{"id":694423,"date":"2026-05-25T22:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T22:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/694423\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T22:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T22:52:15","slug":"jeff-wilsons-verdict-on-all-blacks-bolter-compared-to-ben-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/694423\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Wilson’s verdict on All Blacks bolter compared to Ben Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Another in-form Hurricane could make their way into the All Blacks reckoning after coming to the fore during the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season.<\/p>\n

While most of the talk has been about fly-half Ruben Love, wing or full-back Josh Moorby has also started to display some Test-like qualities.<\/p>\n

Moorby has scored 13 tries in 12 matches and has duly impressed a number of onlookers this year.<\/p>\n

That includes All Blacks<\/a> legends Jeff Wilson, Mils Muliaina and Christian Cullen with the latter, who represented the Wellington outfit with distinction during his playing career, excited by what he has seen from the 27-year-old in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoorby would look pretty good in a black jersey wouldn\u2019t he? Powerful. Whether as a winger or a full-back, he\u2019s just got an eye for the tryline. His work rate is massive,\u201d Cullen told Sky Sport NZ.<\/p>\n

Moorby\u2019s all-round excellence<\/p>\n

While Moorby has an impressive try-scoring record, he is not just a poacher and has a good all-round skill set.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s certainly putting his hand up. What he showed, particularly when he came out for counter-attack, was his ability to be able to do that and size up the moment,\u201d Muliaina said on The Breakdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got plenty of speed, Cully talked about his work rate as well. He manipulates that defensive line because he\u2019s roaming around.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard not to look past where he can get to. He will have a bit of competition but, on the other side of it, he does bring a little bit of versatility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere does he fit in terms of the others? I think there\u2019s certainly competition in terms of an out-and-out wing and that\u2019s where he could possibly miss out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christian Cullen urges Dave Rennie to put Ruben Love \u2018with the big dogs\u2019 as All Blacks clamour grows for Hurricanes star<\/a><\/p>\n

Moorby could be your classic All Blacks bolter, someone who has not been talked about much recently but has ultimately started to play too well to ignore.<\/p>\n

\u2018Done some special things\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI said a week ago that someone had an opportunity to play their way into the All Blacks over the next month\u2026 and that\u2019s where Josh Moorby sits right now,\u201d Wilson<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done some special things this season. I like the versatility, he can play both positions \u2013 15 and on the wing \u2013 exceptionally well.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone mentioned that there\u2019s a bit of a Ben Smith about him, the fact that he has high work rate. I don\u2019t know about his top-end speed, but it seems good to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I think he\u2019s in the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as\u00a0a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

The back three has always been a competitive position in New Zealand rugby, but Wilson believes that the door could have opened for someone like Moorby.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole landscape\u2019s changed with the loss of Caleb Tangitau, I think the out-and-out wing we are looking for and where Will Jordan fits in the picture,\u201d he added<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s picked up another niggle, which I hope is not serious. Does that mean the flexibility that Josh Moorby gives you, does that make the conversation around him?<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally, you would like the opportunity to have a 6-2 bench and that means you would like to have a wing that can play full-back.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Ex-All Black claims PREM and URC are \u2018stronger\u2019 than Super Rugby<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another in-form Hurricane could make their way into the All Blacks reckoning after coming to the fore during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,818,10569,1182,21288,1736,44,760,85],"class_list":["post-694423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-home-page","tag-hurricanes","tag-internationals","tag-jeff-wilson","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}