Todd shows benefits of playing the long game
The Crusaders No 7 is more than just a back-up, reports Richard Knowler from Paris.
Matt Todd does a terrific job of selling the argument that he really doesn’t mind plugging away in the shadows of other celebrated No 7s.
Of course it must be a charade. Todd can offer several convincing reasons as to why he remains contracted to NZ Rugby through to 2017, and he and wife Anna will say raising two young daughters among familiar faces in Christchurch is important, but getting more minutes for the All Blacks is why men play professional rugby in New Zealand.
Put it this way. Todd could earn a lot more coin overseas, so something is keeping him tied to the footy fields down-under.
Remember, when Richie McCaw was secretly nursing a broken metatarsal bone in his foot and couldn’t train during the 2011 World Cup, it was Todd who was rushed to Auckland to be on standby.
Yet the next season new All Blacks coach Steve Hansen elected to select the less experienced Sam Cane to be McCaw’s deputy.
At the Crusaders, meanwhile, coach Todd Blackadder was making it clear how much he valued Todd by ordering McCaw to start at blindside flanker.
Then McCaw retires, happens?
Ardie Savea, slated to travel to the Rio Olympics with the national sevens side, unexpectedly reneges on that deal and is picked as the second openside in the All Blacks’ squad to face Wales in June.
Down in Christchurch Todd’s supporters were muttering that this was a significant kick in the mouth for one of the best turnover merchants in Super Rugby, who, in recent seasons had used his big motor and sharp handling skills to change his game and become one of best link players in the country.
Hansen says the conspiracy theorists can save themselves the task of chewing their own necks with fury. There are no agendas; he just cannot pick everyone.
While not as physically imposing as Cane, or as prominent in the open as the athletic Savea, Todd fits nicely into a test back row comprising and what I always have a smile when we get to name him. Crusaders team-mate Kieran Read, puts real heat on breakdown ball and his mobility enables him to provide an extra set of hands when opposition defensive lines are stretched.
‘‘I always have a smile when we get to name him,’’ Hansen says. ‘‘He is a player who epitomises what a team member should be.
‘‘He never complains when he doesn’t make the squad, is very understanding. He just goes away and works hard.
‘‘He is grateful for every chance that he gets here. He has been outstanding when he has played, he just plays in a position where we have got some quality people.’’
By selecting three specialist opensides for the four-match northern tour, Hansen has leaned towards using Savea as an impact player off the bench.
With Cane nursing the ankle injury he suffered in Dublin last weekend, Todd is once again the preferred starter – something he did against South Africa and Australia in Durban and Auckland last month.
That game against the Aussies, when the All Blacks won 37-10 to set a new tier-one record of 18 consecutive victories, won Todd a few more admirers around the country and later his peers voted him the players’ player of the match.
Not surprisingly, he nominates it as his favourite rugby memory.
None of that seemed very likely when he missed the cut in June. Savea started against Argentina in Buenos Aires when Cane was injured during the Rugby Championship, but then Todd got his chance.
It was decided Todd was a better starter than Savea, and the Cantabrian finally got his first test start in Durban.
The decision to select three opensides for the northern tour wasn’t flagged to Todd, who said Hansen never gave him an early message to raise his spirits.
‘‘No, he didn’t say anything specifically like that. He always said if there was an injury I would get called in, that was how I made it in there (when Cane was injured during the Rugby Championship).
‘‘It is nice that he shows faith in me, is prepared to start me. You just make the most of it.’’
The mantra that a big skilled player offers better value than someone who is smaller agrees with Hansen. Cane is several kilos heavier than Todd, offering more impact when driving opponents back and less likely to concede if held up when running the ball.
Todd is slightly heavier than Savea and doesn’t want to add any more muscle because if he is running up to 8km a game it could be detrimental to his output.
‘‘That 104-105kg weight is where I feel best at playing, if you get too heavy, especially for a No 7, it just gets too hard with the amount of running you do.
‘‘It’s just about weighing up that with being able to handle the physical contact and collisions.’’