Third best in the country but still playing second fiddle at the Chiefs: New Zealand's halfback conundrum
OPINION: When Steve Hansen and his fellow All Blacks selectors announced their foundation day training squad, they lay down a marker for which positions they see as being all but sewn up.
It’s clear that there are still loose forward spots up for grabs and that the outside backs are also not quite decided.
In contrast, Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo’unga and Damian McKenzie are virtually guaranteed to travel as the first five-eighths.
One of the positions that may cause a few eyebrow raises, however, is the halfbacks.
There’s no question that Aaron Smith and TJ Perenara are New Zealand’s top two scrumhalves – though the ordering may differ based on who you ask. It should be almost unanimous, however, that there’s daylight between the second and third best halves in the country.
Based on the foundation squad, it seems that there’s no question in Hansen’s mind that said third best halfback is the young Chief Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi.
Tahuriorangi has been a part of the All Blacks set up since the June tests last year, fighting out the likes of Chiefs teammate Brad Weber and Crusaders duo Bryn Hall and Mitchell Drummond.
Smith and Perenara have been All Blacks representatives for a number of years now and, alongside the recently departed Tawera Kerr-Barlow, formed a trio of high-quality halfbacks with a wide range of skills.
In the period dominated by those three, few players have had the chance to bust into the squad, only briefly floating in and out of the All Blacks as a result of injury to one of the incumbents.
Current Blues halfback, Augustine Pulu, travelled with the All Blacks to the Northern Hemisphere at the end of 2014 as the third-choice halfback after Kerr-Barlow was ruled out of the tour due to an injury suffered in the final match of that year’s Rugby Championship. Pulu earned two caps, against the USA and Scotland, but has slowly fallen down the pecking order in recent times.
Weber earned a sole cap for New Zealand in a World Cup warm-up match against Samoa in 2015, after Highlanders and Hurricanes players were ruled out due to battling it out in the Super Rugby final only days before the game.
Kerr-Barlow signed to join with French team La Rochelle at the start of the 2017 year but, even though there was no chance of Kerr-Barlow making it to this year’s World Cup, the All Blacks selectors continue to keep him in the squad – giving some indication to how highly regarded the Waikato halfback was.
It was this persistence with Kerr-Barlow, however, that now sees us nearing the dawn of the 2019 showcase tournament in Japan without an experienced third choice halfback.
On the 2017 end of year tour, Drummond was seemingly the fourth ranked halfback in New Zealand, getting 10 minutes against a French XV in a non-capped game.
One year later, Drummond and Crusaders teammate Hall travelled to Japan as part of the giant 51-man All Blacks squad, alongside the trio of Smith, Perenara and Tahuriorangi. Tahuriorangi was given the starting jersey against Japan and ceded to Drummond in the 59th minute – earning the Cantabrian his first test cap.
Weber was also busy on the international circuit, battling it out with the likes of the USA, Brazil and Chile for the Maori All Blacks. When the All Blacks needed an extra man in Japan, however, it was Hall, also on the Maori tour, who took the spot – indicating that slightly more senior Weber’s chances of further representing his country were coming to a close.
All said and done, we’re left with seven halfbacks currently representing New Zealand Super Rugby franchises who have spent time in an All Blacks squad: Smith, Perenara, Tahuriorangi, Drummond, Hall, Weber and Pulu.
Smith and Perenara have 82 and 55 caps respectively, putting them up with the most experienced halfbacks operating on the international scene. The five other halfbacks in the All Blacks repertoire have just seven caps between them.
The problem isn’t that none of the reserves have the potential to be great international players, it’s simply that they haven’t had many opportunities to push their case at the higher level.
Tahuriorangi, in particular, looks to have an exceptionally high ceiling. When questioned on why the young Taranaki halfback was selected over someone such as Hall, Hansen noted that it was Tahuriorangi’s bullet like passes that got him the job.
“A guy like Te Toiroa is, we think, got the ability to be a stunning halfback,” Hansen said.
“He’s the closest passer of the ball to Nugget (Smith) that we’ve got in the country, his speed of pass is outstanding and he’s growing quite nicely.”
Of course, while that may all well be true and Tahuriorangi could well develop into the next big thing, it doesn’t look like the 24-year old is necessarily at the level required to handle top international opposition – or, at least, that seems to be the way Chiefs coach Colin Cooper is thinking.
Having both the more experienced Weber and the young up-and-comer Tahuriorangi in a Super Rugby squad is great for the latter’s development – and pushes the former to keep up their performances – but it also looks like it might be holding Tahuriorangi back.
In the Chiefs’ seven games to date this year, Tahuriorangi has played just over 160 minutes of football – barely the equivalent of two full games. In contrast, Weber has started all seven of the matches, clocking up over 450 minutes.
Tahuriorangi’s quick and accurate passes may be great at creating opportunities late in the game when defences are tiring, but he’s getting very little experience to show for his prodigious talents.
With Smith and Perenara on New Zealand’s books until 2021 and Weber signed with the Chiefs until the end of 2020, Tahuriorangi may quickly find that he’s struggling for any opportunities to push the two incumbents off their perch.
His continued selection with the All Blacks means he gets limited time at provincial level – playing only one match for Taranaki in 2018 – and he’s simply not getting the opportunities at Super Rugby or test level because there are players ahead of him.
This will, of course, be frustrating for Tahuriorangi to no end. Even the most patient player would be disappointed at only being on the field for a little over 700 minutes in a calendar year – a figure that effectively amounts to only professional 9 matches.
Tahuriorangi’s lack of game time should also be a concern for the All Blacks selectors. Even If he is seen as only a player for the future, the lack of opportunities and experience that Tahuriorangi is getting at Super Rugby level will be hampering that development.
Tahuriorangi may well find that when his contract with the Chiefs comes to an end once this season is up, he would be better versed signing a short-term deal with another Super Rugby side lacking a settled starter – which would likely lead him north to the Blues.
More pressingly, however, is the fact that it’s unlikely Hansen and the other All Blacks coaches see Tahuriorangi as purely a project player.
Only three halfbacks were selected in the foundation squad to prepare for the upcoming year’s international games, which means that Tahuriorangi is firmly entrenched as the third cab of the ranks.
But what happens if, on the eve of a World Cup semi-final, Aaron Smith or TJ Perenara is cut down by an injury, preventing them from taking the field for the next match?
Naturally, the remaining halfback of Smith or Perenara would start the winner-takes-all game, but would anyone – fans, coaches or players alike – be comfortable with Tahuriorangi joining the fray late in the game to close out a knock out match?
Instead, would one of Drummond, Hall or Weber be whisked over to Japan to join the team? All three players are vastly experienced at Super Rugby Level, at the very least, but all three players have also been completely omitted from the All Blacks plans this year – at least as far as the public can tell.
Perhaps the problem is being overstated. Perhaps the All Blacks coaches would be perfectly content with Tahuriorangi and his maybe dozen caps taking the field against Ireland in a Rugby World quarter-final – it just seems hard to imagine, given the sheer drop off in experience from Smith or Perenara to New Zealand’s third best.
Comments on RugbyPass
> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
3 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
34 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
5 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
5 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
5 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
34 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to commentsThis is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
2 Go to commentsBut here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.
34 Go to commentsIt could be coincidental or prescient that the All Blacks most dominant period under Steve Hansen was when the Crusaders had their least successful period under Todd Blackadder and then the positions reversed when Razor took over the Crusaders.
34 Go to commentsDefinitely sound read everybodyexpects immediate results these days, I don't think any team would travel well at all having lost three of the most important game changers in the game,compiled with the massive injury list they are now carrying, good to see a different more in depth perspective of a coaches history.
3 Go to commentsSinckler is a really big loss for English rugby.
2 Go to commentsThanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause
34 Go to commentsNo way. If you are trying to picture New Zealand rugby with an All Blacks mindset, there have been two factors instrumental to the decline of NZ rugby to date. Those are the horror that the Blues have become and, probably more so, the fixture that the Crusaders became. I don’t think it was healthy to have one team so dominant for so long, both for lack of proper representation of players from outside that environment and on the over reliance on players from within it. If you are another international side, like Ireland for example, sure. You can copy paste something succinct from one level to the next and experience a huge increase in standards, but ultimately you will not be maximizing it, which is what you need to perform to the level the ABs do. Added to that is the apathy that develops in the whole game as a result of one sides dominance. NZ, Super, and Championship rugby should all experience a boom as a result of things balancing out. That said, there is a lot of bad news happening in NZ rugby recently, and I’m not sure the game can be handled well enough here to postpone the always-there feeling of inevitable decline of rugby.
34 Go to commentsNo SA supporter miss Super Rugby - a product that is experiencing significant head wind in ANZ - the competition from rival codes are intense, match attendance figures are at a historical low and the negativity of commentators such as Kirwan and Wilson have accelerated the downward spiral in NZ. After the next RWC in 2027 sponsors will follow Qantas and start leaving in droves.
3 Go to commentsLike others, I am not seeing the connection between this edition of the Crusaders and the All Blacks future prospects under Razor. I think the analysis of the Crusaders attack recently is helpful because Razor and his coaching team used to be able to slot new guys in to their systems and see them succeed. Several of Razor’s coaches are still there so it would be surprising if the current attack and set piece has been overhauled to a great extent - but based on that analysis, it may have been. Whether it is too many new guys due to injuries or retirement or a failure of current Crusaders systems is the main question to be answered imo. It doesn’t seem relevant for the ABs.
34 Go to comments