Jeff Wilson questions whether hybrid players will suit Dave Rennie\u2019s All Blacks team after Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku\u2019s starring shift at flank for the Crusaders.<\/p>\n
Crusaders boss Rob Penney stunningly named the All Blacks<\/a> back on the side of the scrum for the Super Round<\/a> meeting against the Waratahs last week. Fainga\u2019anuku<\/a> enjoyed a handful of cameos in the forward pack during his stint with French club RC Toulon, and many waited patiently for the Crusaders to do the same.<\/p>\n However, few would have predicted that Penney would pull the trigger for the Crusaders<\/a>\u2018 debut at their new home, the One New Zealand Stadium, and it was seemingly not planned, with Fainga\u2019anuku revealing that he had just one day of training in the role.<\/p>\n Just one day of prep<\/p>\n \u201cI hope it was good enough for one day\u2019s prep,\u201d he told Sky Sports NZ<\/a> after his man of the match performance in the 35-20 victory, a game in which he scored a try. \u201cI definitely enjoyed it out there. The tools are in the toolbox if they\u2019re needed.\u201d<\/p>\n His selection and subsequent performance in the back-rower has understandably led to the question of whether All Blacks boss Rennie would be keen to copy the Springboks\u2019 ploy with the likes of Kwagga Smith and Andre Esterhuizen offering Rassie Erasmus an option in the forward pack and in the backs.<\/p>\n Wilson discussed the prospect with fellow former All Black Lima Sopoaga and ex-Wallabies centre Morgan Turinui.<\/p>\n Asked on the Breakdown show, whether the ploy from the Crusaders worked, Sopoaga laughed: \u201cDid it work?<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know where they\u2019re going to pick him next week. Pick him at center, pick him at seven, who knows? It worked in my opinion; he was unbelievable. Did everything that he should have.\u201d<\/p>\n While Wilson was full of praise for Fainga\u2019anuku, he still questioned whether he could produce that kind of performance at the highest level.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, it was an outstanding performance on a short turnaround. I had spoken to him a couple of weeks earlier in Christchurch, and he actually just wanted to get more involved in the game, so this is the way to do it: convince the coaching staff that you can play in the loose forwards,\u201d the legendary winger said.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought instinctively his positional play for a guy who probably never played there was really good, but his skill set still came to the fore. His ball carrying, his footwear, they saw him score a try, but now is he a viable option? Whether it works at the next level, I\u2019m not quite convinced of that just yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Crusaders v Waratahs: Five takeaways as Fainga\u2019anuku gamble pays off for All Blacks and \u2018Saders while Will Skelton \u2018successor\u2019 costs \u2018Tahs<\/a><\/p>\n It suits the Springboks, but will it suit Dave Rennie\u2019s All Blacks?<\/p>\n Turinui added: \u201cOh yeah, we don\u2019t mind getting carried away, do we? \u2018Let\u2019s get him there for the All Blacks\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think the great thing was that jersey, the number seven, meant that he could just go. It\u2019s what we thought it would be. Rob Penny could say, \u2018I\u2019m going to put this number on your back, and you just chase the ball and do whatever you want to do.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we saw that he did all the core roles so well of what a seven must do. His decision-making was good, but he did it just a little bit faster than everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n The way the Springboks utilise their hybrid players was then raised with Sopoaga saying: \u201cThe skillset of Kwagga Smith is that he is fast, elusive, and he can do things in the backs that he can also do in the forwards. It gives so much time and ability to share that load around with your players.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Wilson argues that players like Smith and Esterhuizen suit the Springboks\u2019 style of play, and he is unsure whether the same will be true for the All Blacks under Rennie.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s the style of football they play in South Africa as well. The fact that they are confrontational. Kwagga is a powerful and dynamic player. You talk to anyone, and he\u2019s like a brick wall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think his skill set absolutely suits that, and the way the Springboks play, whether or not the All Blacks start going down that path, does that suit the way Dave Rennie wants to play? Do we have players? Does Quinn Tupaea fit that mold? You watch him in Super Rugby, and he is in and around the contact areas more. So for me, it\u2019s something you consider, but you need to be confident that they\u2019ve had enough time in terms of preparing. You also have to think whether they are a lineout option or not.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan Carter reveals what he expects from All Blacks facing \u2018toughest and hardest challenges\u2019 ahead of 2027 World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n All Blacks selection policy \u2018has to change\u2019 as ex-Crusaders boss predicts the \u2018new norm\u2019 for elite players<\/a><\/p>\n Just because you can doesn\u2019t mean you should<\/p>\n Turinui added that just because a player could play in the forwards and the backs, that doesn\u2019t mean that they should do so. The former centre does believe that more hybrid players will emerge, particularly through the sevens circuit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing you need to do is work out what the negatives are, and then you see if they\u2019re outweighed by the positives,\u201d the ex-Wallaby said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no accident that lots of the players we will talk about and have seen through the years have spent lots of time on the sevens field. The sevens is a great development arena for hybrid players because your core skills have to be good, but your motor has to be brilliant as well.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cThere is could, then there is should. The guys that are in the back row, if you\u2019re an outstanding back rower, you stand more of a chance of being involved consistently than being put out into the midfield.\u201d<\/p>\n