Is Carlos Spencer or Andrew Mehrtens our best No 10?

By CHRIS RATTUE

There's the line about teaching old dogs new tricks. And there's another, about getting sold a pup.

Can Andrew Mehrtens, All Black hero, lift himself into a third World Cup appearance by mixing it with the best defensive lines and turning into a tackling tyro.

Or is John Mitchell letting "Mehrts" and has army of fans down gently? Are the selectors being guarded about change instead of loudly announcing a changing of the guard?

Mitchell has told Mehrtens he must be more aggressive, dominate tackles and take the ball to the line.

Unless he does, Carlos Spencer will likely head to the World Cup as the All Blacks pivot, with Dan Carter, a prototype of the new rugby wunderkind, his back-up.

The 30-year-old Mehrtens, the All Blacks' record test points scorer, has just a handful of games to answer the battle cry unless he receives a dramatic Tri-Nations call-up.

Canterbury play Southland and Fiji then have just two NPC games, against battlers Northland and Bay of Plenty, before the World Cup squad is announced on August 25.

Mehrtens has always had a touch of the likeable rogue. In his Canterbury pen pic, Mehrtens claims his second choice of profession would be as a worm in a bottle of tequila.

And in a game where blunt-speaking players are rare, Mehrtens is among the few who willingly make valid points on issues such as errant rugby balls.

But actions will now speak louder than words for Mehrtens, although some believe the axe has already fallen on a great All Black career.

Here's a view from across the Tasman.

Peter FitzSimons, raconteur, witty and perceptive writer, and former Wallaby, reckons we might all be in the pup-buying business because Mehrtens' fate is sealed.

"To kill off an icon like Mehrtens is not an easy job ... It's easier to tell him he has to change his game," says FitzSimons, a major fan of Mitchell's "air of authority" and dedication to the All Blacks' cause rather than his own.

"Mehrtens is an absolute champion. He's entitled to say this is the way I've always played. By the time you're 30 you are what you are, and he's been at the top for seven or eight years now.

"From what I've seen it's very hard to change your game at that stage. I can't think of anyone who's done it."

FitzSimons goes to what seems to be the heart of the Mitchell game plan when he says coaches want players who can do it all: tackle, pass, run, kick and so on.

He points to Stephen Larkham's match-winning drop goal in extra time to beat South Africa in the 1999 World Cup semifinal at Twickenham as a prime example.

Larkham, who almost regards kicking as a crime, launched the ball 50 metres, and launched Australia towards their second cup triumph.

"The only drop goal he has ever kicked in a test, and the finest drop goal I have ever seen in rugby. When it was needed he could do it," says FitzSimons.

So if Mehrtens is in the feeling-blue corner, Spencer remains the red-hot favourite to guide this All Black World Cup campaign.

The Auckland star has a reserved nature, completely at odds with the flash- harry image some see.

Mingling in public is not always easy for sports stars, yet Spencer's manager, David Jones, talks of him turning the other cheek, without frustration or rancour, when baited by smart mouths in social situations.

It's his on-field flamboyance which has sometimes cursed a game often delivered with a glorious smile and a twinkle in the eye.

You can sense Spencer is carrying the traditions of magical All Black greats such as George Nepia and Johnny Smith. He is far more than a one-card trick - meaning the deck sometimes ends up splattered all over the floor.

Gifted to excess, experienced, and now free of test goalkicking, Spencer can take on the line, is an adequate defender, and showed against England in Wellington that he can break open the best defences, even though it was not a stellar performance from him that night. The major question mark is over his tactical nous for 80 minutes.

The outstanding All Blacks first-five eighth Grant Fox, the backline coach of NPC champions Auckland, is a "huge fan" of Spencer and Mehrtens.

"I like contrasts, and Andrew's pedigree at test level is well documented," he says. "I'm confident Carlos is capable of delivering at test level given the right platform from set phase, and front-foot ball from second phase.

"But Andrew offers a contrast, and if it isn't working for whatever reason, we can go down a different path.

"In my view, yes, absolutely, Mehrtens should be in the World Cup squad. He has a very strong tactical kicking game, brings a lot of organisation, a lot of vision, structure. I think he's our best goalkicker, end of story.

"They'll worry more about Carlos with ball in hand, although Andrew is really quick and capable, but he runs less often and he's not a stepper like Carlos.

"Carlos is always trying to work space for those around him. He'll take the ball right to the line and step, try to manipulate space, and that's not so much Andrew's game.

"Andrew will spot a hole, put the hammer down and see you later, but those opportunities don't present themselves that often.

"But maybe the selectors are hell-bent on having players in certain positions with certain skill sets."

Fox was asked to change his game after the 1991 World Cup by new All Blacks coach Laurie Mains, who Fox approached after hearing rumblings.

"I was asked to play flatter and wider, and be more of a running threat on the blindside. It was an alignment issue, in many ways being asked to do things Andrew is being asked to do.

"I can sympathise with him. I was asked to change at a similar age. It's not easy so late in your career, but at least if you know what's required you can work on it.

"It's got to become an automotive response, achieved through repetition. Old habits die hard and you go back to what you know and are more comfortable with.

"I fought my way back, so I had some success. But I wouldn't say I got it into my instincts."

Fox says Mehrtens will never become "dominant in the tackle."

But he is not being asked to do the impossible in taking the ball to the line - which prevents inside defenders escaping to cover gaps out wide - then running when the opportunity arises.

"Wayne Smith wanted him to play much flatter and he's done that since, although not as flat as Carlos does," says Fox.

"But it's not the Henry Honiball-style of just charging it up and taking as many tacklers as possible with you over the advantage line."

So Mehrtens, slighter than Spencer, is being asked to change when the surrounding human cannonballs are increasingly stronger, fitter, faster. Even if he makes the World Cup squad, how much playing time would Mehrtens get?

Spencer's approach, built on remarkable natural gifts, appears more suited to the modern game the way John Mitchell sees it.