Inga Tuigamala: Dire Super 14 adds urgency to All Black selection debate

Running man: Kahn Fotuali'i's playing style makes him a prospect if the All Black halfbacks get a shakeup. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

Debate about All Blacks selections is hitting the headlines already.

With New Zealand struggling in the Super 14, this is probably not surprising because it is going to take some kind of miracle for one of our teams to win the title.

The latest selection talk involves suggestions that Graham Henry and his mates may have decided on new halfbacks, that the Crusaders' Kahn Fotuali'i and Blues' Alby Mathewson might leapfrog the previously favoured trio of Jimmy Cowan, Brendon Leonard and Andy Ellis.

Variety and a running game are the keys, apparently.

In essence, players who can break defences down are needed these days.

I certainly think there is room for latecomers to make a bid for what, at this point, will become the build-up to next year's World Cup.

But I think any new candidate has to be an outstanding one at this relatively late stage.

Of those two halfbacks being suggested, Fotuali'i would be my far stronger preference over Mathewson, who has had a brief taste of the All Blacks already.

Fotuali'i loves to take on defences and reminds me a bit of a young Graeme Bachop.

Fotuali'i has far more potential than Mathewson to my mind. As to whether either one of them can be rated as exceptional yet - which should be the criteria - is another matter.

The Super 14 has certainly been a let down for New Zealand so far and people are always saying to me "Inga, what is wrong with our teams?"

The people I meet are not happy at all with the state of our game.

As a nation, we are die-hard rugby fans and we tend to panic when things go wrong.

I think we need to take a deep breath and have some faith.

I'll be honest and say I am finding it difficult to see solutions, but the fans I meet are angry and disappointed. This is probably the worst Super season New Zealand has had in many ways.

I won't write the Crusaders off in Pretoria because there are many players in that side who have risen to major challenges before, but they face a major task against the Bulls.

Our other hope, the Hurricanes, have been very up and down. They are at home to the Reds, who might well be my Super 14 team of the season.

The Reds don't have the big names and, at the beginning of the year, they were one of the teams many of us expected to end up near the foot of the table. Yet they have challenged from the outset and played some very good rugby along the way.

The Reds have shown the value of great teamwork and I applaud them for that.

* Inga Tuigamala played 19 tests for the All Blacks