The stats (kind of) prove it - All Black everyman Ryan Crotty vital to world rugby domination

New Zealand rugby's latest working class hero Ryan Crotty putting Australia to the sword in Sydney. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

Just saying.

Rugby boffin types have latched on to a, or possibly the, common denominator in the All Blacks and Crusaders rare defeats/misfires over the last year: No Ryan Crotty, or not enough Ryan Crotty.

If the Ryan Crotty Fan Club had a t-shirt, it would read I Told You So.

Crotty doubters - if there are any left - sunk from trace over the weekend, when the Wallabies launched their comeback AFTER Mr Crotty had been replaced at centre.

Yes, it was 54 - 6 to the good guys when Crotty was there, which turned into 54-34 after he left.

To dilute the argument a touch, New Zealand and Australia made other substitutions around this time and All Black boss Steve Hansen said his team had been seduced by the lopsided scoreboard.

But as all Crotty-ites know, Ryan the Magnificent is a player who would never allow himself or his team to be seduced by a scoreboard. These people know exactly why the All Blacks managed to follow up one of their greatest halves of football with one of their worst.

Crotty can't be called Superman, because no Super Hero would have hamstrings that bad. And rather than leaping tall buildings, he's more likely to methodically work around them.

Rather, Crotty has a head start with the masses as an everyman character, and now it is clear to most that his contributions on the field are not ordinary at all.

Being a working class rugby hero can be a tough gig - blokes like fellow Cantabs Todd Blackadder and Reuben Thorne struggled to turn this into a good thing.

But these All Black coaches were looking for another Conrad Smith, the backline glue with guts and touches of class, and they've found him in the 28-year-old Crotty.

And as with All Black greats Joe Stanley, Frank Bunce and Tana Umaga, Crotty - regarded more as a second five-eighth before the All Blacks got hold of him - is nailing the test centre position down at quite a ripe old rugby age.

A note of caution though - those hamstrings are a worry.

So here we go...big games Crotty missed this year.-

Hurricanes 31, Crusaders 22 (Crusaders only loss this season)
All Blacks and Lions 15-all (that counts as an unofficial loss people) Lions 24, All Blacks 21 (second test shock, horror)
British and Irish Lions 12, Crusaders 3 (so much for the Lions suicide mission).

PLUS...Crotty went off in the first half when the All Blacks were beaten by Ireland in Chicago last year (although, quietly, Ireland were already leading by 10 points at the time).

PLUS...Australia only fired up after Crotty went off on Saturday night (in other words...no wonder Wallaby replacement centre Tevita Kuridrani looked so good)