Why Brad Weber missed out on the All Blacks’ World Cup squad

When two-time Rugby World Cup winning-captain Richie McCaw revealed the All Blacks 33-man squad to head to France on Monday, three halfbacks walked out onto the stage in Napier.

Brad Weber wasn’t one of them.

New Zealand rugby is blessed with some truly exciting options at halfback, including the likes of Weber, Folau Fakatava and the injured TJ Perenara. But all three missed on All Blacks selection.

Selectors have stuck with the same three halfbacks who played a role in the All Blacks’ perfect run in both The Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup.

Veteran Aaron Smith has been picked for his third Rugby World Cup, and will travel alongside rising star Cam Roigard and Blues halfback Finlay Christie.

But some rugby fans in Aotearoa wanted to see the All Blacks go in a different direction – in the direction of capable No. 9 Brad Weber. The halfback has impressed in the black jersey before, and came “very close” to selection.

“We’ve got some quality nines at the moment in this country, we believe. He’s like a number of players, we know that if we picked him that he’d do a good job for us,” Foster told reporters.

“We look hard at the skillsets we want and we just really believe we’ve got the three that we need.

“There’s a uniqueness around Cam. I know he’s young but he brings a left-sided game, he’s a runner.

“Fin managed really well, for parts of that team in the weekend where we weren’t giving him any good ball to play off. But it was also a really strong defensive effort, he was a massive part of that.

“We just look at the different strengths of our nines and it’s always tough on someone.”

Since the squad was named, All Blacks coach Ian Foster has confirmed that Weber has been called up as injury cover alongside flanker Samipeni Finau and uncapped hooker George Bell.

“That was always the plan,” Foster added.

“We’re allowed to have extra players train with us up until we go to France, so we’ll bring Brad, Samipeni and George with us.

“To be fair, it would have been Asofa Aumua (at hooker) but he pulled a call at the weekend and is out for six to eight weeks.

“In Samipeni’s case, he could potentially be involved in the South Africa game if we feel we can utilise him to manage our lock stock through to the start.”

The All Blacks take on rivals South Africa at Twickenham later this month, and will open their World Cup campaign against tournament hosts and favourites France on September 9 (NZST) in Paris.