Battle of the middle men

Everyone’s seemingly got an opinion on what All Blacks coach Steve Hansen’s preferred midfield pairing should look like.

Sonny Bill Williams and Ryan Crotty? Ngani Laumape and Anton Lienert-brown? What about the Crusaders’ pairing of Crotty and Jack Goodhue?

They’re just a few possible combinations fans could see in next month’s three-test series against France, which kicks off at Eden Park Saturday week.

‘‘It keeps you on your toes, but it’s the challenge you love,’’ Lienert-brown said yesterday, after the final All Blacks training camp wrapped up in Christchurch, and before the squad returned to their Super Rugby franchises.

"It’s great there’s so many midfielders playing well, because it only makes you better as a player."

Hansen has rolled with five specialist midfielders in his 33-man squad, while outside backs Rieko Ioane and Jordie Barrett are more than capable of shifting inside.

In other words, there’s no shortage of quality midfielders in the country, hence why Hurricanes Vince Aso and Matt Proctor got mentions when the squad was announced. Then there’s someone such as Highlanders centre Rob Thompson putting his hand up.

Lienert-brown, who has played 23 tests since his debut in 2016, said without a doubt the midfield competition in the current squad was the best he’d seen.

Hansen’s preferred pairing was Williams and Crotty last year, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the combo run out in the first test in Auckland.

Lienert-brown is sure to see game-time in the series, and has trained at both second-five and centre at the recent All Blacks camps.

‘‘I probably prefer 13 at the moment, but I’m definitely keen to give 12 a go, as well,’’ the former Christchurch Boys’ High School second five-eighth said.

He’s got one more Super Rugby game – against the Crusaders in Hamilton on Saturday night – to work on a couple of things requested by Hansen and his coaching staff.

‘‘Catch and pass, for myself,’’ Lienert-brown said. ‘‘Maybe the kicking game is something, as a midfield, we’re all trying to work on.’’

As long as Crotty is cleared of concussion, Lienert-brown will go up against him and Goodhue at the weekend. Not surprisingly, words have been exchanged the past few days.

‘‘There’s definitely plenty of banter, but obviously we’re good mates in this environment, but for 80 minutes on Saturday it’s going to be a different story.’’

While Crotty trained on a chilly Christchurch morning yesterday, Crusaders and All Blacks captain Sam Whitelock did not.

He has missed the past two Super rounds, and fellow All Blacks lock Scott Barrett couldn’t shed any light on his status.

‘‘I’m actually not too sure where he’s at. I try and stay away from him, give him his own space. The last thing he wants is everyone asking, ‘how’s his head, how’s his head, how’s his head?’. But as a mate, you feel for him and hopefully he’s back out there this weekend.’’

In addition to ramping up the tackling intensity during the final training session, the All Blacks put aside some time to do some homework on the French before they arrive next week.

‘‘Coming into next week, without having looked at them, it would be a bit of a mistake. So we’ve looked at a few things they’re going to bring and we’ve started to build them in,’’ Barrett said.

‘‘I wouldn’t say mission accomplished. I think there’s still things to think about in the next few days, but yeah, we’ve got to go back to our franchises.

‘‘They [training camps] have served their purpose for the Sunday coming.’’