Test spot is SBW’s to lose
OPINION: Avert your eyes if you’re an SBW hater. This might just tip you over the edge.
My money is on two-time World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams to wade his way through a logjam of midfield contenders and secure the All Blacks’ No 12 jersey to face the British and Irish Lions in June-July.
It just has that sort of a feel about it, that sort of an inevitability.
However, I would place one firm caveat on that bold statement: first, he has to produce something resembling compelling form for the Blues in the five, possibly six, matches he will have before Steve Hansen and his selectors decide on their chosen men to do battle with the Lions.
Find his groove, and he’s in. Simple as that. However, coming up with a midfield partner shapes as a much more problematic head-scratcher.
Right now it seems a crazy statement. Williams, the most protected man in New Zealand rugby, has played a game and a-half for the Blues in 2017, and has looked nowhere near ready to take the major step up to a test series against the best of a quality crop of British and Irish standouts.
There have been flashes of brilliance, but also a ton of rust as he’s mixed the sublime with the ridiculous through a couple of scratchy outings, to say the least.
But that paucity of proper rugby − his only XVs footy since the 2015 World Cup − will mean Hansen and co will give him every chance to show his worth ahead of their selection cutoff. They probably figure they owe him that much, given his decision to return for a third RWC cycle, and his injury dramas of 2016.
Right now you would have Williams near the back of your midfield contenders mix. At the head of the queue are incumbents Ryan Crotty (Crusaders) and Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs). They deserve that seniority on the back of their standout 2016 efforts in the test arena.
Then you’ve got Williams, Rieko Ioane and George Moala at the Blues (let’s forget Rene Ranger for now); Ngani Laumape, Matt Proctor and Vince Aso at the Canes where midfield options abound; and Malakai Fekitoa at the Highlanders.
You could even throw Canes rookie sensation Jordie Barrett into that mix, given the young man’s extraordinary ability to cover midfield, wing and fullback (though his footy in 2017 has been principally at No 15).
Anyway I’ve got Williams at No 12, providing he starts to deliver on a consistent and classy basis for the beleaguered Blues. That will be watched closely.
His size and physicality will be reassuring against what’s shaping as a powerful Lions midfield, and there’s probably some legitimacy in the theory that he deserves a shot after spending so long biding his time behind All Black legends Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith.
I’m sure Hansen will be reluctant to split Crotty and Lienert-Brown who did the job brilliantly in 2016, and in the normal course of events would be given first chance to reassert their pairing.
But given that Williams wasn’t available in 2016, and that he’s worked hard to get himself back on the field, an exemption seems likely to be afforded SBW. Just like with his sponsor objections and his refusal to do New Zealand media, his protected status seems set to continue.
All of which would likely see Williams, Crotty, Lienert-Brown and maybe one other midfielder (Fekitoa or the fading Ioane?) included in the squad, with SBW and ‘‘glue guy’’ Crotty my pick to start the opening test, and maybe Lienert-Brown on the bench (if Jordie Barrett doesn’t beat him to it).
Two other key selections wait to be decided ahead of the All Blacks squad announcement on June 8.
One is in the utility back cover, which could be a straight call between Damian McKenzie and the Barrett youngster.
Initial thoughts had Barrett given more time to garner experience and spared the pressure of a Lions series. But now I’m not so sure.
With every match the 20-year-old comes through with growing composure, poise and assurance, it seems like the age-old maxim is worth applying: if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.
He appears plenty good enough.
McKenzie probably deserves another crack, and has a test year under his belt. But something tells me that Barrett, like his older brother Beauden, just might be born to this level.
Again, the next five weeks should decide this one.
The final captivating contest, for me, comes at halfback, where it’s a coin-flip between Aaron Smith and TJ Perenara for the top No 9 spot. The in-form Augustine Pulu and departing Tawera Kerr-Barlow are not bad insurance policies either.
Perenara has done nothing wrong for the Canes in 2017 and, remember, excelled for the All Blacks when Smith’s world imploded over the back part of 2016. He’s in beautiful form.
But Smith, at his best, is tailor-made for the up-tempo game Hansen likes to play.
I’ve got him forming the front half of the best halfback one-two punch in the game against the Lions.