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Has a superlative showing from Jamie Booth catapulted the halfback into the All Blacks selection frame?
While the New Zealand Super Rugby sides are laden with talent and depth across the park and there should be no major issues recovering from the players lost overseas following last year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan, the one position that might be causing a few headaches for new All Blacks coach Ian Foster is halfback.
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Aaron Smith, TJ Perenara and Brad Weber travelled to Japan last year and while all three still look highly capable of performing on the highest stage, they’re all in the latter stages of their careers and may struggle to make it to the 2023 World Cup in France.
Pereanara, at 28-years-old, is the youngest of the trio. All three have been their respective side’s preferred starters in Super Rugby Aotearoa in 2020 while Finlay Christie has been the go-to man at the Blues since recovering from injury and Bryn Hall and Mitch Drummond have shared the duties at the Crusaders.
Hall has probably been the stand-out of the men who weren’t at the World Cup but he too is closer to 30 than 20.
That leaves Foster in the difficult position of quite probably having to bring a new halfback into the fold who isn’t starting at Super Rugby level.
Of course this was going to happen in the final match of the competition ? #SuperRugbyAotearoa #HIGvHURhttps://t.co/AURMOtgcdg
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 15, 2020
One man who wouldn’t have been even in selection discussions prior to the season kicked off is new Hurricanes recruit Jamie Booth – who spent three seasons with three different Super Rugby sides before settling well into the Hurricanes this year.
Booth has had a massive impact off the Hurricanes’ bench throughout the Super Rugby Rugby Aotearoa season and was finally given the opportunity to start a match when his side travelled to Dunedin to take on the Highlanders on Saturday.
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He quickly set about his work, adding plenty of impetus and pace to the Hurricanes’ already dangerous attack.
The visitors’ first try of the night, scored by Vince Aso, was sparked by an exceptional run from Booth.
Wow. Just. Wow. ?? @Hurricanesrugby
Flick over to @skysportnz to catch the #HIGvHUR action! pic.twitter.com/RZWmS7L11E
— Super Rugby (@SuperRugbyNZ) August 15, 2020
Time and time again throughout the first half, the Hurricanes made breaks into the Highlanders’ half – and Booth was always on hand to keep the motion flowing.
During the halftime break, SKY Sports pundits Israel Dagg and Joe Wheeler lavished praise on the scrumhalf.
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“[I’ve been ] very impressed with Jamie Booth,” said 2011 World Cup winner Israel Dagg.
“He’s been everywhere tonight and his support lines are probably what’s second to none. He’s always on the inside, he’s always covering his players. He’s testing the first and second defenders and he’s just Mr Fix-It and Mr Everywhere.
“He deserves an opportunity to get 80 minutes. He’s come on and done the job for the Hurricanes plenty of times and he’s doing well.”
2015 Super Rugby title winner Joe Wheeler agreed.
“This guy’s been into everything, he’s a real firey customer. Speed around the paddock. But I just love his work in his follow-up lines.”
By the end of the first half, Booth had clocked up 90 running metres, two broken tackles and two offloads.
While there’s still some uncertainty over whether the All Blacks will assemble at all this year, given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Booth’s latest performance for the Hurricanes will certainly have perked Foster’s interest and a successful Mitre 10 Cup season with Manawatu could springboard the halfback in the national equation.
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
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