Tom Robinson of the Blues looks on following the round two Super Rugby Pacific match between the Blues and the Hurricanes. Photo / Getty Images.
Tom Robinson of the Blues looks on following the round two Super Rugby Pacific match between the Blues and the Hurricanes. Photo / Getty Images.
OPINION:
It's true that New Zealand hasn't had much success in building or utilising hybrid forwards who can slot into the back-row as well as they can lock.
But here we are 18 months out from the next World Cup and it's apparent, given the explosive ball carrying power andset-piece grunt of the lead contenders, that the All Blacks need to have a bit more heft in their arsenal when they go to France next year.
As became evident last year, the style of rugby in the North has evolved almost beyond recognition since the last World Cup.
No one in the Six Nations is playing static, box-kicking rugby anymore where they plod from one set-piece to the next.
Those days are long gone and instead, the Northern Hemisphere sides have revived their fortunes by striking this compelling balance between power and pace.
The likes of France, Ireland, England and South Africa are cleverly blurring the lines – developing utility forwards who can slot into the middle or back-row.
It's easy come, easy go for England at the moment, who are content to flip both Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawes between lock and blindside.
Both can individually lay claim to being among the best locks in the world, and Itoje also ranks as one of the best blindsides.
In their last test against Scotland, France had both the 2m, 133kg Romain Taofifénua and the 2.03m, 116kg Thibaud Flament on the bench.
There's a litany of reasons France are now, on form if not ranking, the best team in the world, and the ability of their pack to win the physical contests and still manage to play at a reasonable tempo is key.
The South Africans continue to build and nurture the sort of athletes – the 2m tall, 115kg Pieter Steph du Toit being the best example – who can bash and smash and give the Boks this intimidatory sense of relentless power.
The All Blacks don't need to abandon their blueprint or give up on their vision of playing ultra-fast, highly skilled pass and catch football, but with the World Cup in mind, they do need to be thinking about widening their options so they at least have the potential to fight fire with fire next year.
It would be no bad thing to head into a quarter-final against Ireland, South Africa or Scotland as the All Blacks are destined and know they had a hybrid lock-loosie in their midst if they feel that additional power rather than pace may be required later in the game.
And Foster can't be put off by New Zealand's lack of historic success in finding or building this sort of composite player to take to a World Cup.
It's not been a project in which the All Blacks have previously enjoyed much success and memories of how the surprise decision in 2019 to select Scott Barrett at blindside for the semi-final clash against England backfired, are still painfully fresh.
The theory was good – attack England's lineout – but the execution wasn't. But previous failures shouldn't matter: the need to have a versatile, athletic lock is greater now than it ever has been and Barrett, despite what happened in Yokohama three years ago, remains an option for the role.
But there are two new candidates, both of whom were on view this weekend at Eden Park, who showed they could become this mythical beast who can add scrummagaing horsepower, win lineout ball, forage on the ground and zip about the field.
Tupou Vaa'i and Tom Robinson took their respective chances in an intense Super Rugby local derby, to lay down early markers as to their potential.
Tom Robinson of the Blues beats Tupou Vaa'i of the Chiefs to the ball in a lineout during the round 3 Super Rugby Pacific match. Photo / Getty Images.
The former has already shown he can play lock at test level and he certainly didn't look uncomfortable with the pace of the game on Saturday with No 6 on his back.
He's clearly a natural athlete – a point the All Blacks have made since they picked him in 2020. He's 2m and 115kg – which makes him heavy enough to add ballast to the scrum, but not so heavy as he can't get around the field.
Vaa'i has also shown a capacity to learn quickly in his test career to date and has the sort of open mind-set that would create a bit of confidence that he could embrace the chance to mix up his time between lock and blindside.
Robinson had a last minute to forget on Saturday, but his work rate is impossible to ignore and it feels like he's played well enough for long enough to be given the chance to see what he can deliver in the test arena.
At 110kg, the concern would be around his ability to scrummage as a second-row for the All Blacks. The inability to scrum at that level was why former Blues back-rower Steven Luatau didn't appeal as a hybrid for the 2015 World Cup, but no one is going to know whether Robinson can hack it or not until he's stuck in the engine room and told to push.
