Jack Goodhue’s kind of magic leaves muscle-men dazed and makes you believe in rugby again.
There was a transcendent moment of pure rugby last weekend. It left all the muscle men, with their biffing and boffling and bumping and bashing, in a dazed dawdle by the side of the road. It was the moment when Jack Goodhue used a kind of magic to make a well-manned defence completely disappear. It made you believe in rugby again.
Goodhue had received the ball on the outside of a Crusaders attack. It wasn’t a good pass. Goodhue had to jump to take it, so his time was abbreviated and he was vulnerable to the defence. Those Highlanders’ defenders consisted of James Lentjes on his inside hip, Mitchell Hunt in front and Kirisi Kuridrani to the outside.
I will describe what Goodhue did although, as so often with the higher moments of sports, it is almost indescribable. Goodhue made a show of the ball to an invisible man on his inside, he then threatened to straighten to the inside, bounced back out to the outer with a step off his right foot, targeted Kuridrani and then flicked the ball out to Tom Christie with his left hand.
It was all done in about a second and it bamboozled the defence. Almost entirely through body language, a language those Highlanders did not comprehend, Goodhue took out three defenders and gave his outside support runner an unimpeded path to the tryline. It reminded me of Aussie legend Mark Ella, who was almost mystical in the way he played rugby.
And it also reminded me of Will Greenwood. You might remember the England 12 from their World Cup-winning team of 2003. He wasn’t the greatest athlete, not half as good as Goodhue in that area. Yet Greenwood had a way of finding the weak seam in a defence and making space for others.
Brian Ashton, the coach of the England team that lost in the 2007 final, said of Greenwood: ‘‘He is able to get behind the first line of defence – and I don’t quite know how to describe this really – in an unobtrusive manner.
‘‘His footwork and understanding of running lines are so good. A lot of players don’t watch what’s going on with the opposition defence. They decide what they are going to do beforehand and when the makeup of the defence changes they don’t. Will has the rugby intelligence to appreciate where the space is going to be but not hit that space until the very last minute when defenders cannot readjust.’’
You see so much of the same thing in Goodhue and at 24 he is only going to get better. And, with Greenwood in mind, Goodhue may just be the answer to the All Blacks ongoing troubles at 12, a problem they haven’t really solved since Ma’a Nonu moved on.
Goodhue is not Nonu, but he can be like a super Greenwood. He has so much of the same innate game intelligence – Greenwood was the son of a former England coach – but he is also stronger and quicker. Goodhue frequently breaks the first tackle, often with a spin move, sometimes just with timing.
The world has been largely obsessed with physical men at 12 and it hasn’t always been fun to watch. Noone really wants to watch the big servers crash down ace after ace. We crave the beauty that the likes of Roger Federer bring to the game.
But sadly the southern hemisphere, even more than the north, has become obsessed with the big haulage in midfield. Samu Kerevi was the stand-out 12 at the World Cup and his departure to Japan for three years will be a grievous loss to new Aussie coach Dave Rennie. Not far behind Kerevi was South Africa’s Damian de Allende. These are strong men, powerlifters playing rugby.
And ever since John Mitchell wrongly dropped Aaron Mauger from the 2003 team – how his nous was missed in the quarterfinal loss – the All Blacks have gone the same way. Well, I guess you would, with Nonu and Sonny Bill Williams. You are selecting from a position of strength.
But that time has gone. Steve Hansen made a mistake not taking Ngani Laumape to the RWC and as a result he ended up fatally compromising. Anton Lienert-Brown is a very fine rugby player, but he can be a confusing 12.
In contrast, Goodhue is a man of well-chosen straight lines and can help take the All Blacks to that next level. One of the refreshing things about watching the Crusaders is how many rugby players they have in the team as opposed to raw-boned athletes.
Richie Mo’unga, Goodhue, George Bridge and David Havili are all, first and foremost, rugby players. They see space and they use their brain and their instincts and their skills to exploit that space. Yes, they are all good athletes, but they are not absolute world beaters for pace and power.
They are world beaters for rugby intelligence. Here is one, small, apparently insignificant example. The Crusaders were attacking the Chiefs line a couple of weeks ago and had taken the ball into contact. There was a strong chance of a turnover. But Goodhue read the danger those split seconds earlier than others would have done. He came haring in out of the backline and removed the hooker off the ball.
A likely penalty to the Chiefs became good ball for the Crusaders and David Havili had the time to create a try with a cross kick. The Crusaders are not missing Ryan Crotty and that is a pretty high compliment to Goodhue.
It is also a compliment to Scott Robertson and the coaching staff. They began preparing for this in 2019. They drafted Goodhue into 12 against the Sharks last May. That was the start of a longer term plan to replace Crotty.
It is hard to find many weaknesses in Goodhue. He is an excellent defender, not least because he reads the game so well. He is a superb passer off either hand. And he is very quick to appear on the shoulder of a player making a half-break. He could probably develop his left foot a bit more which would really give the Crusaders and the All Blacks another kicking option.
That is a quibble because the last few weeks have seemed like one continuous highlight reel. There was the in-to-out drift against the Blues and the pass out the back, taking out the wing and the fullback, to create a try. And there was the chip in the same game, a little mishit I reckon, that Mo’unga regathered and gave back to Goodhue to score.
But so often it is the things that pass unnoticed. Greenwood said of his own game: ‘‘If you’re talking England and a back line which has Wilkinson, Cohen, Robinson, plus the potential of Luger and Balshaw, I’m always going to be unobtrusive.
‘‘Opponents are going to see some tall, lanky bloke and think what’s he got to offer compared to that lot. Part of my strength is that I’m totally aware of my weaknesses and one of those is not to take on Lomu or Castaignede on the outside. Take them on with your strengths. That’s how I play the game. I was in the under 11s the last time I made a searing outside break.’’
As I have said, Goodhue has more physical tools and does still make outside breaks. But like Greenwood he is aware of playing to his strengths and the strengths of his team-mates. There was a pass against the Highlanders that was quite sublime. No, not that one Richie, who cheekily and cheerfully noted that Goodhue seemed to have acquired new skills postmullet and ‘‘a lot of confidence and arrogance and I’m not sure I like that.’’
No it was a long pass off his right hand when Mo’unga was bouncing out to the outside against the Highlanders. The timing and the accuracy were so perfect that it created a three on two. It was a pleasure to watch. A reminder that even in these days of the power 12, rugby can still be a beautiful game.
The Crusaders are not missing Ryan Crotty and that is a pretty high compliment to Goodhue.