Beauden Barrett appears to have lost his treasured ability to play on instinct. Photo / Photosport
Beauden Barrett appears to have lost his treasured ability to play on instinct. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
Phil Gifford lists five talking points from the weekend’s rugby.
IT’S HIS PARTY
After decades of dictating who an All Blacks coach is allowed to have as his assistants, New Zealand Rugby is right to leave the selection of Scott Robertson’s assistants to him.
Robertson has a track recordof picking the right person for the job. The most shining example is Jason Ryan, the forward coach who was tapped by Robertson a decade ago, first for Canterbury and then the Crusaders.
There was no glittering All Blacks career in Ryan’s CV. Instead, he’s the ultimate grassroots rugby man, playing nearly 200 games for his Sydenham club in Christchurch, and provincial rugby as an import player for Buller and West Coast. His record with Robertson, and the work he did with the All Blacks last year, proves his worth.
Way better to have Robertson picking who can best serve the All Blacks next year than a committee a step removed from the current rugby coalface.
Crusaders and incoming All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. Photo / Getty
CLASS WILL OUT
Has it been a great start to Super Rugby Pacific for Beauden Barrett? Certainly not by his world-class standards. There are similarities with the struggle Dan Carter was having with the Crusaders at the start of 2015.
The All Blacks selectors in 2015 held to the belief that class usually overcomes poor form. At the end of the year, Carter was a key man in the World Cup victory in England.
Barrett’s goal-kicking wasn’t great in the Blues’ 54-17 win against the Rebels in Melbourne, but after a scratchy first half that saw the Blues down 13-17 at halftime, he caught fire in the second. His long suit is his speed, and when he trusts his instincts – as he started to do against the Rebels – he can reach heights unavailable to most inside backs. The Carter example needs to be followed at the national level.
SCRAPPING HALFBACKS
Halfback is a crowded area for the All Blacks.
Put a tick beside Aaron Smith’s name. The man they call ‘Nugget’ is still gold. The contest for back-ups to Smith (we took three to Japan in 2019) is fascinating.
Last year, Folau Fakatava made the All Blacks squad after hugely impressing with his physical, fearless approach. Has he been quite as effective this year for the Highlanders? Maybe not. You sense a slight drop in speed of pass and execution when he subs for Smith.
On the other side of the halfback coin, the Hurricanes’ Cam Roigard has seized every chance he’s had, and he was the key man in the Hurricanes’ 29-14 win in Dunedin against the Highlanders. There was a certain irony in the fact it was a reverse pass from Fakatava that Roigard picked off in the 51st minute to score a crucial runaway try. What was startling was how in his 70-metre run to the line, Roigard easily outstripped Highlander midfield backs trying to catch him.
Meanwhile in Melbourne, Finlay Christie was again sharp and effective for the Blues, and Brad Weber remains a smart, commanding leader at the Chiefs. Four, or maybe five, into three positions, won’t go, but it’s a much better problem to have than scratching around just to find three test-level candidates.
Aaron Smith showed plenty of class despite his side losing on Friday. Photo / Photosport
A PARADE ALMOST RAINED ON
The party at Richie Mo’unga’s place for his 100th match for the Crusaders started so well, from running on with a child in each arm, a welcoming haka from pupils of his old school, St Andrew’s College, to a beautiful little jinking run to send Codie Taylor in for a try against Moana Pasifika in just the 12th minute.
Who would have dreamed that Moana would then switch to fierce mode, and play so well they’d lead 21-17 at halftime? Happily for Mo’unga, his goal-kicking was brilliant, he cross-kicked beautifully to set up Dom Gardiner’s try in the 52nd minute, and if the 38-21 victory was scratchy, at the end he could relax and savour the milestone.
Centre Levi Aumua, whose career has taken him from Bordeaux to Brisbane to Blenheim, looks to have found his rugby home at Moana Pasifika. The team may have struggled, but Aumua has never been outplayed.
He has the fearsome man-on-man energy and size that’s a feature of the French and Irish midfield. At 28, he’s two years younger than Frank Bunce was when Bunce started his outstanding All Blacks career, and there are elements of Bunce’s mental and physical toughness in the way Aumua plays. Aumua just may be the unexpected outsider in the World Cup squad.
