‘At the end of the day…’: Billy Proctor’s candid take on All Blacks hype

Calls for Billy Proctor to start at outside centre for the All Blacks are growing louder each week, with the Hurricanes co-captain continuing to impress in Super Rugby Pacific after making a long-awaited return from an Achilles injury.

Broadcaster Martin Devlin posted a TikTok on Monday, stating in no uncertain terms that Proctor should be the new starting centre for the All Blacks. That video has 17,500 views and 1,250 likes at the time of writing.

Radio New Zealand have also published an article, with the unnamed scribe believing that it may be “impossible” for the All Blacks to ignore Proctor’s purple patch of form. There are also numerous posts on X where fans have expressed their admiration for Proctor.

All Blacks coach Scott Robertson selected Proctor for a Test debut against Fiji in San Diego, with the midfielder featuring in the starting side and crossing for a maiden international try. ‘Razor’ Robertson would select Proctor once more in 2024, scoring a try away to Eddie Jones’ Japan.

Rieko Ioane continued to hold down the fort as New Zealand’s first choice outside centre during the Test season, with the now 81-Test All Black breaking a long-lasting try-scoring drought against the Wallabies in Sydney and leading the haka against Ireland in Dublin.

While there’s plenty of outside noise about Proctor and Ioane, whether All Blacks selectors opt to go in a different direction this season remains to be seen. As for now, Proctor remains firmly focused on helping the Canes take out their first title since 2016.

“At the end of the day it’s just what I can control is my performance,” Proctor told RugbyPass in Brisbane last week when asked about the outside noise surrounding All Blacks selection.

“Whatever I can do for this team helps me with whatever is to come later this year and onwards.

“I guess you’re aware that there’s a little bit [of] outside noise and people are watching you more so now than probably 12 months ago. But as I said, it doesn’t really change what I have to do because I have to put out performances to put my name forward and prove myself.”

Proctor scored four tries for the All Blacks XV against Japan in 2023, before graduating to even higher honours with the national side. This season was always destined to be another big campaign, but unfortunately, the two-Test All Black was sidelined for quite some time.

An Achilles injury kept Proctor out of action until round 10, with Canes coach Clark Laidlaw naming the midfielder on the bench to take on the Western Force in Perth. While the Canes didn’t lose, they didn’t win either – drawing with the Force after Super Point.

“Yeah it was very frustrating. I guess the injury itself was pretty frustrating, just the way the rehab goes for it,” Proctor reflected.

“There’s a lot of unknown with it at the start and then a lot of those periods where you have to wait and see how it feels and all that sort of stuff.

“There was a lot up in the air… if you broke your leg, you know you’re probably back in 10 weeks or so, you get a set date, whereas this was trial and error and see how it goes.

“I’m just stoked to be out on the field. I was missing not being able to play and being able to try and help our team on the field.”

After returning to action with a promising performance, Proctor was named in the run-on side to face the Brumbies the following week, and the rest was history. In an 80-minute shift, Proctor was among the best on ground, which included a try at Canberra’s GIO Stadium.

Proctor continued to star at home against the Chiefs and Highlanders, and then away to the Queensland Reds in Brisbane. While this interview was before the Reds match, in that high-stakes fixture, the centre was once again among the top performers.

In four starts from five appearances, Proctor is making it more and more difficult for Robertson to either bench the centre or leave him out of the All Blacks’ 23 altogether. On current form, there might not be a better midfielder in Super Rugby Pacific.

“I was pretty happy with the performances that I’ve put out pretty early,” he added.

“I guess [I’m] just backing myself, I’ve been around for a while now and I back my game and back my instinct.

“I just jumped in and, as I said, backed what I saw and backed my abilities and it ended up doing pretty well for me.

“Still things that are probably a little bit rusty. Decisions might be a touch slower or whatnot but I feel like I’m getting back into the groove of it now and feeling pretty confident.”