Why Sotutu is in severe need of a start
Come on down, Hoskins Sotutu. If not now then, when?
Ardie Savea’s influential absence — due to his third child’s imminent arrival — for the opening Bledisloe Cup test at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium next Thursday shines a spotlight on the All Blacks’ lack of development at No 8.
Aside from Savea’s consistent impact, his importance to the All Blacks is further underlined by the responsibility for assuming the captaincy when Sam Cane is replaced during the final 10-15 minutes of recent tests.
That understandable reliance on Savea leaves the pathway to game time for other contenders at the boot of the scrum blocked by the All Blacks’ best player.
Legs pumping, relentless work rate on display, ball-playing ability ever increasing in prominence, Savea contested every minute of all seven tests this year — and has not been replaced since the victory over the Wallabies in Perth last September.
If Savea were to fall over between now and next year’s World
Cup, uncertainty would persist about his best replacement because despite the myriad options, all are unproven in the test arena at No 8.
When fit and competing for national selection, Cullen Grace (sidelined with a broken collarbone), seemingly underrated Highlanders and Hawke’s Bay prospect Marino Mikaele Tu’u, Akira Ioane, Luke Jacobson and Ethan Blackadder (shoulder surgery) have claims to the No 8 role.
Of those alternatives, only Mikaele Tu’u would be considered a specialist No 8, although Grace performed with distinction for the Crusaders this season.
Although All Blacks head coach Ian Foster could throw a curveball by starting Ioane or the recalled Jacobson at No 8 against the Wallabies, Sotutu is surely next in line.
Foster’s most likely loose forward reshuffle in Melbourne is to promote Ioane to blindside, where he played his best tests against the Wallabies last year, for the injured
Shannon
Frizell.
Other options include revisiting
Dalton Papalli’i or Scott
Barrett at No 6.
As the All
Blacks’ leastused loose forward this season, Sotutu has the most to gain against the Wallabies. A potential start next week would be his
third match in almost three months — since the Super Rugby final in midJune — after two appearances for Counties Manukau. After Sotutu’s first match for Counties Manukau against Waikato, before the All Blacks’ maiden home defeat against the Pumas in Christchurch, Foster singled out his performance. “I thought Hoskins played really well for Counties,” Foster said. “He hasn’t played a lot with us but he played particularly strongly. That’s a big tick for him.” Sotutu’s lack of game time reflects the pressure the All Blacks have endured this season.
The desire to build combinations and the need to rectify results has ultimately led to a significant regression after Sotutu featured in five tests last year, including four starts against Fiji, Argentina, the United States and Italy — that Rome appearance in November his last sighting for the All Blacks.
In an All Blacks career consisting of 10 tests since 2020, Sotutu has savoured one notable start in the 43-5 demolition of the Wallabies, when he scooted off the scrum down the blindside to set up Rieko Ioane for one of six team tries in Sydney two years ago.
If he is, indeed, the favoured Savea alternative, Sotutu’s grooming must be fast-tracked.
The balance of the All Blacks loose forwards has been regularly questioned since Kieran Read retired due to the modus operandi of effectively operating with two opensides in Savea and Cane.
Sotutu, the 24-yearold who recently resigned with the Blues through to 2024, would present a different picture. His inherent flair, pace, breadth of skill that extends to a deft kicking game, long limbs and basketball style one-handed offloads, should suit the Wallabies’ fast-paced, ruck and run style that offers ample space and freedom to roam the wide channels.
Any claims to be the long-term Savea alternative would need to be tested against the likes of the Springboks, Ireland and France, all of whom demand tighter clean, carry and defensive duties from the All Blacks loose forward trio.
For now, though, given his dearth of game time, Sotutu needs to seize any chance he can get, as Savea cannot be the sole No 8 for the All Blacks.