The players have five tests to prove their worth to All Blacks coach Steve Hansen. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The players have five tests to prove their worth to All Blacks coach Steve Hansen. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The easy part: Being one of the 41 picked for the early tests. The hard part: Staying there for the defence of RWC.
Making the All Blacks' first rugby squad of the year may turn out to be the relatively easy part of 2015 for a handful of out-of-form regulars and the five new caps.
The hard part is going to be surviving the cull from 41 to 31 when it comes atthe end of August and as All Black head coach Steve Hansen revealed yesterday, the next 10 weeks are effectively an extended audition for World Cup spots.
The squeeze points are the loose forwards, back three and midfield. Cory Jane, Israel Dagg and Charles Piutau face competition from Waisake Naholo and Nehe Milner-Skudder.
Victor Vito and Liam Messam may be playing for one place and it's unlikely that all of Sonny Bill Williams, Malakai Fekitoa, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Ryan Crotty, Colin Slade and Lima Sopoaga can fit into the World Cup squad.
A nerve-jangling, character-testing, career-defining period looms for those players and also the likes of Jeremy Thrush, Luke Romano and James Broadhurst to see if they can persuade the selection panel that they are the right men to take to England and defend the World Cup.
Beginning with the test in Samoa - which players in the Super Rugby final won't be available for - there are five tests for everyone to stake their claim. "I don't think it would be fair if we didn't give them all an opportunity," said Hansen. "There's some pretty tough decisions to be made. There is a group of about five players who have been injured and haven't played a lot.
"I asked myself some time ago, 'how are we going to manage this Samoan game and how are we going to make sure that when we come to select the Rugby World Cup team, we have got the right people?' As a trio [selectors] we decided that 41 was the number and what that has allowed us to do is make sure that come the end of the Rugby Championship, everyone that we think has the opportunity to represent New Zealand at the World Cup has been given an opportunity in an environment where they will be tested to see whether they can do the job or not."
The back three equation is the one that sits as the hardest to call. Naholo has been a near unstoppable force with the Highlanders - the best finisher in the competition and a man, at Super Rugby level at least, whose running has appeared to be as deadly as Julian Savea's.
The back three is probably the most contested area of the team at the moment.
The unknown with Naholo, however, is his ability to cope with the high ball; chase kicks and read defensive lines - skills that are all high priority in test football. That's much the same with Milner-Skudder. He's a gifted runner with an incredible step but come the World Cup, the All Blacks know they will face an aerial assault and that their back three will need to be able to deal with it.
Jane, Dagg and Piutau have proven themselves at test level and have excellent aerial skills. But none has much in the way of form or fitness behind them.
"The back three is probably the most contested area of the team at the moment," said Hansen.
"We have got Israel, Charles and Cory Jane - all three of them haven't played a lot of football and they are being challenged by Milner-Skudder and Waisake both. So that will be interesting to see a bit of competition."
