'10 games off the bench': Ex-All Black's theory on Kyle Preston selection

One of the most surprising names in Dave Rennie’s first All Black squad was not a debutant, but second year halfback Kyle Preston from the Crusaders.

The three halfbacks who made the cut were Hurricanes star Cam Roigard, Chiefs’ Cortez Ratima and Kyle Preston.

Preston beat out a handful of capped All Black No.9s, including his club teammate at the Crusaders Noah Hotham who had started all year ahead of him in Christchurch.

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Blues halfback Finlay Christie, with 28-Test caps, also missed out. Christie started the Eden Park Test against the Springboks last year, which was Preston’s All Black debut where he had a handful of minutes off the bench.

“Let’s talk about Finlay Christie as well, Noah Hotham? Why did they miss out? Why was Kyle Preston elevated above them?” Sky TV host Jeff McTainsh asked the panel on The Breakdown special.

“10 games off the bench for the Crusaders this year. Kyle Preston, you talked maybe about Mike Blair, guys wanting to see something out of his halfbacks going into the series?”

Ex-All Black hooker James Parsons identified one unique aspect of Preston’s game that might have led to his selection as the third No.9.

“Well, look, you’ve got to acknowledge he kicks off both feet and at Test match level, and the pressure that’s around the contestable game without escorts, he’s pretty accurate with the boot, you know,” Parsons said.

“I thought Noah would finish really strong for the for the Crusaders, but they’ve obviously seen something in Kyle that they need in their game plan.”

Preston’s role with the Crusaders was as a finisher, wearing the 21 jersey all season long which perhaps factored into the decision-making with Preston considered a specialist closer in that regard.