Liam Napier has been a sports journalist since 2010 and his work has taken him to World Cups in rugby, netball and cricket, boxing world title fights and the Commonwealth Games.
ANALYSIS
The post-Aaron Smith halfback era presents a delicate transition for the All Blacks.
Striking the balance between youth, experience, faith and form at No 9 will point to Scott Robertson’s selection approach.
Cam Roigard was poised to assume Smith’s lofty mantle, only for a patella tendon tear to rule him out for six months. While he targets an ambitious return for the All Blacks northern tour, contenders at opposing ends of the experience spectrum are queuing to impress Robertson.
Roigard’s absence from the Hurricanes paved the way for TJ Perenara to savour the starting halfback duties in his return from successive Achilles surgeries that sidelined him for 17 months.
Such has been Perenara’s influence from the base as the Hurricanes surged to top Super Rugby, the veteran has positioned himself as the front-runner to start for the All Blacks against England next month.
Folau Fakatava and Finlay Christie are other capped All Blacks pushing for inclusion – yet the continued emergence of a new breed of halfbacks, Noah Hotham and Cortez Ratima, leaves a heavily congested field of nines.
As Robertson weighs his initial options, five fit contenders doesn’t go into three.
At the rookie end of the scale the 21-year-old Hotham, once finally backed to start for the Crusaders, proved his dynamic qualities at the backend of their underwhelming season. While the consistency of his pass could improve, Hotham challenges inside defenders and regularly snipes to bring a constant threat to opposition forward packs.
Unlike the other contenders, though, the Crusaders’ exit robs Hotham of any further chance to press his case.
After jostling with Xavier Roe to start the year, Ratima has nailed down the starting role with the Chiefs and impressed with his abrasiveness and support play. The 23-year-old pushed Brad Weber with cameo appearances off the bench last season and is now firmly in the frame for a maiden All Blacks call-up.
Fakatava, after his test debut in 2022 and battling back from a second ACL rupture, performed well in patches for the Highlanders this year but probably hasn’t done enough to force his way into the competitive mix.
Christie made his return for the Blues last week, playing 61 minutes after two months out with a groin injury. The nuggety Scottish-born halfback has been a regular in the All Blacks squad – largely off the bench – for three years but following a regime he has ground to close.
“Making the All Blacks is always the goal for me,” Christie said as he prepares to start the Blues quarter-final against the Fijian Drua at Eden Park on Saturday.
“It’s tough coming back from a couple of months off. I’m just trying to focus on stringing a few games together and seeing where that can take me. I’ve got to be playing well to be selected.”
With 21 tests – four starts – to his name, test experience counts in Christie’s favour - but with new All Blacks selectors, it’s no guarantee either.
“Experience is always good but you just never know. There’s some really good halfbacks going around the country at the moment. Those young guys coming through like Noah and Cortez . . . the competition is definitely there. There’s a lot of players putting their hands up. I’ll try to get a few good games in at the end of the year with the Blues.”
Does Robertson take the safe approach for two assignments against England with those who have test experience – or will he be bold and back form to blood the untested Hotham and Ratima?
Assessing New Zealand’s halfback stocks earlier this year, Smith told the Rugby Direct podcast the injured Roigard is the future.
“It’s exciting every team has some great players but Roigard, what we saw at the start of this year was pretty crazy – defenders beaten, tries scored, try assists. He’s the guy. When he’s back it’ll be the same. This next four years or eight years is going to be the Cam Roigard era and it’s going to be bloody cool to watch.
“Seeing that Bronco score post-World Cup just shows where he’s at. He’s ready. He wants it. It’s a very unlucky injury but he’ll back and a little bit of time won’t hurt him.
“I hope Finlay comes back. He was looking strong and I’m really impressed with how Folau has played this year. He looks fit, he’s passing well and his ability to read situations and put people in space is great. Two metres out he’s hard to stop too. Little things around game understanding he can still work on but he’s getting the team around the field.
“That new crop, Noah Hotham, Cortez Ratima, Xavier Roe I’ve been really impressed with them. Cortez has been the pick of the bunch. He’s performing consistently; good left boot, strong, fit passes well, his support lines are crazy.
“You’ve got to remember old mate TJ is looking really good. I’m happy for him after a rough time. He’s got to be in the mix. He’s a big game player. You can see he’s building. It’s the TJ of old, the competitor, smarts, physical. He’s played so many games.
“Halfback is not the weakness in New Zealand now which is great. It’s a strong position. It would be good to see TJ back in there. I’d love to see where he can take the team and help that crop coming through.”
Smith suggested Perenara starting and Ratima off the bench for an All Blacks one-two halfback punch in the first test against England in Dunedin.
Whether Robertson concurs, we will find out in two weeks when he reveals his maiden squad.
Liam Napier has been a sports journalist since 2010, and his work has taken him to World Cups in rugby, netball and cricket, boxing world title fights and Commonwealth Games.