Who will wear the coveted No 11 jersey when the All Blacks kick off their international campaign?
Jonah Lomu made the All Blacks No 11 jersey famous due to his incredible performances at the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
While the role of a left wing has evolved over the past two decades, the ability to bust tackles and make line breaks is still held in the highest regard and it’s those attributes that have made the likes of Joe Rokocoko, Julian Savea and Rieko Ioane so successful for New Zealand.
Heading into the 2021 test season, it’s anyone’s guess who will slot in on the left wing, with Caleb Clarke putting his career on hold to join the New Zealand sevens team in the quest for Olympics gold.
George Bridge wore the No 11 at the Rugby World Cup and started 2020 as the incumbent but spent most of the year on the sidelines through injury.
While Bridge made a successful return for the Crusaders in the latter stages of Super Rugby Aotearoa, he’s again under an injury cloud and there’s a very real chance he won’t feature again before the international season kicks off.
Meanwhile, the uncapped trio of Salesi Rayasi, Jona Nareki and Leicester Fainga’anuku have all stood out at times for their respective franchises.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, Super Rugby centurions Bryn Hall and James Parsons have assessed the merits of the men who are most likely to don the All Blacks’ No 11 jersey for the coming campaign.
“I think George Bridge has to be there,” said Hall of his Crusaders teammate. “He’s the incumbent with Caleb Clarke being away and with George’s performances when he was back, before his injury, he was playing some really good footy and the All Blacks know what they’re going to get with George. He’s a proven performer.”
“[Leicester’s] back on the wing, he’s played a lot of wing and then he’s played a lot of centre this year for us. We’ve talked about him previously on the pod, with him being able to have that double role around winger and midfielder, which could be massive in a team selection.
“The one thing that I do like about Nareki is he’s probably the best left-foot kicking option in New Zealand in that left wing spot. I think he’s better than George Bridge and Leicester when it comes to that kicking. He does a lot with it for the Highlanders, it gets them out really well in the exit zones, so I think that’s one of his main differences.
“And then Rayasi, if you’re talking around a guy that one-on-one can beat you and poses an X-factor and especially at the next level, he’s one guy that can do that. I think one thing for him that I’d like to see a little bit more is just his work rate off the ball and getting second touches and holding onto that ball and really respecting it. He’s one guy that’s been playing bloody well for the Hurricanes.”
Hoskins Sotutu? Luke Jacobson? Or someone else?@TheChaseRugby crunches the numbers on the candidates to pack down at the back of the #AllBlacks scrum come July. #SuperRugbyTThttps://t.co/yXGkIY6IGk
— RugbyPass+ (@RugbyPassPlus) May 31, 2021
Parsons further suggested that Rayasi, the man who topped the 2020 Mitre 10 Cup scoring charts and was nominated for provincial player of the season, also possesses a strong left boot – an attribute that helps him and Nareki stand out from their contemporaries.
“The Hurricanes use him really effectively, he’s got a huge boot,” Parsons said. “I really like it from the sense of exiting. It means you can have a lick of attack and if they bring the winger up and the fullback comes up and there’s space in the backfield, they’ve got the big boot to take advantage of it.
“That’s what I like, it gives you the ability to have a look at and still get you out of your exit zone with a kick and if they don’t, if they stay back in the backfield, beauty, we’ll run, we’ll just take the space and then we’re playing footy. That’s the reason I like it. I like how the Canes do that. Salesi’s great at making those decisions.”
Halfback Hall also suggested that when you’re defending a scrum and you know your opposition have a left foot kicker at their disposal, it can force the defence to hold off on spreading out across the park, potentially opening up space for the some well-placed kicks.
“If it’s a left-hand side scrum and you’ve got a 15-metre blind, what that does in the backfield with having a left winger with a left foot, it just holds you a little bit more,” he explained. “For a 9 or the backfield, if you’re a fullback or the openside winger, it checks you a little bit … It’s pretty hard to defend when you’ve got an out and out left-foot kicking winger.
Parsons also put forward one other left-field suggestion for the left wing spot, nominating Crusaders No 14 Sevu Reece.
Reece notched up seven appearances for the All Blacks in his debut season in 2019, starting all of those matches on the right wing. Last year, however, he hit a second-season slump and made just one further appearance for New Zealand.
His form for the Crusaders has improved as the season has progressed and he’s now arguably the best-performing win in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman – but a shift to the left could pave the way for greater minutes for the All Blacks this year.
“I think potentially that Will Jordan could slip into that right wing position and I don’t think we can ignore the form of Sevu Reece and the work that he’s done,” said Parsons.
“I don’t think he’d look out of place on the left … It’s that power winger spot and I think he’s really powerful but I also think he has the work rate of that right wing. He’s got a high work rate.
“Remember when Jackson Garden-Bachop got that intercept against you guys, Bryn, and he came from the other side of the field and he was on the ground and he chased him down and he stopped that? That was a crucial moment in the game. So he’s got the work rate, he’s got the power and he’s good under the high ball. There’s a lot of aspects to his game that actually suits that blindside wing spot so I think he has to be considered as well.”
With Beuaden Barrett, Jordie Barrett and Damian McKenzie all more than capable of playing at fullback, there will be huge competition for the All Blacks’ wing spots – and the country’s best and brightest are all putting their hands up for selection.
When New Zealand run out against Tonga in their opening test of the year, however, who will don the No 11 jersey is anyone’s guess at this stage.
Comments on RugbyPass
Yeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
1 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
4 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
4 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
4 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
12 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
12 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
12 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
4 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
4 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
4 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
3 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to comments