All Blacks: Slade's form gets him back up role to Cruden

Crusader Colin Slade. Photo / Christine Cornege

Canterbury's first five-eighths factory rolls on with Colin Slade the latest entry into the All Black records.

About the time he was unveiled officially in the squad to travel to Sydney for next week's Bledisloe Cup, Slade was left out of the Canterbury side to play Bay of Plenty tomorrow in Christchurch.

That request came from All Black coach Graham Henry, who said Canterbury had other choices such as Stephen Brett, while Slade would be thinking about his impending test introduction. "His mind will be on that and he has played enough football in recent weeks to be in good shape and he does not need to play," Henry said.

"We did not want him dinged, it is a good opportunity, his mind is probably on the All Black game and they have alternatives. He is the form five-eighths basically."

Henry had gone to Rotorua to scope out Luke McAlister and Mike Delany last weekend while assistant coaches Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen watched Slade play strongly against Auckland.

"Colin Slade I thought, was the best player on the field and he has been playing bloody well. Luke [McAlister] played well, he did not play badly and he played well against Otago the week before, but he is a 12 playing 10."

Delany had simply not played enough rugby to be considered since returning from his serious shoulder injury.

"The other guy [Slade] is an established five-eighths and he is playing particularly well so it came down to form really. Form in that particular position."

He was a specialist five-eighths who could cover other roles and was a goalkicker. He slipped on to the national radar briefly last year as a backup and this season had played strongly for the NZ Barbarians against the NZ Maori.

Henry applauded his decision to shift away from Daniel Carter's shadow to show his credentials for the Highlanders in next year's Super 15 series.

Young Manawatu five-eighths Aaron Cruden will start in Sydney and Henry enjoyed the way he played in a rare weekend outing for Manawatu. He had shown some authority, looked sharp and seemed to have enjoyed himself.

"His time with the All Blacks has been really positive for him and I think it has been reflected in his play," Henry said.

In retrospect, the All Black selectors should have picked Cruden for the second test against Wales in Hamilton but, after last season's results, they were twitchy about keeping their momentum going.

Starting in Sydney in a significant test away from home, where the All Blacks record was nothing remarkable, would be a great chance for Cruden to show his calibre. His goalkicking had improved and there were other options with Piri Weepu and Israel Dagg.

The selectors will also consider a start in Sydney for some of the substitutes they used in Soweto. Those reserves were Weepu, Sam Whitelock, Dagg, John Afoa and Victor Vito who replaced Jimmy Cowan, Tom Donnolly, Joe Rokocoko, Ben Franks and Jerome Kaino. The panel had not chosen their starting combination but would discuss a number of issues.

While Slade has been removed from the ITM Cup a number of other All Black squad members are on duty. The Franks brothers, Corey Flynn, Sam Whitelock, Victor Vito, Rene Ranger and Anthony Boric are all down to play this latest round.

NZ SQUAD:

Mils Muliaina, Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Joe Rokocoko, Rene Ranger, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Benson Stanley, Aaron Cruden, Colin Slade, Jimmy Cowan, Piri Weepu, Kieran Read, Richie McCaw (c), Jerome Kaino, Victor Vito, Brad Thorn, Tom Donnelly, Sam Whitelock, Anthony Boric, Owen Franks, Ben Franks, John Afoa, Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu, Corey Flynn.