Wynne Gray: Cruden worth a gamble

The dearth of All Black first five-eighths is not surprising given the lack of quality playmakers in the Super 14.

With Stephen Donald recovering from injury and reluctant practitioner Luke McAlister crocked, the national selectors whistled up Stephen Brett to join their squad this week as cover for the start of the Bledisloe Cup series.

Good on Brett but he wasn't any raging success in the Super 14 and was not even an original choice this season for the Junior All Blacks. Using both he and Piri Weepu appears real band-aid material in the national squad.

It might have been time for the All Black selectors to have taken a reasonable gamble and promoted Aaron Cruden, who was the captain and star of the under-20 junior world championships. With McAlister almost certain to recover before the test, it would have been a two-way street for the selectors and Cruden if he had been whistled into the national camp in Wellington.

Cruden knows all about adversity having battled testicular cancer and he has learned his skills in what is a more difficult environment for an inside back, behind the Manawatu pack, rather than a set of Crusaders or Hurricanes forwards.

Those who have seen Cruden play maintain he is good to go. He runs a game, he reads a game, he has that feel for the pulse and rhythm of a match which is such a boost for any team. There is talk about him being on the end-of-year tour if he stays healthy throughout the NPC.

Age should not matter. If he is good enough, he is old enough.

Across the Ditch, the Wallabies started James O'Connor as an 18-year-old, David Pocock and Quade Cooper were not much older, George Smith and Matt Giteau began their stellar careers just after they blew out 20 candles, while blokes in previous eras like Tim Horan, Phil Kearns and Tony Daly were fairly useful.

There will be arguments that Australia has to promote these players because they do not have much depth but the same applies to New Zealand where the five-eighths stocks, behind the injured Dan Carter, are limited.

Maybe the All Black selectors baulked because of their memories and experience since promoting Isaia Toeava as a teenager on the 2005 Grand Slam tour. That was a gamble, a hunch and a judgment which has yet to flourish. But the selectors backed their instincts and have persevered.

Teenagers who made their test debuts have gone on to great careers, men like Jonah Lomu, John Kirwan, Bryan Williams, Pat Walsh and George Nepia. Geoff Hines did not kick on but Richie McCaw has flourished after his debut as a 20-year-old, while Carter and McAlister have been fairly handy after test debuts as 21-year-olds.