TJ Perenara has emerged as a possible All Blacks starter in the injured Cam Roigard's absence. Photo / Photosport
TJ Perenara has emerged as a possible All Blacks starter in the injured Cam Roigard's absence. Photo / Photosport
Super Rugby is approaching the halfway point and All Blacks coach Scott Robertson will be feeling like a significant number of players have made life easy for him and his fellow selectors.
There’s been an element of stress packed into the post-World Cup narrative due to retirements andoverseas departures, and Robertson’s cryptic answers to questions about the current eligibility policy alluding to the possibility he thinks it’s needlessly hurting New Zealand.
Certainly, since the All Blacks last played – in the World Cup final – there has developed an underlying sense that Robertson is having to rebuild a team from impaired resources plying their trade in a sub-standard competition.
But the evidence on hand each week in Super Rugby, combined with the historic knowledge of what a handful of senior players currently playing in Japan can deliver on the international stage, has produced an entirely different story.
It should, in fact, be a fairly straightforward business for the All Blacks to pick a squad that carries an element of continuity, a depth of experience, reward for a handful of in-form players and probably a quirk or two befitting Robertson’s eye for the unconventional.
The easy selections are in the areas that possibly look the most congested – such as the loose trio, wings and prop.
The form of Hoskins Sotutu is impossible to ignore, particularly when he was omitted from all representative levels last year and given clear instruction by All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan on where he needed to improve.
When a player with Sotutu’s potential responds magnificently, as he has, to adversity, bounces back with renewed vigour, obvious passion for the game and all the boxes ticked that he was asked to tick – the selectors know they would lose credibility if they don’t return him to the All Blacks.
There is no quicker way for coaches to lose players’ trust than to ignore the guy playing the house down after he was dropped for not playing the house down, and it may seem like Sotutu and the equally in-form Brayden Iose are in a battle for the No 8 slot, but the former has almost certainly already won that fight.
Hoskins Sotutu has been a standout performer for the Blues. Photo / Photosport
Elsewhere, Samipeni Finau has played with the sort of aggression others can’t match and while he’s been a little wild and overzealous at times, no coach has ever overlooked a prospective blindside for bringing too much physicality.
Dalton Papali’i has bulked up this year, and although he struggled at first to carry the weight in terms of his ability to get around the field, he’s worked that out now and has shown he can be a genuine hybrid openside-blindside option.
Ardie Savea has been in Japan, but he’s the reigning best player in the world and hardly needs to sell his credentials.
Various theories are floating around about what Robertson will do with Sam Cane, but the answer seems simple – pick him, but not as captain.
However it may look, there is an unwritten agreement with these sabbatical deals senior players are granted, that they won’t be punished for taking them.
Being a no-show in Super Rugby this year won’t see Cane dropped and as long as he’s fit, it seems inevitable he’ll be picked, because politically it would look bad for Robertson to shun the man who was previous coach Ian Foster’s captain.
That would seem too pointed and callous – a power play designed to make a statement that didn’t need to be made about a player who has shown he’s a world class flanker, and precisely the sort of leader a new coaching team would be mad to leave out of their inaugural season in charge, for the sake of one-upmanship.
The smarter play would be to put the onus on Cane to keep proving his value, while giving Hurricanes protégé Peter Lakai a little taste of life inside the All Blacks camp this year.
Sam Cane is currently on sabbatical playing for Tokyo Sungoliath in Japan. Photo / Getty Images
Robertson can let nature take its course with this kind of thing – subtly increase the pressure on Cane to perform by drip-feeding Lakai opportunities and performance not politics will determine the outcome of which one survives in the squad longer-term.
The other congested area is the back three – but again the form of Caleb Clarke and Mark Tele’a at the Blues has made them must picks, while Emoni Narawa is starting to find his best form, too, after a long injury lay-off.
The only unknown is what to do about Sevu Reece, who has been magnificent for the Crusaders, but also linked to a move to Montpellier later this year.
On form, Reece would walk into the team, but if he’s off to France, Robertson’s got no incentive to pick him when he has such good alternative options who are committed for longer, and Will Jordan to return to the fore once he recovers from shoulder surgery.
There are plenty of other easy decisions to make – Damian McKenzie is head and shoulders the best first-five with Brett Cameron proving himself worthy of further test exploration.
Tyrel Lomax is now looking like he’s the best tight-head prop in the world with his Hurricanes team-mate Xavier Numia playing exactly as an international loose-head should.
It’s all quite easy – these two, plus proven candidates Fletcher Newell, Ethan de Groot and Tamaiti Williams would give the All Blacks five all-court props with scrummaging chops.
There may end up being a few tight calls around the margins – is there room for Iose or does he miss out to the steadily destructive Luke Jacobson?
And at halfback – Fin Christie, TJ Perenara and Folau Fakatava look like they will probably be the chosen three, but Cortez Ratima has so much energy about his game that it would be intriguing to give him a test to see how he handles the occasion.
There’s plenty of time yet for the story to twist and turn a little, but it would be a surprise if Robertson and his fellow selectors are watching Super Rugby play out with a deep sense of angst or confusion about who they are likely to pick.
