All Black Depth Part 2

By Benji Crossley

Four x Four x Four – Four deep in four years to win a fourth World Cup

Cam Roigard	12	7
Cortez Ratima	16	16
Noah Hotham	2	2
Finlay Christie	26	5
Kyle Preston	1	1

By necessity they’ve had to go deep into the depth chart here and probably not really been able to answer any questions. Cam Roigard is a genuine world class player and there is a decent gap back to Cortez Ratima, but Ratima has proved himself to be solid if not spectacular at test level. You feel like Noah Hotham probably will be if he can ever stay fit for long enough to be given opportunities and Finlay Christie has shown enough that you can be comfortable with him as a fourth choice guy.

Would you want Christie starting a World Cup final? Probably not, but equally you’d hope more often than not your fourth choice guy wouldn’t have to. Kyle Preston has interesting upside with the ability to kick off both feet being a serious weapon if the path to success is going to be via contestable kicks. But without opportunity, it’s hard to see how he leapfrogs Christie.

The name I haven’t mentioned here is Dylan Pledger, people have huge huge wraps on him. It wouldn’t be a surprise, especially if Hotham is done for the season to see him go on the end of year tour this season and you’d figure he’s a lock for the All Blacks XV.

 

Beauden Barrett	139	16
Damian McKenzie	67	20
Richie Mo’unga	56	0
Stephen Perofeta	6	3

Everyone assumes that the 10 jersey is just being kept warm for the return of the prodigal son (why people think he’s the prodigal son still baffles me but that’s another topic entirely) but in terms of depth 10 is one position where they’ll probably be ok. If the three that go to 2027 are Barret, McKenzie and Mo’unga that will be the second tournament in a row where they’ve done that. Will they be able to find an opportunity to give Josh Jacomb a run by 2027, seems unlikely if they will need to try and reintegrate Mo’unga at some point next year.

Three deep, easy but four? Well that will take something slightly creative or a decision made to jettison Barrett/McKenzie ahead of the Mo’unga return.

 

Jordie Barrett	74	18
Quinn Tupaea	18	4
Anton Leinert-Brown	86
Timoci Tavatavanawai	2	2

Barrett and Tupaea look like a good one-two punch. They seem to see ALB as a centre but he’d be a serviceable 12 option and has played a good chunk of his 86 tests in that position.

Behind them, Tavatavanawai? Again, we just don’t know enough.  Where they try to find those opportunities to give him (or someone else) a run becomes key.

David Havili strikes as a good fourth option but despite his performances in Super Rugby he hasn’t had a look in this year. Maybe that’s because they know enough and wanted to look at someone else, if that’s the case, they’re certainly not saying it publicly.

 

Billy Proctor	7	7
Anton Lienert-Brown	86	16
Rieko Ioane	86	17
Leicester Fainga’anuku	7	0

I think Rieko Ioane is our best 13, watching Proctor get skinned on the outside again in Wellington just reinforced that view, but I seem to be about the last one left who thinks that.

They’ve given Proctor a decent run in the shirt now and while most aren’t completely sold he hasn’t been a disaster. So he’s probably first choice.

ALB and Rieko sitting behind him as genuine options does give you great depth with lots of experience in the position.

What they do with Fainga’anuku is fascinating when it comes to the 13 jersey. His previous All Black performances were largely on the wing but Robertson and Toulon often used him as a 13. Where does Robertson see him now? The two Bledisloe tests might give us some indication.

Regardless of whether he’s primarily a midfielder or a winger, he’s a great fourth choice option and means we’re pretty well stocked in the 13 shirt.

 

Rieko Ioane	86	17
Caleb Clarke	29	9
Emoni Narawa	4	3
Leroy Carter	36	13
Will Jordan	47	16
Sevu Reece	36	13
Leicester Fainganuku	7	0
Timoci Tavatavanawai	2	2

As long as at least a couple of them remember how to catch kicks in the next year or two I don’t think the 11/14 shirts are ones we need to worry about.

Caleb Clarke, who most will tell you, is our best aerial winger so he gets one of the shirts. Leroy Carter showed some positive and interesting signs on debut and should probably be persevered with. Emoni Narawa has shown signs when being given opportunities and if he can stay fit should earn a few more. With Rieko in the group as well Will Jordan in the background, wingers simply shouldn’t be an issue.

However, the well known 27 year cliff when it comes to All Black wingers will likely strike meaning our two first choice wingers and even the two sitting behind them, could be anyone. Caleb Tangitau is a name to watch if he can stay fit for the Highlanders.

 

Will Jordan	47	16
Reuben Love	2	2
Damian McKenzie	67	20
Beauden Barrett	139	16

Will Jordan is first and daylight likely in second here. But behind him is a real question and one where I feel like you can point some valid criticism at the Robertson regime. Reuben Love has been with the squad for a year now and just hasn’t had enough opportunity.

He’s clearly a talented guy but how will he go in test rugby? We just don’t have any body of work to answer that question. They’ll have to answer it soon.

With the Mo’unga return the dual playmaking option very firmly goes back on the table meaning that you have to consider Barrett/McKenzie as 15 options.

In terms of depth, we’ll probably be okay at 15 but they could certainly be doing more to make sure we are.

The big opportunity because of “The Greatest Rivalry”

In 2026 Robertson is going to be given an opportunity that no All Black coach has had since 1996. A genuine old school tour. Test matches and mid-week games. If we use a Lions tour as a template, those tours take approximately 40 man squads these days so he’ll actually be able to take guys who are third and fourth deep in positions where he often wouldn’t have them in a 32/33 man squad for a domestic series.

Will playing against the Sharks on a Wednesday prove that Reuben Love is a genuine 15 option in a test match? Probably not, but better having that opportunity than having no opportunity as seems to be the case currently.

After having gone through this exercise I feel slightly better than I did post-Argentina in terms of depth and the opportunities that players have been given in this regime. The question you have to ask after Wellington is whether even our first choice guys are good enough? All well and good having depth, but if none of them are anything like the best in the world then it doesn’t really matter.

All Black XV squads, the “Greatest Rivalry” squad and the end of year tour squads over the next two years will be fascinating. The perceived wisdom for a long time was that World Cup winning squads needed to have at least 1000 caps, I don’t know if it’s still the case but it certainly wouldn’t hurt. For a point of reference, the All Black 2015 squad (an insanely unfair benchmark but one none the less) had 1400 test caps with only three guys under 10 caps in the whole squad. Doesn’t feel like the 2027 squad will hit those numbers but the 2011 squad mark of 709 feels easily attainable.

One thing is for certain, in a Grand Slam tour at the end of the year Robertson should not roll his first choice 15 out to play Wales in the way he rolled out the big guns to play Italy on the last game of last years tour.

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