Who's the best number 9 in New Zealand? It's an increasingly tricky question
The number 9 jersey is perhaps the most wide-open position in New Zealand rugby at the moment, writes Jamie Wall, and the weekend’s Super Rugby showed it could also be the most heavily stacked.
Last weekend was not a great one for New Zealand rugby fans. As well as seeing the All Blacks’ win record equalled by England after just a few months, we had to endure a couple of pretty average Super Rugby derbies that kind of gave the impression maybe we’re not as great as we think we are.
Admittedly, the Chiefs and Hurricanes weren’t helped by weather in Hamilton that, in the old days, would have called for rounding up two of every animal onto an ark. The Blues and Highlanders had less excuse on a humid night in Auckland.
There was a bright side to all this, however. Despite the conservative tactics and sloppy handling, the two dirge-fests did throw up a few interesting cases when it comes to All Blacks selection. Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you want to look at it), they were all in the same position: Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Augustine Pulu, TJ Perenara and Aaron Smith all had commanding performances at the base of the scrum.
Perenara and Kerr-Barlow locked horns in Hamilton on Friday night, where the conditions played into the latter’s favour. TKB’s kicking led directly to the Chiefs’ decisive second try, and his tackling in the heavy traffic around the rucks was phenomenal. Meanwhile, TJ’s try showed the fight of a guy who doesn’t see the problem in bumping off a guy who could probably eat him for dinner, after last week throwing a nonchalant no-look pass in the lead up to what might end up being the try of the season.
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Aaron Smith has, for reasons only known to the sexually repressed part of the New Zealand public, been under a fair bit of scrutiny since late last year and it’s fair to say his performances on the field have suffered. Saturday night saw him remind everyone that his kicking from the base of the ruck is still very effective – especially if you’re playing a game plan of picking on an inexperienced fullback and a first five that can’t catch.
On the other side of the ruck, Gus Pulu tried his best to run through the Highlanders defence, even though he was getting hardly any help from his teammates. A break late in the game could’ve been the turning point in a game neither side actually looked like wanting to win.
There were actually two more good performances in the one decent game involving a New Zealand side, in Brisbane. Against the Reds, the Crusaders duo of Mitch Drummond and Bryn Hall combined for all of the visitors’ tries – Hall’s second up against the base of the post a reminder to all of the sneaky nature of a good number 9.
So who will run out in the halfback spot when the All Blacks take on the Lions in June? Right now it’s probably the most open and stacked position in the NZ game, and each Super Rugby team can boast a guy for any scenario, be it wet, dry, open or conservative.
Eventually, only two will get the nod on game day, but at least the rest can probably look forward to their potential French salaries having an extra couple of zeroes next to them.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments