Here's a simple message for Rieko Ioane: Keep it simple - get back to doing what you will always do best.
There was a weird irony to the Blues' impressive demolition of the Stormers at Newlands on Sunday morning.
Two of the best players on the park were theirwings, and we're not talking Rieko Ioane.
Mark Telea and usual midfielder Joe Marchant shone. Telea has probably been the Blues' star so far in 2020. Marchant, the English import, might not be a world beater but he is shaping as a great acquisition. He is decisive, involved, and alert.
Ioane was deemed a world superstar on the wing a very short time ago. I can't work out what a potentially great wing is trying to prove in the No 13 jersey – he's given up on his true position far too soon.
It has to be presumed that Ioane's publicly stated desire to play at centre is a large reason why he's playing there, that this has persuaded Blues coach Leon MacDonald.
It's hardly a promising way back to the top for him.
Rieko Ioane looks to get a pass away against the Stormers. Photo / Photosport
For my money, centre Jack Goodhue will be close to first All Black picked over the coming years. It's a tough position to learn, and Goodhue has done it the right way through a long apprenticeship. The signs are that it will pay huge dividends.
Anton Lienert-Brown is a terrific option, a far more fluid player who can free flow in different directions and has a range of classy passes.
Speedy Braydon Ennor is way ahead of Ioane as a centre, and covers the outside backs.
There's a logjam in the midfield. And Ioane has a long way to go if he hopes to be a world class centre.
A telling moment came late in the game at Newlands. Otere Black put Ioane through a hole and he cut inside - ignoring two teammates looming promisingly to his right - to be hauled down in a one-on-one by Stormers No 8 Juarno Augustus.
It wasn't exactly a hanging offence, but it wasn't the work of a world class centre either. The ball spewed from Ioane's grasp on the ground. Opportunity lost.
You wondered how Goodhue or Lienert-Brown would have manipulated the scoring situation better. Ioane looked lost, operating on the more self-centred instincts of a wing.
At close to 23, Ioane has plenty of time on his side. He's still a big guy who should have plenty of speed. The All Black wings in front of him aren't that great.
Ioane also dropped a simple catch which allowed the Stormers to get back into the game. He seems distracted.
Losing his All Black status so suddenly, at a young age, is tough. He was no ordinary prospect. Superstardom has been snatched away, the ego dented.
But he won't get his mojo back playing a position he's a long way from suited to.
So why make the shift? Ioane might confuse himself and stuff his career up further while trying.
