Jordie Barrett tipped to retain All Black 12 jersey despite pressure from Havili and RTS
Three candidates for the All Blacks second five-eighth position put their hands up with starring performances in round two of Super Rugby Pacific.
Jordie Barrett of the Hurricanes, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck of the Blues and the Crusaders’ David Havili all put in commanding performances in the Super Round to demonstrate their abilities.
Barrett logged 15 carries against the Rebels while coming up with the match-winning try and one try assist, Havili showed his all-round game with two line breaks, a try and two try assists against the Highlanders.
Tuivasa-Sheck showed his power running and explosive agility for the Blues on 11 carries while bringing some bruising defence with 10 tackles against the Brumbies.
The Crusaders No 12 was given the performance of the round by Sky Sport NZ’s The Breakdown panel and it was the combination with All Black first five Richie Mo’unga which really shined.
“He’s a class act, isn’t he?” John Kirwan said of Havili.
“But I’m going to keep talking about it all year, what are we going to do at 12?
“But the thing I like about him, and this might be the deciding factor, is when he is outside Richie Mo’unga, I think he has got a bigger voice and Richie can use him for his kicking game.
“He was outstanding and you know he’s only been playing there a few years as well.”
Havili’s play of the night was a banana kick across the ruck to find Mo’unga for a try under the posts early in the second half. The set plan worked to perfection and his kick was accurately placed for his 10 to jump on.
The No 12 also had a nice piece of support play backing up a break by Mo’unga, linking in for two touches downfield to put fullback Fergus Burke in for a try and then burst onto a flat ball off his halfback to score one of his own late in the game.
Sky Sport NZ Commentator Tony Johnson praised the performance of Havili but when it came to the All Blacks, Johnson felt that the coaches have tipped their hand with their preferred midfield candidate.
As a former fullback, Havili’s versitality should place him in the mix for a back-up role or bench role with multiple positions to cover.
“He is a quality player and quality person, David Havili, he brings leadership,” Johnson said.
“As he has made it clear, this is the role he wants.
“I think he is in the picture [for the All Blacks] and what he brings is versatility as well, he can play two or three different positions.
“I feeling I get is they definitely see Jordie as the guy that is the front runner for the 12 jersey, he [Havili] is very much going to be part of the setup for this team.”
Ex-All Black winger Kirwan felt that Barrett has the edge over Havili purely based on size and his ability to smash the ball up and find front foot ball.
Despite all the skills that Barrett brings, at the end of the day it was about power and size in the midfield.
“Since Ma’a, we’ve just wanted someone to give the ball and get over the advantage line. That’s what Jordie brings,” Kirwan said.
“You think about all his other skills, good kicking, but that is he what he brought last year.”
Following injuries to Chiefs second five Quinn Tupaea and Havili during a ten minute period in Melbourne against the Wallabies, Barrett moved into No 12 for the return test at Eden Park and immediately impressed.
He carried that form into tests against Wales and England in the 12 jersey which convinced the New Zealand rugby public he was a legitimate option for the All Blacks in the midfield.
Former All Black No 8 Stephen Bates responded to Kirwan by questioning the decision to let one of New Zealand’s most powerful ball carriers leave if what the All Blacks wanted from a 12 was positive gain line.
“It’s interesting you say that because the guy that gets you straight over the gain line left a couple of years ago, Laumape,” Bates said.
“And people would say oh he’s a little bit one-dimensional, but if your one dimension is awesome, why do you need a second dimension?
“This is what I’m going to do, pass the ball to Laumape and going to smash over the gain line. Good luck.
“And then everything flows from there. If your one dimension is awesome, that’s good enough you know.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Results probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to comments