Bender still best option at back for ABs
For those of us hoping that Steve Hansen might see the light and return the world’s best fullback eventually to his best position, the signs this week in Rome were not exactly promising.
Hansen threw a minor surprise in his team to face Italy in the year’s final test when he peppered a mostly second-string lineup with a sprinkling of his frontliners who have had a tough past couple of weeks, scraping home against England at Twickenham and then being outplayed by Ireland in Dublin.
Among those who started in the aforementioned blockbusters, Hansen has retained his playmaking duo of Beauden Barrett at first-five and Damian McKenzie at fullback, indicating that he wants to give them more time to continue to build their combinations, understanding and experience.
He has even shifted Jordie Barrett – normally a No 15 in the All Blacks’ thinking – to the wing to accommodate McKenzie, which is a further sign Hansen remains fixed on a path of having at least two fullbacks in his back three.
He told media in Rome that Barrett, McKenzie and backup No 10 Richie Mo’unga were ‘‘the three guys that we see at the moment that would most likely go to the World Cup, so getting those three guys combining, either at the beginning of the game or during the course of the game, is important’’.
‘‘We haven’t got too many games left so the more we play them together, the better it will be.’’
It’s interesting that Hansen no longer seems to include Ben Smith in his fullback thinking. And just a little bit concerning.
Smith plays his best rugby at fullback, and it’s difficult not to see that the All Blacks are a better team when he plays there.
He is able to get involved more, his strength in the air gives them real solidity at the back and his ability to influence decisions and pop up in key moments is greater with the added freedom of fullback.
Stuck out on the right wing he is just another solid optiontaking, safe pair of hands under the box kicks. At fullback he’s a difference-making, outstanding instinctive footballer.
You can make the case it’s an unnecessary risk selecting him out of position and lessening the impact a world-class operator can have in the cauldron of a test match at the highest level.
It’s not that McKenzie is not an outstanding player in his own right.
But is he as good a fullback as Smith? Surely the evidence of the last fortnight especially, and this entire season, would answer that in the negative.
McKenzie’s physical limitations have been exposed the last couple of weeks, as has some of his decision-making and skill execution under pressure. By Hansen’s own admission the decision-making has not been the best under the intensity of big-time tests against Ireland and England. You could throw two wobbly efforts against the Boks into that mix as well.
Hansen is adamant it’s not defensive linespeed that is exposing his team. In fact, he says Ireland’s pattern was a standard umbrella one, and that it was just decision-making under pressure that blunted the All Blacks’ attack.
Yet he continues to select those people making the poor decisions.
‘‘You’re going down the wrong track if you think it’s linespeed that’s beating us,’’ he told media in Rome.
‘‘It’s our poor decisionmaking against teams that are coming as an umbrella defence.
‘‘People are challenging [us] and when they do that you have to have the skillsets to cope with limited time and space.
‘‘It’s about ways of finding space and time to be able to do what you want to.’’
You wonder if Smith’s cool head at the back wouldn’t fix a few things instantly. Then it becomes a matter of who you pick on the right wing. You get the impression Waisake Naholo could light up Stadio Olimpico tomorrow like a Christmas tree and it would not make much difference in the greater scheme of All Blacks things.
Right now it appears Hansen is all-in on McKenzie at fullback, which means he’s committed to Smith on the right wing. That might concern the nervous types who would rightfully point to Smith as a much safer, more dependable and consistent option at the back.
This and his midfield makeup might be Hansen’s most important decisions ahead of next year’s World Cup. There is still plenty of water to flow under the bridge, but with just a handful of tests to come before the global gathering, the time for tinkering is probably over.