‘Current form doesn’t matter’: Commentator on potential All Blacks midfield

All Blacks selections always bring contention to the table, none more so than in the midfield, where there is an abundance of talent for head coach Scott Robertson to pick from.

The emergence of Timoci Tavatavanawai as an option in the All Blacks midfield will be an ongoing talking point, while Quinn Tupaea has also impressed this season, putting his hand up for reselection after first making his All Blacks debut against Tonga in 2021.

Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane have long been the combination of choice for All Blacks coaches, but with Barrett overseas and Ioane struggling to find some form, the conversation is being had.

Sky Sports commentator Tony Johnson believes that if you were picking the All Blacks midfield today, the Chiefs combination of Quinn Tupaea and Anton Lienert-Brown would be his pick.

“Well, the best midfield combination in New Zealand at the moment, in my mind, is at the Chiefs: Quinn Tupaea and Anton Lienert-Brown. I’d be comfortable with them in the black jersey,” Johnson told Martin Devlin on the DSPN Podcast.

“But as we know, current form doesn’t matter, whether it’s Graham Henry, Steve Hansen or Ian Foster, and I’m sure it’s the same with Scott Robertson; current form is only part of it. It can only be part of it.”

Johnson defended Blues centre Rieko Ioane, explaining that not many No. 13s are breaking the game wide open like fans want.

“There’s a lot of comments about Rieko Ioane. He seems to be one of those guys who attracts the attention, and people say, ‘Why isn’t he ripping defences to shreds?’

“Well, you name me one centre that does that. It’s such a hard position now to attack; you’ve got your guy at No.12 who’s charged with taking the ball up hard and strong and occasionally making a bust. But the way defences are, it’s hard for a centre to rip teams apart.

Johnson talks about how former Blues hooker, now Sky Sport rugby analyst, James Parsons has defended Ioane in the past, saying that the 81-Test All Black is attracting defenders and making effective defensive reads.

“James Parsons always talks about the impacts that we don’t see but his teammates do; the way he attracts defenders because they are aware of the danger, but also the number of times he gets across in cover defence and makes a try-saving tackle in the corner.

“I’m not mounting the defence for him here, I’m just saying that this is a guy whose opinions carry a lot of weight, certainly with me and a lot of other people.

“Ioane is a guy that does attract a lot of a lot of criticism, people get frustrated because they see his potential.”