Hansen: Squire still a chance
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says the World Cup door is not shut on Liam Squire – with one important caveat.
There is a growing school of thought that identifies the former All Blacks blindside flanker, who was a shock omission from the Rugby Championship squad after it was revealed he asked not to be considered, as the potential missing piece of the puzzle for the defending champions’ World Cup campaign.
Squire had only a handful of appearances for the Highlanders at the end of an injury-ravaged Super Rugby season and informed Hansen before the selection of his first national squad of the campaign that he ‘‘didn’t think he was ready’’.
At the time Hansen lauded the stance taken by his experienced loose forward, who has played 23 tests and been the go-to No 6 since Jerome Kaino headed offshore. Hansen called it a ‘‘brave decision’’ and confirmed he would have picked the 28-year-old in his initial squad.
Since then Squire has joined the Tasman Mako for the Mitre 10 Cup campaign and tucked away an outstanding half (including the opening try) as starting No 8 in their statement 45-8 opening victory over Wellington last Saturday – just hours before the All Blacks forwards were manhandled by the Wallabies in Perth en route to a record 47-26 defeat.
The Mako meet Canterbury in Christchurch tomorrow in the second round of the provincial season.
Squire’s absence has clearly been felt by the All Blacks as they have gravitated to a downsized loose trio for the Bledisloe Cup tests, with inform openside specialist Ardie Savea in the No 6 role. Prior to that Vaea Fifita and Shannon Frizell had been used on the blindside for the tests against South Africa and Argentina.
After the All Blacks forwards struggled to match the physicality and intensity of their Wallabies counterparts in Perth – not helped by the 40th-minute red card dished out to lock Scott Barrett – social media and the chattering channels were abuzz with talk that Squire’s muscular presence had been sorely missed, with calls for him to be recalled for the World Cup.
Hansen was asked at Thursday’s team naming press conference in Auckland, ahead of tonight’s Bledisloe Cup return match at Eden Park, if Squire was still in consideration for his World Cup squad which will be announced in the wake of tonight’s test.
‘‘Yeah he is,’’ Hansen said. ‘‘But it’s whether he wants to be considered or not, that’s the key thing.’’
Hansen told media he and his fellow selectors continued to take a keen interest in the provincial championship and noted that Tasman had been ‘‘pretty impressive’’ in their season opener against Wellington. Squire has not spoken to media since his self-imposed omission from the national squad.
The Squire enigma shapes as a key talking point heading into the World Cup selection cutoff. Does Hansen admit defeat with his experiment of playing Savea at No 6 and recall the Tasman bruiser? Does the player even want to appear at the World Cup?
The Savea-Sam Cane-Kieran Read loose trio was outplayed in Perth, and in general this year the All Blacks have failed to get much impact out of the No 6 position.
Hansen will make a further assessment at Eden Park tonight with his forwards vowing to bring a more physical and committed approach.
Meanwhile, the All Blacks coach has hinted a number of his squad will be released for provincial duty over the next week or so, but won’t make a final call on that until after tonight’s test.
‘‘After Saturday we’ll make that decision,’’ Hansen said. ‘‘There will be some people who need some footy. Who, we’ll wait and see.’’
The out-of-sorts axed trio of Ben Smith, Rieko Ioane and Owen Franks might all benefit from a run for their provinces, while little-used squad members such as Liam Coltman, Vaea Fifita, Luke Jacobson, Brad Weber and Braydon Ennor would also find value in some game-time.