The 'hard call' to leave Billy Proctor out of All Blacks' midfield

An injury to second five-eighth Jordie Barrett opened the door slightly for a return for All Black debutant Billy Proctor in front of his home crowd in Wellington.

With the All Blacks in search of a new midfield pair, head coach Scott Robertson opted for the experience of Anton Lienert-Brown with another 12 on the bench in David Havili.

That meant Proctor would have to wait again to see more game time after making his All Black debut against Fiji in San Diego.

“Obviously, just because of 12 cover with Dave [Havili], we looked heavily at Billy, we want him to play,” Robertson explained.

“We just felt the fact that he hasn’t played 12. No one else has played 12 [this year], and with Jordie being out, Dave’s accustomed to their position.”

Robertson clarified that he doesn’t see centre Ioane as an option either, ruling out a reshuffle where Proctor could then play 13.

It will either be Ioane or Proctor with both seen as specialist outside centres.

“Rieko is definitely not going to be going into 12 and Billy hasn’t played here enough,” he said.

“So we just felt with the mix of this back line, it’s a hard call on Billy.

“You know, look, we’d love to have put him out in front of the home fans, but we just feel like this is the best thing for the All Blacks so he won’t be far away, Billy.”