Rising to the challenge
TOM Franklin is like a good wine — maturing slowly but getting better with age.
Franklin (27) has come right out of the cellar and is now part of the top table — getting called into the All Blacks this week.
It is richly deserved for a player who is having a breakout season for the Highlanders.
All Black locking great Ian Jones is a big fan of Franklin.
‘‘Just his work rate, his dependability, his defence, they’re all first rate. I think that move to blindside flanker last year for Bay of Plenty has really helped his game,’’ Jones said.
‘‘He’s set a benchmark all year and hasn’t slipped beneath it at all. He is such a good ball carrier and that is what the All Blacks use Brodie Retallick for. Franklin is like that. He has come a long way in a year.’’
Franklin comes from Whakatane and came to Otago after boarding at St Paul’s Collegiate in Cambridge.
Franklin was not straight into the premier ranks upon arriving in the South, instead playing for Southern colts for a year before turning out for the premier side in 2010.
That was the same year he made the New Zealand colts along with Otago players Liam Coltman and Hayden Parker.
The team won the world junior championship in Argentina although Franklin did not make the starting side for the final — Blade Thomson and Liaki Moli were preferred.
Franklin made his Otago debut the next year, coming on for Hayden Triggs in a win over CountiesManukau. He made his starting debut for Otago in the last game of that season against Manawatu.
Franklin continued to impress and Jamie Joseph picked him for the Highlanders in 2014 following a cleanout after the disappointing 2013 season.
He played for the Highlanders eight times in his opening season and was an everpresent in 2015 before an elbow injury scuttled his season and he missed the final matches and the finals series.
In 2016, he was called into the All Blacks as training cover but never got near a matchday squad.
He has missed just four games for the Highlanders in the past three seasons.
Franklin, whose middle name is St George after his mother’s maiden name, if anything has gone up in performance this year.
He is the thirdbest tackler in Super Rugby behind Highlanders teammates Luke Whitelock and Dillon Hunt. He gets around the field and can throw a good pass.
Like many players in New Zealand, Franklin’s biggest problem is who is in front of him.
In Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick the All Blacks have two of their greatest locks. Then there are the likes of Luke Romano and Scott Barrett.
The later two are bash players — all knees and elbows at the breakdown — while Franklin plays wider.
With Retallick out, Barrett may get a start but the selectors may be tempted to look at Franklin as a point of difference.
The All Black side will be named tomorrow morning.