Magic midfield combo set to be unleashed
Sonny Bill Williams and Goodhue first choice selections
Maybe, finally, we could again witness the All Blacks' first-choice midfield pairing this week.
It's been a long wait, late June to be exact, since Sonny Bill Williams and Jack Goodhue had their sole gallop together.
Four months on, a degree of unfamiliarity may exist should they be handed their second start against England.
Circumstances have conspired against the All Blacks giving these two more time this year; the latest instance of glandular fever forcing Goodhue out of the final Bledisloe in Yokohama.
"There was a bit of fatigue at the end of last week so he's had a couple of really good days of training and looks like he's 100 per cent," All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster said. "He trained full on today so if he recovers well that means we've got four midfielders ready and available."
It's not the first time Goodhue's health proved problematic.
This time last year Goodhue debuted in a mid-week match in Lyon but missed the start of that tour, too, after contracting mumps.
Since then, though, the 23-year-old Northlander has been an irresistible force at centre for the repeat championship-winning Crusaders.
While the All Blacks have plenty of midfield options with Ryan Crotty, Anton Lienert-Brown and Ngani Laumape, who collected three tries against Japan last week, all performing well, Williams and Goodhue are now probably viewed as the premier pairing.
The only catch is we haven't seen quite enough of them as a combination to be sure.
A headline test at Twickenham may be the perfect place to assess their World Cup readiness, not that Foster was giving anything away.
"Our midfield now is jumping out of their skin. The last two weeks we've probably seen the energy levels and work-rate in that group as good as it's been all year. Then you put Ngani's performance in Tokyo into that mix and that creates its own
Sonny has had the least rugby and is probably still finding his top form.
Ian Foster
degree of pressure so it's a nice place to be.
"Sonny has had the least rugby and is probably still finding his top form. I think that's a fair thing to say. I've been delighted with the way the four of them are working well together. They spend a lot of time discussing the game and growing the collective part of the midfield."
The All Blacks know what they get from a Williams-Crotty partnership.
By contrast, this year's third test against France in Dunedin is the only other time Williams and Goodhue previously started together.
The hunch is they could be the best 12-13 New Zealand has – yet, to this point, as a pairing they remain something of an unknown.
In his five tests, six matches for the All Blacks, Goodhue started alongside Laumape three times and once outside Crotty, coming off the bench in his last appearance, the loss to the Springboks in Wellington seven weeks ago.
The best midfield partnerships are, generally, crafted over time. Think world record holders Ma'a
Nonu and Conrad Smith; Jason Little and Tim Horan, Frank Bunce and Walter Little, Joe Stanley and Warwick Taylor, Jean de Villiers and Jacques Fourie, Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll, Will Carling and Jeremy Guscott.
Midfielders are a different breed in the sense it is as much how well they complement each other as what their individual strengths are.
It is, perhaps, harsh on Crotty, after 42 tests, that his dependability may be surpassed, especially given Williams' lack of form.
But the All Blacks always put team first, and the attacking potential Williams and Goodhue could unlock appears too tempting to ignore. Crotty's value can also still be utilised.
Both Williams and Goodhue are big men – both punching over the gain line. Goodhue has also quickly mastered many of Crotty's qualities; the decision-making under pressure, distribution and rock solid defence.
Whether those skills combine immediately with Williams, maybe we shall see this week.