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'The ultimate goal is to put on the black jersey': Crusaders star's All Blacks dream
Crusaders tearaway Tom Christie has outlined his ambitions for All Blacks honours after bouncing back from a season-ending injury last year.
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Christie has been in standout form for the Crusaders thus far this season, sitting at the top of the Super Rugby Pacific tackle count with 96 tackles to his name – 18 of which came in his side’s 34-19 win over the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday.
No other player comes within 20 tackles of the 24-year-old openside flanker, who, despite his average of just over 19 tackles per match, was modest in his assessment of his season thus far.
“It’s been really good just to come back, get out there, find my stride with a couple of games,” Christie told media on Monday.
“Playing back-to-back-to-back is always really nice, and you get into that rhythm as a player. You build those patterns yourself.
“Any time you get to play consecutive games, it always helps as a player, so it’s really good. It gets my confidence up as well, out there, so I’m just enjoying my rugby at the moment.”
Such a high defensive work rate is a staple of the former New Zealand U20 captain’s game, and that facet of his game is what propelled him into All Blacks contention in his debut Super Rugby campaign two years ago.
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While he wasn’t called into the national squad, he started for the South Island as they scored a last-gasp 38-35 upset win over the North Island in the 2020 North vs South match.
That one-off clash effectively doubled as an All Blacks trial, and Christie’s selection for the South Island illustrated how highly All Blacks boss Ian Foster and his assistants rated the promising youngster.
However, a dislocated shoulder sustained during last March’s win over the Blues in Christchurch prevented Christie from building on his breakout campaign as he was sidelined for the remainder of the year.
Now fit and firing, Christie is eager to make up for lost time and work his way back into the national selection frame, something he is certainly capable of amid a highly-competitive field of loose forwards across New Zealand.
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“I’m a pretty goals-driven person. There’s always something that I’m wanting to achieve. Just like any boy growing up in New Zealand, the ultimate goal is to put on the black jersey at some stage in my career,” Christie said.
“For me, when that comes, or if it comes, I’m not sure, but I’m just looking to get better and better every week and just keep improving my game.
“Ultimately, that’s what I want to do, just get better as a player, and if something comes of that, something comes of that.”
Christie’s quest for higher honours continues this weekend when the Crusaders host the Highlanders in the latest iteration of Super Rugby Pacific’s South Island derby.
It’s a highly-anticipated fixture that the Crusaders have already won once this year, having come from behind to beat their Dunedin-based neighbours 34-19 at Forsyth Barr Stadium in round two.
Christie is wary of the threat the last-placed Highlanders pose, though, especially after they shocked his side 33-12 in Christchurch almost exactly a year ago in what was the biggest loss of Scott Robertson’s six-year reign as Crusaders head coach.
“There’s definitely that tender spot there with the boys. I know even from watching that last year, it does leave that kind of bitter feeling in your stomach, so we’re just looking forward to getting out there,” Christie said.
“The Landers are a quality team and we know it’s going to be a great match, so we’re just excited to be a part of that and excited to get out there and get the job done.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Well 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..
2 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.
2 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.)
2 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.
28 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?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to comments