KEY POINTS:
So Graham Henry reckons we are short of quality locks for the All Blacks. Makes you wonder why we let Chris Jack go, doesn't it?
Part of me always feels the NZRU could do more to keep players like that - and I am well aware Jack himself talked about the need to go somewhere else and do something different from the New Zealand rugby treadmill.
But it is always possible, I think, for a player to stay in New Zealand - especially if we manage to find an incentive for him to do so - and still have his OE by going to the Northern Hemisphere in the off-season.
We are also paying the price for taking an injured Keith Robinson away to the World Cup and for his retirement pretty much as soon as he got home. You have to wonder now, after the defeat in Cardiff, whether we might not have been better taking someone else although, of course, the selectors were trying to win as opposed to seed for the future - fat lot of good it did us.
However, if we look past all that, I have to agree with Henry - the ranks are pretty thin right now. If we are looking at selecting a 22-man squad, then we'd probably pick no more than three locks and two of those are obvious; the Crusaders pairing of Ali Williams and Brad Thorn.
Thorn is probably the form lock of the competition right now, especially under the new rules. He gets through a power of work around the field, is a force in the scrums and he is so mobile and his league credentials have made him a highly effective defender.
The ELVs mean more scrums and fewer lineouts and Thorn may not be quite as good in the lineouts as some - although I'd have to say he would be my pick for a spot right now if we were selecting a team for the old rules or the new rules.
The big question is: Who's the third lock?
That's when things start getting a little skinny. Jason Eaton is the obvious call but he is still coming back from injury and I think he is suffering from the team he is playing in at the moment. They have been messy and so has he.
But there is no question Eaton has the lineout ability and the mobility required and I think the selectors might take a risk on Eaton and look to bring him up to scratch.
There really aren't that many other candidates. Troy Flavell is one but he is a similar player to Thorn and I think the Crusaders man is doing it better just at the moment. Flavell is also off overseas again soon so may not be the best choice looking ahead.
I notice Ross Filipo is coming back into club rugby in Wellington but he will be at least a month getting into any sort of shape and, anyway, he is again similar in style to Flavell and Thorn. You could say the same about Hoani MacDonald of the Highlanders.
If you look at the youngsters, people like Kurtis Haiu, Kevin O'Neill, Tom Donnelly and so on, you'd have to say that they are only just now cementing themselves at Super 14 level and may not be ready for the next step yet.
That could mean we get a surprise selection - as Eaton was himself a few years back; someone else who has mobility to play the way these selectors want from their big forwards and the ability to mix it in the tight stuff.
One possibility is young Canterbury lock Isaac Ross although he is struggling to get a start in the Highlanders right now and might be a bit raw yet.
So they'd be my three - Williams, Thorn, Eaton and a big raspberry to the NZRU for letting Jack go.
I note, he now has a hand injury which has put him out for the rest of the Northern Hemisphere season. Wonder how he'd be getting on here?
