Newstalk ZB rugby commentator Elliott Smith and NZ Herald senior sports writer Liam Napier discuss the All Blacks team ahead of Saturday's Bledisloe Cup rugby test.
THREE KEY FACTS
Sam Cane will become the 13th All Black to play a century of tests when he starts against Australia on Saturday
The former captain has never been held in the same esteem as his predecessors
Saturday’s test will likely be Cane’s last on Kiwi soil before leaving for Japan next year
His point of difference in comparison with the other 12 centurions is that the respect and admiration he commands inside the All Blacks camp is not universally shared by those outside of it.
Among his peers and various coaches, Cane is revered for all he brings and all he has done, while among the fan base, there remains some doubt, a stark refusal by some to respect his right to take a place in the Pantheon.
It’s an oddity, bordering on something darker – a kind of spitefulness – to denigrate a player whose specific crimes appear to not have been someone else, and to have been picked to be captain by a coach many of the same people also wanted to be someone else.
Three different All Blacks coaches have picked Cane across a 12-year test career and each one has raved about his hard edges, his commitment, his instinct to be in the right place and bravery to make it count, his unwavering defence and his willingness to speak out when he sees something that doesn’t meet expectations.
Cane is the modern-day high-tech weaponry coaches feel they need to succeed in a landscape that has become increasingly dogged and physical.
He’s a player built for the collision warfare that dominates so many tests, someone who can tackle even when they are hurting from the last one, and someone who will not hesitate to put their head somewhere its safety can’t be guaranteed.
Perhaps it’s an indictment on the game that ruggedness, resilience and toughness are so highly revered by coaches, but it would also be unfair to suggest these are the only qualities Cane brings.
He’s never had great hands, but his support lines and ability to shift his feet quickly in heavy traffic are all part of his package, too.
Then there is his leadership – a style honed under the Gen X leaders he first encountered in 2012, and one that may shred the more fragile egos of some younger Gen Z teammates but is precisely the sort of edgy, abrupt, confronting messaging the best high-performance environments need.
Cane may not bring the same sort of athleticism as Sir Michael Jones or be able to match the predatory instincts of Richie McCaw, but his own bruising and confrontational style of playing openside was able to first win over Sir Steve Hansen, then Ian Foster and now Scott Robertson.
Sam Cane looks on during an All Blacks training session in Wellington. Photo / Getty Images
And it’s perhaps being picked by the last of those three coaches that says the most, as Robertson, knowing that Cane is leaving for Japan at the end of the year, needs to be getting on with the process of finding his next openside, but he can’t wean himself off Cane.
“He is one of those guys you have got to get to know,” said Robertson. “From afar, you have got an opinion but then when you see him and meet him, what he is in and around the environment, he’ll say things that others won’t. I don’t say that lightly.
“He is a bit of a sheriff. He’s got in the holster and then bang he’ll fire and says this is how it is. I am going to call you out, or this is the All Blacks standard.
“And his ability to do it week after week in a tough position. He has broken his neck. He has bounced back. He’s consistent on the field. “The leadership part for me is something I really respect and he has been great for us in our environment and more importantly he has performed.”
Yet for all that some of the finest rugby minds have been convinced by Cane’s value, there have been significant doubters who simply haven’t seen – or wanted to see – what he has brought to the international arena.
Some of this may be down to the way the game has evolved, the role Cane has played and the romance that has attached itself to Jones and McCaw.
They played in different eras – periods in which they were able, in their respective ways, to bring a wow factor to their work and define the qualities of a No 7 as being instinctive, disruptive, destructive and somehow omnipresent.
Cane has adapted his role to suit the needs of the team and the requests of the coaching group and so while he wears No 7, he’s almost played as a No 6 or at least a 6.5, and that may have had some bearing on why he hasn’t captured the imagination in the same way as his peers.
So too would it have to be acknowledged that Jones and McCaw are the two greatest opensides New Zealand has produced – if not the world has known – and to judge Cane against such illustrious figures will inevitably lead to unfavourable comparisons.
And it would also be wrong to overplay this idea of Cane as a 6.5, because when he was breathtakingly brilliant against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, he looked every inch the archetypal, ball-hunting, scavenging, big tackling seven who could stand comparison with Jones and McCaw.
As Robertson notes of Cane: “He knows his way around the field. He’s got a good GPS on him.
“He turns up in the right position and you saw him get that hard ball on the ground last week against Aussie.
“He anticipates the game really well. He reads it and that is what we need around our leadership.
“It’s great that we can give him 100 off the back of playing well and what he has done over his 10-odd year career.”
– All Blacks v Wallabies, Saturday 7.05pm: Live commentary on Newstalk ZB, Gold Sport and iHeartRadio. Live match blog at nzherald.co.nz
