Crucial Crotty holds central role in All Blacks midfield
OPINION: To appreciate the player that Ryan Crotty has become look back to the Crusaders’ win against the Jaguares last weekend.
The Crusaders, injury-depleted and travel-weary, were facing a Jaguares scrum deep in their own territory.
About 30 seconds later Crotty was scoring in the corner, having forced a charge-down himself and followed it up.
Crotty rarely gets the headlines but it doesn’t matter. You can juggle the All Blacks’ midfield permutations one hundred ways but you are wasting your time if you think Crotty won’t be part of it. Of course, the Crusaders’ front row got the credit for repelling the Jaguares scrum with a mighty shunt that set up the counterattack which led to Crotty’s try.
That’s quite right, too. It was an inspired play that once again showed how lucky the champions are to have Ben Funnell on the pine. He plays every minute like it’s his last.
And you could also highlight other midfielders in the country who can do some things better than Crotty.
However, if you break down how the All Blacks use their midfield - and particularly how the starters interact with the bench - Crotty’s all-round game means he is the most important midfielder in New Zealand.
He’s a fantastic defender, runs great lines and always makes the No 10 into a better player if he plays at No 12.
Above all, his ability to play No 12 or No 13 gives the All Blacks that tactical flexibility they love when setting up their bench.
For example, let’s say the All Lienert-Brown on the bench, off comes the Hurricane at the hour mark and on comes LienertBrown, with Crotty moving from No 13 to No 12.
There is no-one else in New Zealand who gives the All Blacks that option. Lienert-Brown, who looks lighter, leaner and sharper, is a possibility but he is now really beginning to look like a specialist No 13.
All of these selections are based on the premise that the injured Sonny Bill Williams will not make the first French test in June.
That’s no disrespect to the Blues man - but he is starting to come under some time pressure to be firing on all cylinders for the start of that series.
At this stage the best option looks like Crotty at No 12 (his best position) and the impressive Jack Goodhue at No 13, with Laumape as the change-up option on the bench. Forget about Rieko Ioane, he’s a wing.
That Crotty-Goodhue-Laumape trio tick all the boxes - defence, decision-making, kicking game and power. And crucially, it gives the All Blacks an already established midfield partnership.
It has taken Crotty a while to get here. In 2013, in the days the Chiefs had the wood over the Crusaders, Crotty threw a vital intercept to Aaron Cruden in a semifinal in Hamilton.
It cost the Crusaders a try and essentially the game. That Crotty is long gone.
Injury-permitting he is still the key man in the All Blacks’ midfield. You start with Crotty and then fit the other pieces around him.