Plenty of options for a post-2019 All Blacks midfield
OPINION: With the World Cup looming large in 2019, it’s only natural that most of the nation’s focus has been on who the All Blacks will take to the showcase tournament in Japan.
The midfield has been regularly highlighted as a massive area of contention. Between Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty, Anton Lienert-Brown, Jack Goodhue, Ngani Laumape and Ma’a Nonu, there’s a genuine lock jam of talent with all six players putting their hands up for selection.
Post-2019, however, the picture is a lot murkier.
Crotty has already confirmed he is heading overseas and Williams is coming to the end of his contract with the NZRU. Nonu appeals as an experienced operator for the World Cup but it’s unlikely he would be selected next year ahead of young players with high ceilings.
26-year-old Matt Proctor, who earned his first All Blacks cap last year, is also destined for foreign shores.
That only leaves Lienert-Brown, Goodhue and Laumape as experienced midfielders for 2020 and beyond. Whoever earns the coveted All Blacks coaching role will be in need of at least one or two more players to bring into the midfield. No doubt, aspiring coaches will be scouring the country now and keeping an eye on who might be worthy of a spot in the All Blacks.
Outside of the above seven, there have been a number of young centres going about their business in Super Rugby and, courtesy of the World Cup focus, somewhat flying under the radar.
The Blues have both Nonu and Williams on their books and, before the season commenced, many wondered if we would see the two pair up for the Auckland-based team. Instead, the two All Blacks have shared time at second-five, with TJ Faiane starting every match in the 13 jersey.
Faiane was earmarked for great things from the early stages of his career when he represented New Zealand at both the secondary school and Under 20s levels. Faiane was used at 12 in his second year with the U20 team and started in the final against England. Throughout the competition he was paired with both Jack Goodhue and Anton Lienert-Brown.
Were it not for a horrific run of injuries, it’s quite possible that Faiane would have already been competing with that pair for higher honours. He made his debut for Auckland in 2014 but then barely made an appearance on the rugby field for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
It wasn’t until the 2017 year that Faiane was finally able to shrug off injuries and make his debut for the Blues. 2018 was the year that Faiane finally started delivering on his potential, captaining Auckland to a Mitre 10 Cup Premiership title.
He’s now one of the most reliable players taking the field on the weekly for the Blues and it’s no surprise that he’s been the cornerstone of the midfield.
Nonu and Williams, for all their experience and game-breaking abilities, have a tendency to push passes and try make miracle plays from time to time. Sometimes this approach yields dividends, but sometimes you simply need a steady hand in the midfield to hold onto the ball. Possession is key, particularly when you’re in the opposition half.
Faiane is conceding turnovers less than once every two games and is making, on average, the fewest handling errors of any of the regular midfielders in the competition with only three occurring in his 11 matches to date. He’s been one of the most reliable players in not just the New Zealand conference but in the whole of Super Rugby in terms of avoiding giving the ball away to the opposition.
When the Blues have needed a big play, they’ve often used the likes of Rieko Ioane, Nonu or Williams, but Faiane is the go-to man when the Blues just want to settle things down a bit. For a team that probably still too often chances their arm, Faiane is the glue that’s trying to hold everything together.
Faiane is finally starting to emerge as the player that he always promised to be and if he can maintain his form heading into next year, he could find himself resuming his old partnerships with his Under 20 teammates.
Down State Highway 1, Tumua Manu at the Chiefs has followed a completely different pathway. Manu represented Samoa in various age-grade sides before coming to New Zealand in 2015 as a 22-year-old. He earned a spot in the Auckland provincial side in 2017 and was called up to the Blues last year to cover for injuries. Manu was used exclusively on the wing for the Blues but partnered Faiane in the midfield in Auckland’s run to the Premiership in the latter half of last year.
The Blues weren’t able to find room for Manu in their 2019 squad which has seen him relocate to Hamilton for a stint with the Chiefs. Questions were rightly raised over why the Chiefs would sign a player from outside the region when local talent Quinn Tupaea were performing so ably for Waikato, but Manu has proven to be one of the best signings the Chiefs made.
Manu has played the most matches of any Chiefs back in 2019 and, like Faiane, has made fewer handling errors than most players in the competition. With eight line-break assists to his name, he’s also been productive on attack, creating opportunities for the likes of Lienert-Brown, Alex Nankivell and Damian McKenzie.
Manu, in his first full season of Super Rugby, is making all the right plays. He’s certainly too green for international rugby now but with more game time could find himself thrust into the spotlight come 2020.
The biggest roadblock for Manu in the future will be ensuring that he gets reasonable game-time. With Lienert-Brown and Nankivell locked up at the Chiefs and young guns Bailyn Sullivan and Tupaea all likely to be in the mix, Manu may find a homecoming to Auckland is the best option on the cards. Williams will likely be off the Blues’ books and there are rumblings that Nonu could also be gone, so a partnership with his Auckland teammate Faiane could be the way forward for Manu.
It’s impossible to talk about New Zealand’s upcoming midfielders without re-affirming how strong Quinn Tupaea looked for Waikato in their Championship run last season. Tupaea was a key cog in the team in his debut season – likely one of the first names on the team sheet each week. At just 19 years of age, Tupaea has plenty of time to prove his worth at Super Rugby level and will likely be elevated to the Chiefs squad for 2020. At present, he’s biding his time with the New Zealand Under 20 squad who are shortly due to travel to Argentina for the 2019 World Cup.
One player who has certainly not flown under the radar is Crusaders utility back Braydon Ennor. Ennor, like Faine, was schooled at St. Kentigern College in Auckland – a school that has produced players such as Joe Rokocoko, Jerome Kaino and Suliasi Vunivalu (who was top try scorer in the NRL in 2016).
After spending time in the Blues age-grade setup, Ennor relocated to Canterbury for university and was quickly picked up by the Crusaders Academy. He was selected in the 2017 New Zealand Under 20 side which won the World Cup and was subsequently named in the Canterbury Mitre 10 Cup team. In his debut season with the team, Ennor had six tries to his name by the end of round 2, showing off his prodigious finishing talent on the wing.
Ennor played a handy role in the Crusaders’ 2018 title run, primarily used off the bench, but on the back of a starring role in the midfield for Canterbury in their 2018 provincial season and some great early-season form, he looks to have all but cemented a spot in the Crusaders starting side moving forward.
The Auckland-born speedster has again been used mainly on the wing for the Crusaders side due to the presence of Crotty and Goodhue but is firmly entrenched as the third-choice midfielder – starting matches when either All Black is required to sit out a match. For the Crusaders’ game with the Sharks, Goodhue and Ennor were paired together in what could be the future midfield for the team, with Ennor lining up at centre. Unfortunately, the experiment lasted only 32 minutes with a shuffle to the backline required after an injury to Will Jordan.
Still, with Crotty heading to Japan after the World Cup, it would be a huge surprise for Braydon Ennor and Jack Goodhue to not resume their partnership in 2020. Ennor possesses all the skills necessary to play in the midfield and spent much of his early career there, but he also has genuine pace and could be a great utility option for the All Blacks – not dissimilar to how Richard Kahui was once used.
For the 2019 season, there’s no question that the All Blacks are well covered in the midfield. They have six genuine world class options that they could roll out, depending on the need. 2020 will require a rebuild, however, and there are plenty of young players sticking their hands up for selection.
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
36 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments