To be selected for ‘any team’ is a dream of every young rugby player, both men and women. Any sports person in fact. In New Zealand (NZ) we all like to believe from an early age that; if you are a rugby player, you might have an opportunity to become an All Black. While a possibility, not everyone can represent their nation and after the 2016 squad was announced last week, those who ‘might be All Blacks’ will feel that same disappointment as your average club or provincial player. They will feel hard done by and must be seen now as the ‘next best’.
Those Who Might Be All Blacks – the Next Best
That childhood dream is now in-fact a reality for six new All Black squad selections. Those uncapped members of the training squad were handed the opportunity by the coaching panel, a ‘Golden ticket’ in layman’s terms. They would have been given the call from Darren Shand [All Blacks manager] the week or days before the announcement, and would have certainly been over-the-moon, along with their family and friends naturally. They will feel like every effort they have put in over their lives has paid off–and in all reality, making the All Blacks is close to the pinnacle of NZ sports.
Last Word On Sports congratulates the players who were chosen, the ones who make the starting test side this week. Hearing your name is fantastic news for those debutantes, and while toasting their success a thought must go out to for those who might be All Blacks. The ones who missed selection (this time) and for who it is a tantalizing close dream that has not quite yet quite been realized.
For that, LWOS wish to single out several of the men who came ‘oh so close’ to being named, to being given their call-up to becoming an All Black–maybe your first time, or a recall to join a side depleted by retirements and players injured. These men listed below had been touted by sports media, sometimes odds-on choices by former players and believed they had all the qualities, but yet sadly for them were overlooked.
The next best candidates are paired, to provide a ‘subjective comparison’.
MATT TODD [Ardie Savea]
Many will say that Todd is ‘still in the mix’. That selectors did not have the allowance to pick two men in a similar mold; Todd and Cane, but every Crusader fan must be ‘livid’ about this non-selection. Overlooked, the talented flanker will know he has presented selectors with good evidence of his talent, so might honestly wonder what more he can offer. A genuine talent, LWOS just hopes that Canterbury Rugby can retain him for another contract–with all the external pressures on a young pro-rugby player.
In terms of his talent, Todd brings all the qualities that a Josh Kronfeld or Neil Back held. He bides his time and as the Richie McCaw era was ending, he was almost a carbon copy. Straight ahead, no questions but also ready to gain an offload. Matt runs the offload channel well but in comparison, Savea is more gregarious. Like Michael Jones, he is a ferocious tackler and gets his body is positions to influence the tackle. Then he is up, fearlessly charging the ball up and many times offloading. And his speed across the ground is what might have given Savea an advantage.
Todd is a draught horse while Savea is an Arabian Stallion, so the selection points to a direction the 2016 All Blacks group hopes their game will go to but there is always a bonus to being the next best. Any injuries within the loose forwards and Matt Todd (pictured) is going to join the group without a doubt.
JORDAN TAUFUA [Elliot Dixon]
Taufua is making a habit out of scoring tries. His score against the Waratahs looked to give his Crusaders an edge, and his play so often does bring rewards for those who play beside him. Ferocious in the tight, his defence is sure. An obvious man on the park, the selectors would have seen the possibilities but for one or more reasons, they saw the man down in Dunedin, Elliot Dixon as having an edge.
Dixon has been in their eye for two seasons, Taufua not having the same public support. That is not a judgement, by all accounts his workrate is just as high but you can see in this selection that the longer you are in the picture, are near to the top and appear in Super Rugby grand finals–Dixon scored a miraculous try to give his Highlanders a huge boost. His name was called because he is clear candidate to match Jerome Kaino, and get better as a player by being in the same squad a Kaino.
JOSH BEHUIS [Tom Franklin]
Statistically, former All Black Ian Jones named Bekhuis the most ‘effective lock in the country’. The numbers showed he was quality, and 100 Super Rugby caps proved his durability. But Kamo forgot to measure the element that in-fact, made Jones a young All Black…energy. Franklin has an energy and dynamism which means he is visually more noticeable. A lock can often get lost in numbers, tackles, offloads and metres. Successful lineout takes are a number, but crucially are also reflective of the Hookers role too.
So Franklin was chosen as injury cover, but there is a benefit to his recruitment. He leads the Otago ITM Cup side, so brings mana and potential to call the lineouts if trusted in that role. Future planning for positions where hamstring strains, broken thumbs and head knocks could limited any players time with the group. Bekhuis had the stats, but would he future proof the game? Unfortunately, he chose to take-up an overseas contract one year too soon and now Tom Franklin has realized that reality where younger men are the better choice.
RICHIE MOUNGA/MATT FADDES [Damian McKenzie]
This squad member has all the potential in the word. His counterparts listed are very much ‘excitement machines’ themselves; the youth of Mounga who has shone under extreme pressures (outshing Ben Volavola, a rugby International) and Matt Faddes is a hard-as, dyed in the wool tough sportsman who can play all outside back roles and has now exceeded expectations, in filling the centre role. Multi-talented too, which is the facet that McKenzie exhibits more often.
In his size, Damian McKenzie should not be a contender for an All Blacks jersey. Short, skinny…that is what he looks like. In reality, his heart is as big as Owen Franks, his agility as beguiling as Isreal Dagg and his boot is a quality that Faddes lacks. Between the two first-five roles, Richie is promising, has the most points in Super Rugby yet could do more and the selectors will have seen McKenzie in his Waikato ITM Cup side play very well. Directing others is a key at fullback, and McKenzie is as vocal as he is fleet-footed.
His are the skills that can be molded into a potential game breaker in 12-24 months time.
Players who are on the verge of All Blacks selection, the Next Best
Brad Weber maybe unlucky that he is so amazing at making breaks in the line, that he becomes guilty of loosing his support. In a way, is that his fault? To a degree it isn’t and if Ardie Savea were tracking him, those runs might have led to more try-conversion ratio. But as is all too often, you need to amend your game to suit, and Tawera Kerr-Barlow does ‘work on’ his game. Weber will learn, and when he runs next time he might be looking for his support to work more with him.
Reg Goodes looks like he is dominant in the scrum, who can work hard and then he proves that he can run fast. Working beside Dane Coles must inspire all tight forwards to get their legs running, but all that is after the scrum is completed. A good lifter and tackles very well. The lack of selection might only be fr this calendar year. If he stays consistent, it will be a matter of time.
Brad Shields really should be in the mix, but for a number of reasons the amount of competition is proving too much. If you watch him, against the Highlanders in Round 14, he is tireless. Always on the move, the openside flanker stays out in the line and is ready to make that big tackle, feed the ball to others. A ball sharer, not looking to sprint away, he is a muscular man (sitting next to him, he is as large as David Pocock) and if he stays in New Zealand, he can gain the eye of selectors in time.
The antithesis of the next best, soon they will be unable to not select him in a year or two.
James Lowe is a winger who makes things happen. On the ball and off it, he has shown great support play for the Chiefs and really demands the attention of defenders. By comparison to a bigger, Pacific Island winger, he is welter-weight ready to take flight. His vision is better than many others and if he were given the experience in the group, how far could this young man go.
DANIEL LIENERT-BROWN/ANTON LIENERT-BROWN
A special mention for these brothers. They would add to the 50 plus sets of brothers whom have played for the All Blacks over the hundred years of history. Both men has put their individual hand-up in both the tight and in the open-play. Daniel has scored a few tries recently while due to Charlie Ngatai’s concussion issues, Anton has taken the limited chances with both hands. The ABs are always looking for qualities that are outside of rugby, and the example that brothers often demonstrate is commitment. If you don’t match your sibling, then it is the ‘natural competition’ that brings the best out of players.
Daniel has been a work-in-progress for the Highlanders. Jamie Joseph will say he is the most improved and others say he is very fast. Dane Coles has shown speed himself, and wouldn’t it be a revelation to have more props outrunning defenders in a black shirt. Age is on both men’s side, but Chiefs and Landers fans will just hope that they don’t take up the French offers on the table for every man on this selection.
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All those names have given the national side selectors a major headache. One that Warren Gatland would dearly love I’m sure but it means unless you select 40 men, then as Mick Jagger would put it you “can’t always get what you want”. But if you try hard as a player, as an individual and as a wider selection player, then you become the target of many sights. You become what the selectors ‘need’.
In New Zealand, the All Blacks sit unquestionably at the top of the majority of sports, but with respect the Women’s Black Ferns have a wonderful history. Young girls have the same ambitions and dreams as their male counterparts. There is nothing to say that in selection, when the NZ Women’s team is named that there are not the same up’s [being named] and the same down’s [not hearing your named called out] Female sports people will have the same feelings of disappointment, and that applies to all sports–to be selected for the Swim team, Volleyball, Cycling or Archery.
The observation is not in the failure to be selected, that would be to narrow a viewpoint. This editorial is a recognition that in a team sport, you become ingrained to being ‘picked’. It is a very basic choice, yes or no, but the way that a sportsperson (or a job candidate or Presidential nominee) rebounds from their personal failures. Like winning or losing a match, or Test Series, the measure of a person is in whether they apply themselves and work harder to achieve their dreams. All these men described here will undoubtedly collect their thoughts, analyze their career and make decisions going forward.
The measure of the person is in how they learn from these steps in their lives [non-selection] and in their sports careers. Nothing will stop any of them from continuing to rise in the ranks. All have age on their side, so Last Word On Sports wishes them the best. You hope that they make choices now that assist them to reach their dreams, or to re-evaluate them. From the darkest lows, many a player has picked themselves up and made better people of themselves. They are the next best–by their actions now, they must make themselves the ‘must pick’ player in years to come.
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The 2016 All Blacks team to play Wales on Saturday June 11 is to be named at 0500 NZT, Thursday June 9th in Auckland, New Zealand. Follow LWOS for all the news on the Steinlager Test Series against Wales.
“Main photo credit”
