Anton Segner labelled 'non-negotiable' All Blacks selection by Super Rugby champ

Loving Segners game at the moment, and he is nowhere near the finished product.

Two years of international experience and he could be something special.

The thing about him that I admire is his speed in decision making. The number of times he cleans up spilled ball, effects passes when cleaning up, and gets in support with assists and turnovers with accuracy is very good, as good as I have seen anywhere in Super Rugby.

Last weekend he demonstrated this in one particular play. He tackled a player and was back on his feet but just missed the turnover, once the ruck formed, he moved a pace left, tackled the next ball runner and was instantly back on his feet to successfully jackle the turnover, all this in a few moments. It is that sort of tactical accuracy that demonstrates just how good he is. No fanfare, just consistently and tirelessly there.

His open field running is good also, most loosies charge like a draft horse, Anton can actually step like a back and constantly makes metres as can be seen in his stats, he is deceptively elusive.

He has much better with his discipline this season in years past would give away a few to many silly penalties ( might have been close or most pens in 25?) been excellent at lineout and carry soft skills massively improved always had plenty of dog and now 110 111 kgs size to bite

Lasaqa’s stats shouldn’t surprise anyway.

Are they only including Segners stats playing openside, or is it matching up against 7 in his more 6 focused roles?

Ardie is the past.

We are growing the list of really good loosies (Segner, Ardie, Lakai, Sititi) who in theory could fill any jumper number and probably do a good job. But we are still not getting a big number six who can look to physically dominate tier one packs and be a consistent line out option. 100% Segner should be in the squad and get some game time but probably not in the first choice 23 until next world cup cycle.

Whilst Segner may well catch the selectors eye he is just one of a number of excellent loosies vying for the position. It may well come down to survival of the fittest as loosies are often susceptible to injuries.

Hall is getting carried away, but I share the excitement around Segner. He ticks all the boxes, as they say…

He has quite a unique profile in New Zealand rugby. He genuinely seems suited to international level on the openside while also being a real lineout option.

Who else has that profile?

No one… maybe Jacobson, but we still don’t know what his best position is at 29!

I’ll even go further than Hall: I can see him in Rennie’s first squad, and I can even see him getting game time!

He’s a genuine option at 7 with Savea at 8 and Sititi at 6. I could be completely wrong, but that’s how I see it.

We have far too many good 7s in NZ, but only one jersey to fill. The problem, as always, is trying to find the right balance in the back row. Something the last two coaches failed to do.

Not sure where Bryan Hall gets the “non-negotiable” from. It’s not like he’s a selector for the ABs and all he’s doing is offering his opinion. To be fair I think Segner should be selected in the wider AB squad but whether he is or isn’t none of it will be because Hall thinks it’s a good idea. With Segner, Casey and Johnny Lee all demonstrating some really good 7’s work I think players like Jacobson will need to watch out because there are better younger players coming through.