The All Blacks' golden generation: Conrad Smith, Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu, Keven Mealamu, Richie McCaw and Tony Woodcock. Photo / Photosport
COMMENT:
When the golden generation headed off to retirement and foreign pastures after securing a consecutive World Cup title in 2015, the All Blacks faced a potentially long and difficult road being without them.
The rest of the world looked on, convinced it would be next to impossible for the All Blacks to operate successfully in 2016 without Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Tony Woodcock and Keven Mealamu.
They were losing in excess of 800 tests caps and arguably the two greatest All Blacks in history.
Experience and quality of that nature would take years to rebuild and yet the All Blacks went through 2016 undefeated for long enough to set a world record of consecutive victories, cleaned up the Rugby Championship and lost just once.
The bigger surprise, though, was the ease with which the All Blacks replaced Carter.
The veteran had signed off as World Player of the Year and the highest points scorer in test history after delivering a tactical masterclass at the 2015 World Cup.
Beauden Barrett jumped from being an impact bench player to the best No 10 on the planet and took Carter's crown as World Player of the Year and held it in 2017.
Almost as surprising was the way Sam Cane emerged as a world class openside to soften the impact of losing McCaw.
Joe Moody pushed on as a dynamic loose-head to replace Woodcock and Dane Coles finished 2016 on the World Player of the Year short-list and just like that, four of the golden generation were replaced and in some cases, even surpassed.
But Nonu and Smith weren't so easy to live without and conversely, that proved to be equally surprising as in Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty and Malakai Fekitoa there was a group of relatively experienced and highly capable midfielders ready to stake their claim.
For one reason or another – mostly injury – the All Blacks didn't find similarly convincing replacements in their midfield.
The emergence of Jack Goodhue last year has given the All Blacks their answer at centre and a player who looks destined to challenge Smith as one of the greats.
Which leaves second-five as the only position in which a definitive answer still hasn't presented itself.
Nonu, it turns out, is the one member of the golden generation whom the All Blacks haven't yet managed to replace.
There is no automatic choice, no one player who has consistently given them everything they need the way Nonu did between 2008 and 2015.
The All Blacks had hoped, that after all of their midfield options battled with injury through 2016 and 2017, that they would see someone emerge in 2018.
It didn't happen and worse, there was a regression. They used four players – Williams, Crotty, Anton Lienert-Brown and Ngani Laumape – and there was a universal failure to provide commanding tactical support to Barrett at first-five.
None of them managed to be the second set of play-making eyes the team needed and while Barrett was singled out by the public as being indecisive in the face of a rush defence, the coaches knew he wasn't getting the help he needed.
Barrett was a ball of frustration in the two tests against South Africa – games in which the All Blacks tied themselves in knots trying to find space.
There was a sense that at the end of the Rugby Championship Barrett made it clear to the coaches that he needed someone to be in the starting team who could lift some of the play-making burden off his shoulders.
When they returned from Pretoria and injected Damian McKenzie at fullback to provide a second kicker and decision-maker against the Wallabies in Yokohama, Barrett was a different player.
He had a second problem-solver alongside him and more valuable intelligence being fed into his hard rive and his confidence returned.
McKenzie was only ever a solution of sorts, though, as for all that he bolstered the side's tactical acumen and kicking repertoire, it wasn't intended to be in lieu of the second-five offering the same portfolio.
The desire to find a more communicative and tactically authoritative second-five remained very much alive and a high priority for this Super Rugby season.
At the World Cup, the All Blacks want both their fullback and second-five to be contributing with the tactical direction and helping Barrett guide the team.
They also need their No 12 to be capable of getting over the gainline and being a physically destructive force as well as a capable distributor and kicker.
The demands of which make it a difficult position to fill and here we are in the last throes of Super Rugby and it's still not obvious whether the All Blacks have the player they are after.
They still don't have their Nonu. He has proven to be harder to replace than anyone imagined.
He brought an obvious presence and physicality to the No 12 jersey, but not so widely appreciated about Nonu, though, was his work as a strategic influencer.
He was not one to let his first-five die wondering. Earlier in his career, he had a propensity to overrule and intimidate any young No 10 he decided he didn't rate, but by the end, he was a trusted strategic lieutenant and Carter himself would say he wouldn't have had the impact he did at the 2015 World Cup had it not been for the contribution of Nonu outside him.
The difficulty the All Blacks have had in replacing him is best illustrated by the fact that for a period this season, he looked like he himself was going to be the solution to the problem he created.
It looked, for a brief period at least, as if Nonu might be the one; the player who could tick all the boxes and slip back into the All Blacks No 12 shirt he wore 103 times.
He's not, however, a perfect version of his former self. He's a 37-year-old version of his former self – every bit as skilled and aware just not as quick and agile and while he's been able to prove himself in Super Rugby, there are tell-tale signs he'd be exposed if returned to test football again.
So if Nonu is not the right replacement for himself, then who is? At the moment, the best but not perfect answer appears to be Lienert-Brown.
He'd been supremely influential for the Chiefs. He finds a way to make things happen, be it through his footwork or off-loading.
His defence is solid and he has the sort of presence the All Blacks need in that area.
The only problem with him is that he's always looked more comfortable coming off the bench than he has starting tests. He's also looked more comfortable at centre than he has at second-five and as good as he's been this year for the Chiefs, is he really the No 12 they have been looking for?
Williams is some respects is a more like-for-like replacement for Nonu but once again, his knee has let him down and then there is the issue of his tactical support.
Is Williams the right player to have next to Barrett at the World Cup?
Crotty strikes as having the wider tactical vision but he doesn't have the same physical presence or ability to play the ball out of the tackle.
Laumape was dropped last year for a perceived lack of communication skills and round in round in circles we go, still not sure whether the All Blacks have the No 12 they want.
As many as four rookies could force their way into Scott Robertson's All Blacks squad.