Vince Aso unluckiest player?
Vince Aso was the one who got the bullet.
It’s seems crazy, when you think about how well Aso played against the Sunwolves last week and how many backline positions he can cover. But that didn’t save him from being the back who couldn’t even crack the team’s 23 to meet the Lions at Westpac Stadium tomorrow night.
Playing at second five-eighth, Aso scored two tries and had two more denied him by television match official Ben Skeen. He also laid one on for wing Julian Savea.
But with Ngani Laumape back from his All Blacks rest, someone had
Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd
to get shuffled elsewhere. It’s just unfortunate for Aso that he’s been cast aside entirely.
‘‘If luck was determined by your ability to get selected on the team sheet, he’d probably be the most unlucky player on the planet, really. I thought he was outstanding [last week],’’ Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd said of Aso, which makes his omission all the more surprising.
‘‘We had a talk amongst the backs on Monday, around selection philosophy, which they’ve all bought into. Reluctantly, because they all want to play,’’ said Boyd.
‘‘So we’ve looked at the five-week block between now and when the June [All Blacks v France] series is and I’ve got a bit of a blueprint for who’s going to play where.
‘‘I think you’ll find, irrespective of what happens in the Lions game this week, that Vince Aso will play in the game against the Blues and somebody else will take their turn [to sit out],’’ Boyd said.
‘‘I’ve just simply got to keep 12 or 13 or 14 [backline] guys on the boil.’’
Julian Savea will again start on the right wing, where Aso has played with some success already this season, with Nehe Milner-Skudder the outside backs cover on the bench. Both have been attending this year’s All Blacks camps and you assume Aso has fallen victim to not being further up the national totem pole.
It’s rare for Super Rugby coaches to be given explicit instructions to play their All Blacks, but the implicit expectation is there.
‘‘Because they’re in that [All Blacks] frame, you’d expect them to be your better players. But we’ve still got Ngani and Beaudy [Barrett] who’ve still got a [All Blacksmandated] week each to take off, but everybody will take their turn,’’ Boyd said.
Milner-Skudder had limited involvement in his appearance off the bench against the Sunwolves, but the Hurricanes are hopeful the game might run more his way this week.
‘‘By his own admission the hardest thing he did was the trainer’s [warm down] session after the game. He had a little 20 minutes and he took a couple of blows in anger, which was really good for him,’’ said Boyd.
‘‘If I was picking on form and current situation then probably Vince Aso might’ve played and Nehe might’ve been on the bench, but I think it’s important we keep giving Nehe minutes and keep growing him into something.’’
Laumape’s return is the only change to the backline that started against the Sunwolves, while Ihaia West replaces Jackson GardenBachop as the bench first five-eighth.
In the pack, Jeff To’omaga-Allen comes in at tighthead prop for Ben May, lock Vaea Fifita is back from All Blacks rest and Gareth Evans comes in at No 8 for Reed Prinsep.
‘‘If I was picking on form and current situation then probably Vince Aso might’ve played.’’