All Blacks: Death of the wingman

NZ rugby legend Jonah Lomu may have struggled to make the current All Black side. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Whichever way you look at it, All Black rugby legend Jonah Lomu, even at his considerable peak, may have struggled to get into a modern All Black team.

That's one of the interesting, yet sad, conclusions to be drawn from the selection of the All Black fullbacks and wingers for the end of year tour which enters its first phase with the Bledisloe Cup test against Australia on Saturday.

Why? Because Lomu struggled with three of the essential qualities needed in a winger these days - defence, ability under the high ball and a kicking game. Even in the short time between Lomu in his pomp and today, the game has changed so much that, as has been said so many times, wingers and fullbacks are largely interchangeable.

Lomu was never a fullback. Of course, Lomu at his most brilliant was a matchwinner who would probably have won selection for that alone in 2009, just as he did in 1999. But the point remains that he might have struggled to make it with today's exacting criteria for the wide men.

"I am not going to say Jonah couldn't do those things," laughs All Black great Jeff Wilson, now co-coaching North Harbour. "It was just that he didn't need to then - he could beat three or four men anyway without ever having to kick.

"It was the same with Christian Cullen," he says. "I knew Cully for a long time and I knew he could kick as well as the next man. But he had a gift with his pace and his running and he played to his strengths in that game at the time."

However modern defences have become so sophisticated and kicking so much a part of today's game that the ability to catch a kick, return kick, cover the fullback, pass-link-pass-again; counter-attack from deep; have gained more currency. It has become more difficult for wingers - or anyone - to beat defender after defender to create and score tries.

"The All Blacks have recognised that those [defensive] skills are necessary - and that, if you don't have them, you put yourself under tremendous, unnecessary pressure," says Wilson. "Players now all know - and are coached - that they have to be careful not to make a mistake and surrender the ball or field position or both.

"They know that the game has become more defence-oriented; that the team which makes the fewest mistakes generally wins the game; that they have to be careful because the opposition will be competing aggressively for the ball at the breakdown and they can't get isolated or make a mistake. So it's kick it long or kick it high and if you say there's too much kicking in the game, well, yes, probably.

"But then you have the South Africans now kicking penalties from 60 metres out so field position and accuracy and eradicating mistakes is vital. And the rules also say you can't kick to touch outside your 22. So what do you do?"

It's sad because in the interests of efficiency and percentages All Black rugby, in adapting to the rules, has almost lost one of its finest sights - an attacking winger; a specialist; in full offensive mode.

No one disputes that All Black coach Graham Henry wants to build a team capable of flowing, attacking play commensurate with New Zealand rugby instincts. It's undeniably a high-minded goal. Trouble is, in a game where the kick has become the major source of possession, the role of the specialist winger has changed so much that a slow-to-turn, less-skilled-in-the-tackle, someone-else-catch-the-ball winger like Lomu, is much more of a luxury.

Henry and the All Blacks want players who can field the kicks, turning them into possession which can be used to counter-attack; players with aerial skills, flypaper hands, a good boot and quickness of reflex when it comes to the return.

More proof? Look at the selection line-up for the All Blacks - Mils Muliaina, Cory Jane, Ben Smith covering 15 (and the wing) and only Sitiveni Sivivatu and new boy Zac Guildford as out-and-out wingers.

Guildford is good under the high kicks that are so much a staple of the game these days and is not a bad kicker himself. Sivivatu is that old-fashioned thing: a winger born to, and selected to, attack; a man who can do the unexpected. His sleight of foot, changes of direction, pace and tackle-busting qualities mark him as a disappearing breed who can still unlock even today's smothering defences.

Disappearing...that's the key. Look back down the ranks of great All Black wingers - Lomu, John Kirwan, Wilson, Bryan Williams and more.

The former two were attacking machines but were, well, less skilled in defence and in the taking of, and making of, kicks. Wilson and Williams had the skills to play in both positions - and both did. Wilson's silky skills, pace, timing, sidestep and a nose for doing the right thing at the right time would likely propel him into an All Black team even now.

Williams was, like Lomu and Kirwan, a power player. But he also had finesse about his game, including one of the biggest sidesteps known to mankind, and was an attacking player against whom it was hard to defend. He was good under the high ball, possessed a good spiral punt and was a goalkicker for both Auckland and the All Blacks at a time when supplies of such players were low.

But the clear signal from the selection of modern wingers is that skilled' doesn't just mean skilled at beating people; embarrassing defenders with elusive and running skills. The space is closed too fast for that these days; the defenders usually too organised and in numbers.

That, too, is part of the reason for the absence of Joe Rokocoko - possibly permanently - from the All Black ranks now. A brilliant attacker with abundant pace when he first came on the scene, Rokocoko's latter years reinforce the point.

As defences strengthened, the All Black coaches wanted him to have more bulk, to carry him through tackles or at least to make offloads to supporting players in true All Black style. They wanted him to be able to field a high percentage of high kicks, to be able to kick-return; to read counter-attacking opportunities.

What happened was that a bulked-up Rokocoko seemed to lose some of his speed - and confidence. He was never as skilled at the fielding and kicking bit as other wingers and, when counter-attacking, and his decision-making could malfunction; he seemed pressured, skitterish. It seemed that he almost never beat the first tackler any more. As time went by he became more of a square peg in a round hole until the inevitable 'not required' message arrived.

None of this is to decry the attacking capabilities of Jane, Smith or Guildford. Indeed Jane has already shown, in limited opportunities, the ability to find space, link with support players and, even more excitingly, to beat the first tackler.

Guildford was hailed by Henry as reminding him of a young Kirwan. There is no doubt Guildford has spanking pace, is a cool-headed finisher, and finds space well. But redolent of Kirwan? He calls to mind Doug Howlett, maybe, but Kirwan's upright, aggressive, twisting power runs had power as well as pace and didn't look much like Guildford's slightly more hunched, low-slung, running style. Guildford (admittedly in a different game...) has yet to show the ability to create something out of nothing as Kirwan could.

Which is one of the elements the coaching team will study on tour. For the moment, it seems Guildford has made the grade because he - and Smith - fulfils those key elements needed in the back three; because of the prevalence of the kick.

Ridding itself of the tyranny of the kick is an issue that rugby needs to address internationally although there are precious few signs of it. But...that's another story and rugby strangling itself with its own rules needs more space than can be devoted here.

But it's a boon for the likes of Jane and Smith and others who can slip effortlessly into the new roles.

"Yes," says Wilson, "guys like Guildford, Smith and Jane have the right skill set and all of this has happened at exactly the right time for them."