Gregor Paul: Win and it will not matter if there's a midfield muddle

Steve Hansen at Trusts Stadium in Auckland after the loss to the British and Irish Lions. Photo / Greg Bowker

It won't matter who All Blacks coach Steve Hansen picks in the midfield this weekend in one sense.

His decision, in the court of public opinion, will be judged as a success if the All Blacks win and a failure if they lose. It will be that defined; that simple.

It won't matter if the All Blacks win and the midfield is a disaster area: the post-game commentaries will be full of praise for his ingenuity and sixth sense, allowing victory to be the sole arbiter of his selection.

Likewise, the All Blacks could be dominant in the midfield, see their pairing have a hugely positive impact and yet still lose and hear, for weeks to come, how when it came to the biggest test of the year, Hansen got it all wrong with his midfield. How his golden touch has left him.

Sometimes test football analysis doesn't make sense but every now and again there are micro decisions which end up being deemed to have macro consequences.

Every now and again, a coach has to make a selection decision which comes to be seen as overly influential in determining the outcome of a contest and then with hindsight, is used to extrapolate greater strengths and weaknesses of the coach who made the call.

Who the All Blacks pick at No12 and No13 for the deciding test in the series is one such decision that may linger, unfairly so, for a while to come.

And it is because circumstances have created no obviously right decision. To some extent the All Blacks may have to contradict their initial squad selection by picking Malakai Fekitoa to start. He wasn't in the original 33 and yet he could leapfrog others who were and head straight into the starting team after being recalled.

That may look like a lack of trust in the original pick, Ngani Laumape, and also to Jack Goodhue, called in as injury cover for Ryan Crotty.

But circumstances have changed since the squad was first picked and a specific scenario justifies the promotion of Fekitoa.

Hansen has to make a call which he thinks is best for the team. Arguably, picking Laumape to start in such a big test may not be the right thing to do.

The original plan would have been to give him a small taste off the bench, possibly against the Lions, a bit more later in the Rugby Championship with a view to using the two non-tests on the end-of-year tour to play him more.

While he's ferociously talented, he's relatively young and inexperienced and that could be targeted and exposed by the Lions. That could leave the All Blacks vulnerable and the smarter decision - the one that is best for the team - could be to use the greater experience of Fekitoa on this one-off basis. A horse for a specific course.

There are pros and cons to whichever choice is made but the only thing on which Hansen should be judged post-game, is whether the performance of the midfield matches expectations.

Pre-game he'll justify the pairing he picks, explain their prospective strengths and outline the role he hopes they will play.

That's the true barometer there. The only fair way to gauge the decision - to see if his selection marries into the game plan and is consistent with the key goals the All Blacks expect to achieve.