Jack Goodhue's meteoric rise continues — the Crusaders midfielder has been named to start at centre for the All Blacks in the first Bledisloe Cup test against Australia in Sydney.
It will be the 23-year-old's second cap after he started in the third test against France in Dunedin; afterwards he said the lift in level from Super Rugby was extraordinarily large, but such is his talent and composure he will be expected to form a near impregnable defensive partnership with his Crusaders teammate Ryan Crotty.
There is little doubt the Wallabies will target Goodhue, preferred ahead of the more experienced Anton Lienert-Brown, but his defensive abilities, plus the fact that he is such a good distributor of the ball, and so good at running with it close to the opposition tryline, means he would have been a near irresistible selection for Steve Hansen and company.
Goodhue, who famously didn't make any national age-group teams until he got to under-20 level, has been destined for big things since making his Super Rugby debut last year, and this is a continuation of it. He will almost certainly be a starter in the big World Cup tests next year.
Elsewhere, Brodie Retallick returns for his first test since the demolition of South Africa at North Harbour's QBE Stadium last September — a welcome comeback from a chest injury for one of the best locks in the world.
