Frank Bunce's 'no place to hide' take on Billy Proctor as an All Black

The Billy Proctor era has gotten off to a shaky start for the All Blacks, and after another patchy performance in round one of the Rugby Championship, the knowledge of some All Blacks greats is being employed to find answers to what is seen as an emerging selection dilemma.

The Breakdown crew tackled the talking point on Sunday, with Mils Muliaina and Jeff Wilson pushing for All Blacks coach Scott Robertson to hold firm on the midfield selections, while Justin Marshall had seen enough and wanted to see Rieko Ioane back at centre.

Frank Bunce was once the All Blacks’ longest-tenured centre, up until Conrad Smith came along, playing 55 games between 1992 and 1997. Bunce, all too familiar with the challenges of the black N0.13 jersey and Proctor’s Super Rugby form, says the Hurricanes star has more to give.

“There are a few odd mistakes and stuff, and to be honest, he can do better. He’s a better player than that,” he told Jason Pine on Newstalk ZB.

“It’s a matter of slotting in and figuring out that this Test-level rugby is a different beast. He’s no doubt got the ability; he’s just got to find his game, really, and become a lot more confident. Then, I think he’ll move on in leaps and bounds.”

Bunce reflected on his journey in the black jersey when sharing why he believed Proctor deserves more time to acclimate to the international game.

“I certainly wasn’t (the finished product). To get confidence in yourself, and look, everyone’s different; you look at Wallace Sititi, who’s just a star from the moment he takes the field. But, other people just take time to get used to the pace of the game, the rhythm, finding out what you can and can’t do and what you need to do. Preparation is a huge thing.

“As I say, everyone’s different. It took me a number of Test matches before I got my confidence. It might have looked from the outside as if I knew what I was doing, but there was a lot of work going on behind the scenes.”

“It’s hard at Test match level. I think if you go through everything, and he’s obviously got strengths, and he’s obviously got weaknesses, or parts of his game that he knows himself that he can improve on. I don’t know what they are, to be honest.

“I don’t think you can concentrate on your weaknesses too much; you’ve got to make yourself competent in the things that you’re not so good at, because there’s no real place to hide at that level. But he’s got all the goods, he’s definitely got all the goods, so it’s just a matter of finding yourself, I think.”

The All Blacks’ attack had its moments of brilliance, with Will Jordan slicing and dicing and Sevu Reece finishing in the corner. But the bulk of the team’s go-forward and scoring opportunities were thanks to a dominant effort up front.

The Kiwi forward pack was the more physically imposing and clinical on the day, and the rolling maul was responsible for half of the tries scored. When the ball was sent wide, there were some notable errors in the face of Los Pumas’ linespeed.

“I think early on, some of the timing was out, especially with the backs. We saw dropped ball, we saw some poor passing, poor timing, missed timing and things like that,” Bunce commented.

“I think it’s reasonably small things, and we hadn’t had a game in a little while, we’ve got a few new names in there, so it’s settling.

“I think accuracy, really, because we started pretty well, got ourselves in a little bit of strife, but took what Argentina had to give, and I don’t think at any stage were we really under too much pressure. So, in terms of going into next week, I think accuracy is one of the main focuses.”