No. Lack of versatility hard to overlook

Ben Lam’s push for All Blacks inclusion is as strong as anyone’s in recent times but it doesn’t mean he should be in the squad for next month’s series against France. It’s an absolute credit to the man for how much improvement he has shown after a few years at Super Rugby level, with his eye-catching form for the hotrunning Hurricanes seeing him top of the competition’s try-scoring charts (12 from 10 games).

There’s power to bust out of a tackle, and silky skills to finish in the corner, but one has to remember the former Blues and NZ Sevens rep isn’t the only one with that sort of ability. Anyone recall Rieko Ioane?

Just because he’s playing in a badly-performing Blues side – and inexplicably being shipped all over the backline – it’s easy to forget that Ioane was the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year in 2017 for good reason, and can’t have even been far off Beauden Barrett for the overall prize.

Ioane has the left wing locked down. The back-three riches in the All Blacks at the moment are indeed that – riches.

In what is expected to be a squad of 33 named tomorrow morning, the contingent of outside backs will number five, perhaps six. There’s no way Ben Smith, Jordie Barrett or Waisake Naholo will miss the cut. Nehe Milner-Skudder is performing quite splendidly on return from a long injury layoff and we all know coach Steve Hansen and his fellow selectors, quite rightly in most cases, remain loyal.

That leaves perhaps one spot for Lam to slide into – but the thing is, he is a left wing specialist and this is a squad, which requires careful makeup with all sorts of scenarios in mind.

The All Blacks have shown they love versatility among their outside backs.

If Ioane was to go down injured during the year, sure, Lam would likely be your next cab off the rank but, in this situation, you may as well be looking at a player with skills to complement what is already there.

That brings into play the option of the Chiefs’ Solomon Alaimalo or the Crusaders’ George Bridge. While not standing out in the same mould as Lam, the duo have still been mighty fine performers for their sides in their second years of Super Rugby and are able to bring some of that wing/fullback switchability into play.

Alaimalo, 22, has been a serious weapon on both the left flank and at the back, is superb under the high ball, and has that 100kg frame which is tough to bring down; while Bridge, 23, can play all across the back-field, has a good kick on him and runs fine lines which then puts his pace on show.

So, as unromantic as the storyline is, Lam’s 27th birthday on June 9 should not be spent at Eden Park for the first test against France.