Gregor Paul: Milner-Skudder the undisputed highlight

Nehe Milner-Skudder scored twice on debut for the All Blacks last night. Photo / Getty

The request made by the All Black coaches to Nehe Milner-Skudder was to show in Sydney whether he could transfer his Super Rugby skills to the test arena.

Challenge dutifully accepted and fulfilled and now the 24-year-old has made an intriguing situation positively fascinating. Milner-Skudder was the undisputed highlight of a disappointing night.

There was always a risk that his style of game wouldn't necessarily work too well at the highest level. He's powerful but not tall; his game is all fast feet and agility rather than bullish power and impressive top end speed.

Among the group of back three players chasing World Cup spots, he's definitely the odd one out - his skill-set making him both a risk and point of difference.

After his début, he's sitting more firmly in the point of difference camp and the selectors will be seriously tempted to pick him again this week at Eden Park to see what else he can do.

The bits they liked about his performance were the bits that international coaches always worry about. Milner-Skudder was calm. He was composed and he was confident.

He didn't appear to be remotely nervous and inhibited by the occasion and being in the right head space was a huge factor in being able to deliver a performance that was full of promise.

It was his second try that put him on the map. A man his size had no business getting over the line and yet he was able to quicken his steps as he crashed into three defenders, retain the ball in the initial collision and then find the raw strength to bounce over and fight to get the ball down.

That answered the question of whether he had the physical presence required to impose himself, while an impressive linebreak early in the first where he used his footwork to fly pas the first two tacklers confirmed that he's an elusive runner no matter who is defending.

"He brought what he had been bringing to the Super competition to the test arena and it was exciting," said All Black coach Steve Hansen.

"He was confident all week and he's impressed us with how quickly he's learned and taken things on board.

"That was a great try the second one he finished. He had work to do and he showed a pretty good effort to show it. He can be pleased with his performance."

Interestingly, Milner-Skudder wasn't as pleased with his work as everyone else. He said he turned the ball over twice in the first half and that he could have done more after being set free by Ben Smith early in the first half in the move that led to the opening three points being scored and Sekope Kepu being yellow carded.

"I just got the ball and ran and it was probably an opportunity missed to turn the ball back on the inside," he said. "Nuggy [Aaron Smith] was coming up and it would have been nice to set him up for one.

"[It was] Bitter sweet. There were a couple of tries there but I would trade them both in for the win. A bit gutted about the result. The first half was a bit of a blur. We have got to give Australia a lot of credit they had a lot of linespeed on defence. I had a few runs in the first half and turned the ball over a couple of times. I'll look back to the tape and try to improve."