Decision on Williams means midfield muddle rolling on

The All Blacks want to bring the midfield merry- go- round to a halt during the Rugby Championship. Ideally, they would like to see an obvious combination emerge so they can build continuity and understanding in a critical area of the field.

Fate has conspired against them in their quest to build an established combination to replace the longserving Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith who both retired at the end of 2015.

Injury, suspension and fluctuations in individual form have prevented the All Blacks from enjoying any kind of stability in their midfield since June last year. The selectors are no clearer now than they were 17 months ago as to who their preferred combination might be.

They have developed a wider group of midfielders but not a pecking order. They have managed to play good attacking rugby for the most part despite the constant changes, but they suspect they will play better if they can start the same two players over a number of tests.

That quest for consistency has been hampered by the judicial ruling that Sonny Bill Williams won’t become available until the second Bledisloe Cup encounter in Dunedin.

Given the effort put in to reducing Williams’ time on the sidelines, the coaches looked like returning Williams to the No 12 shirt in Sydney with Ryan Crotty resuming at centre and Anton Lienert- Brown providing second half punch off the bench.

The Williams- Crotty pairing started the first test against the British and Irish Lions and is the one that is probably deemed the first choice.

There’s also a view — by no means definitive — Lienert- Brown’s skill set is suited to being used off the bench where he can exploit the the space often found later in the game.

Assuming the Williams is unsuccessful in his appeal against the decision, Crotty will presumably play second- five with Lienert- Brown at centre. The question, though, will be where do the selectors go when Williams becomes available again?

Do they restore him regardless, push Crotty to No 13 and say to those two that they have an extended time to establi sh their combination? Or will Crotty and Lienert- Brown, who were last year about the only pairing that enjoyed some kind of regularity, be kept together if they play well in Sydney? It’s a question the All Blacks can’t answer specifically but can generally with assistant coach Ian Foster suggesting their selection decisions will be determined by performance. “We like to think we are really smart and have a great plan but last year we ended up bringing Anton in and he was a bit of a revelation. All we can do is prepare everyone to the best of their ability and give them an opportunity. “Yes there has been some chopping and changing and that brings its challenges but our expectations are that whoever goes out there plays at a top level whether it is their first test or 50th. Overall, we are pretty happy.” If they can bed down a combination in the Rugby Championship, it will pave the way for the All Blacks to make greater use of the end- of- year tour where they have t wo games to supplement their three tests. That will be the time for them to have a longer look at the likes of Ngani Laumape, Jack Goodhue and Charlie Ngatai, if he can stay injury- free.