All Blacks: Try scorer Taylor in line for RWC trip

All Black debutant Codie Taylor had a night to remember against Argentina. Photo / Getty Images

Crusaders hooker makes the most of All Black outing to step up in pecking order.

It was almost a perfect moment - falling over the goal-line with his first touch in black, while friends and family watched on.

But Codie Taylor soon realised the referee was still near the opposite sideline and, glancing around him, there seemed a strange lack of excitement among his teammates.

"I looked up and was wondering what was going on," Taylor said after making his maiden All Blacks appearance in the win over Argentina. "It didn't get allowed but you just carry on with the game and get on with it."

Get on with it Taylor did, and less than 10 minutes after being denied, the hooker had his debut try in front of his home crowd, completing a rapid rise in New Zealand rugby that could result in a place at the World Cup.

A regular starter in Super Rugby for the first time this year, the Crusader was a surprise inclusion in the All Blacks' first squad of the season. But after impressing off the bench on Friday night, Taylor appears locked in a head-to-head duel with Hika Elliot for the All Blacks' third hooking spot.

With Elliot left behind to nurse sore ribs as the All Blacks head to the Republic, Taylor will enjoy another chance to press his case, even if the presence of Dane Coles and Keven Mealamu will probably restrict his audition to the training field.

The 24-year-old will certainly have a tough time topping his first act in black. It wasn't just the try - a case study in correct body position as he burrowed his way over - but his work in the scrum that most caught the eye during a 20-minute cameo.

"The Argies pride themselves on scrums," Taylor said. "It's just another whole level up. They're longer, it's harder to push and everything's got to be right otherwise you get found out.

"I've scrummed with [Nepo Laulala] and [Wyatt Crockett] quite a lot this year and we've got a good connection. But taking nothing away from Argentina - we knew what they were going to bring and to get a tighthead against them was huge."

The strength evident in both the set piece and his try has been a result of a diet and training programme that allowed Taylor to pack on the pounds and please those in charge.

"I was pretty light last year and I'm about 110 now, so I'm where the coaches want me to be. You feel like you can add a bit more to the scrum and to the tackle, get in those breakdowns and slow the ball down. It definitely has been a huge help."