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Unselfish Charlie Ngatai would be at home in All Blacks midfield
Craig Dowd
March 29, 2016
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I'm excited about the forthcoming All Blacks selection for the series against Wales and the Rugby Championship.
For the first time we are going to see a number of new faces and the battle for Dan Carter's place at first five-eighths is interesting.
With that in mind, I'm not surprised Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett have turned down the sevens opportunity. It's the old story of giving a sucker an even break.
There's no guarantee that if they had let Lima Sopoaga take their spot that there was going to be a place left for them when they came back. You had the likes of Ben Smith saying if he gave up his All Blacks jersey he may never get it back. He's too good not to, but it is interesting to hear the comments of incumbent All Blacks.
They had the chance to consider: gold medal or All Blacks jersey? And they went for the jersey.
Owen Franks has put a gap between himself and the rest of the field of tightheads in New Zealand. He's performing week-in and week-out at the set piece.
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And in the loose forwards there are options aplenty. The likes of Elliott Dixon has stepped up to offer some competition and I like the look of Vaea Fifita although it is too early for him yet. But that final selection is going to be very interesting.
There would be no surprise if Charlie Ngatai was included, especially after the great effort he put in when the Chiefs produced a quality game of rugby against the Force. The way Ngatai performed, he's just class. The lines he runs are great, and he's just clever. A lot of the stuff he does is unselfish and his work rate off the ball is really high.
Ngatai really put his hand up and showed that his time is not far away.
You look at someone like Conrad Smith, who's not really X-factor but is always capable of doing something special and knocking people over - he's 100 percent reliable. And that's the difference when you look at the midfielders - someone like Ngatai is solid, and extremely reliable.
It is clear the whole midfield situation for the All Blacks is going to be hotly contested given that the three previous frontrunners, Ma'a Nonu, Smith and Sonny Bill Williams, are all unavailable this year. Just what it looks like in a couple of months' time is going to be quite exciting.
What I like about the Chiefs overall, as opposed to the Hurricanes and the Highlanders at the weekend, is that while they were playing a side of lesser ability they maintained their own standards.
They threw the ball around, their offloads were incredible and they played a really exciting brand of rugby. On the other hand, both the Hurricanes and the Highlanders started really well but then dropped to the lesser level of the Kings and Rebels, respectively, and showed what can happen when playing some of the lower teams.
Both of them looked really average and ended up limping through to get wins. It shows that having teams like the Kings and others in the competition actually brings the overall level of the competition down.
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With the Chiefs it was all about them and how they played and again I talk about Ngatai running unselfish lines to create opportunities for other people.
It was good to see the injection of Stephen Donald who is a mentor behind the scenes to some of the younger guys and he showed that.
The Chiefs actually had old school moves that they hadn't seen used in a while and the combination from No.8 to halfback to the five-eighths looked really good and organised. They demonstrated that someone running a different line to hold a defender creates an opportunity for someone else out wide. That was good to see.
The Hurricanes looked like they were all wanting to have cracks at scoring tries as individuals. The two tries they let through just before halftime were down to lazy defence. They should have gone into halftime with a nine-point lead.
In a team that dropped their standards, hooker Dane Coles and flanker Ardie Savea had big games. Coles' effort levels, and those of Savea, made them stand-outs. Their involvement in the game was huge.
Coles, who was absolute class at the weekend, and Argentina's Agustin Creevy are the best hookers in the world at the moment by a country mile.
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The Kings improved in Dunedin, but there were allowed to by the Highlanders and you have to ask: what value is New Zealand getting out of games like these?
By comparison, the Crusaders had a mighty win over the Sharks in Durban. All the talk after the game was about the bonding sides go through on tours like this and when they get the wins their self-belief grows. You could see on their faces at the final whistle how much that all meant to them and how they had to dig deep.
It's almost like if everyone in a side lifted their game by one or two percent that creates a 15 percent increase, or more, across a team. Rather than waiting for someone to do something, everyone in the team just lifts themselves a little bit more and that has been a hallmark of the Crusaders through the years.
They know they must push themselves a little bit harder and make things happen rather than just waiting for things to happen - that's a sign of a championship team.
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A player like Andy Ellis gives a huge boost to the side. He has been playing some great rugby all season. And given that we are moving into a new era, when you look at the form halfbacks of the competition he has got to be right up there. Ellis has to be pushing for a place in the All Blacks squad in June.
Having had a week off with the bye it is a big game for the Blues at Albany on Saturday night against the Jaguares. The Blues are a different team at home while we all know the Jaguares are playing an expansive game and will throw the ball around, so it is going to be all about the Blues' defence.
Coming off the back of the Sharks' effort, if the Crusaders can get another win in South Africa, over the Lions, who are playing very well, then that will be massive for their campaign.
That's what the Hurricanes did last season and they went on to make the final. If the Crusaders can win they will be in touch with the leaders.
© Craig Dowd
Unselfish Charlie Ngatai would be at home in All Blacks midfield
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