Rieko Ioane will start at centre for the All Blacks for the first time against the Wallabies on Sunday. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Rieko Ioane will start at centre for the All Blacks for the first time against the Wallabies on Sunday. Photo / Mark Mitchell
OPINION
There are going to be sceptics challenging whether Rieko Ioane really is an international class centre now that he's been granted his wish to play there for the All Blacks.
Ioane's selection in the midfield to play the Wallabies is weirdly surprising when it shouldn't be given that hespent all season playing there for the Blues.
Not only that, he played well at centre, showed poise and patience and an ability to sense space both on attack and defence.
He was the form centre in Super Rugby Aotearoa and yet, it still feels like the All Blacks are taking a risk to pick him there to play the Wallabies.
For all that he's impressed and earned the right to wear No 13, there remains this undeniable sense that this isn't going to be permanent and may even yet still end up being written off as a worthy but ill-timed experiment.
So why the doubts? Why is it that Ioane's presence in the midfield this Sunday is the one selection that generates a touch of unease?
It shouldn't. This fear is simply irrational. There is no foundation to be sceptical. It's a bit like global warming, the evidence is out there, irrefutably proving that it's real and should be taken seriously, but yet there are, and will no doubt continue to be, those who feel they need more reason to believe it.
He's by no means the first player to establish himself on the wing only to declare he'd rather play in the midfield and attempt to make a mid-career transition.
Plenty have been there before him, some have made it work – most notably Tana Umaga – others haven't.
And then there were some like Richard Kahui, who could bounce between the two, effortlessly switching even at test level.
What makes Ioane a little different and why there is maybe going to be lingering scepticism about his readiness to play centre for the All Blacks, is that it still feels like he's got much, probably more, to offer as a wing.
Rieko Ioane spent the majority of Super Rugby Aotearoa playing at centre for the Blues. Photo / Photosport
Typically a positional transition likes this is driven by a decline in speed. But while Ioane suffered a loss of form last year, he didn't appear to suffer a decline in top-end speed and while there is a limited shelf-life for most explosive wings, he doesn't appear to be anywhere close to the end of his.
His decision to shift position this year was driven not by necessity but by desire and so that has sparked an irrational fear that he has made the wrong career choice and then been rewarded for it.
It's entirely silly to believe he can't be a better centre than he can wing. Prior to last year, Ioane made such a devastating impact as a wing that it does feel slightly mad to ask him to be a distributor when he's such a deadly finisher.
We all know he can run, beat defenders on the outside or blast over the top of them, but why can't he still do that from centre?
Some of this irrational fear about Ioane is driven by perception, created by the types of players the All Blacks have preferred at centre in the past. Two of the better No 13s in recent history have been Conrad Smith and Jack Goodhue, both of whom are renowned as creators of space rather than strike runners.
The All Blacks have picked centres who make space for others rather than out and out line-breakers and so Ioane is generating some concern purely because he's offering something different. Something we aren't used to seeing in the All Blacks No 13 jersey.
And it's even more irrational to worry about his distribution, because there were plenty of examples throughout Super Rugby that he's actually a good passer and clever exploiter of space.
He knows that when he plays in the midfield he has to let the ball go and it's not a coincidence that Caleb Clarke thrived on the left wing for the Blues this year with Ioane playing at centre.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster hinted that Ioane probably won't play centre all year – that he'll still be picked as a wing on occasion because he sees a young player who he believes is capable of doing both at a world-class level.
And that is yet one more piece of evidence to suggest fears about Ioane playing centre are irrational. Foster has picked his team on bona fide evidence and seen enough of that to be convinced.
