why the hesitation? Ioane doesn’t always serve his outsides. As he makes a break, his focus is often on continuing the run, as opposed to linking with support players. He mostly looks to pass only when contact is made, instead of ahead of contact.
Top centres – Robertson, Joe Stanley and Conrad Smith – have an innate awareness of space and time; their knowledge of when to pass a sixth sense. Twice on Friday night, Ioane showed he has not yet developed that same form of extra sensory perception. Once, to be fair, he had his heels clipped from behind so could not see the tackler. Hugely in-form wing Mark Telea was right outside him, in a bit of space, but Ioane’s eyes were locked forward; feeding his outsides did not appear to be in mind.
Later in the second half, he was put through a hole by Stephen Perofeta but, with Harry Plummer outside him, he didn’t pass until in a tackle – and the hurried transfer was spilled by Plummer. It was a perfect example of a pass that became 50-50 by a lack of timing.
To be fair to Ioane, the modern game is played so fast and in so little space, compared to Robertson’s day, (and maybe even Smith’s) that such things have to be seen through a different viewfinder.
But take a look at the Blues and the All Blacks, in particular, over recent times. The national team have been thwarted more than once by defences just as stubborn as the Highlanders’ was on Friday night. So, if they are to play the attacking and counter-attacking game in the World Cup, when the chances come, they must be taken. Key passes must be made.
What is lost when they’re not is Ioane’s own attacking ability. If those passes had been made to Telea and Plummer, Ioane would still have been in the game; he would be immediately in support – and that speed and his finishing ability makes him an even more dangerous weapon. All that is lost if the transfer is not completed at the right time or lost in the tackle.
Which is where players like Jack Goodhue come in. There are precious few really good judges of a pass these days; modern rugby’s harassing defences put more immediate obstacles in front of players before timing and judgement come into play.
Goodhue had a much quieter game than Ioane as the Crusaders lost to the Hurricanes – but he had two or three pieces of play where his passing game was on show. Ioane is good at inserting himself into the game; Goodhue is skilled at bringing others into the game.
It’s no easy choice for selectors. In the intensity of top-level rugby, the crucial nature of throwing and connecting with vital passes can mean the difference between winning and losing.
In a related skill on show in the Hurricanes-Crusaders match, Jordie Barrett, also playing at 12, showed his growing offload ability. Like Ioane, he took the ball into tackles. Unlike Ioane, he consistently connected with support players, the most obvious being an out-the-back-of-the hand offload to send halfback Cam Roigard over for a try.
Chiefs midfielders Anton Lienert-Brown and Alex Nankivell are pretty good at the skill, as is Crusaders centre Braydon Ennor – without any perhaps being in the top order of midfield distributors. Lienert-Brown played a much more direct role at second-five in the Chiefs’ win over the Force – but still set up one try with a classic offload after spearing between two tacklers.
Ioane clearly has the lead as the No 1 centre but the abbreviated Rugby Championship may be a chance for the All Blacks’ skills people to work with him on that next level – the subtlety and the sweetness of the timed pass to go with his undoubted danger as a runner. It’s a coachable skill and we can only wonder why it hasn’t taken real root before now.