KEY POINTS:
The All Blacks coaches might not be using the words but nothing says rotation and experimentation louder and clearer than the selection of Richard Kahui ahead of an in-form Conrad Smith at centre to face England tonight.
The Chiefs midfielder is a quality player but it would be
stretching the bounds of credibility to suggest he had enjoyed such a hugely impressive Super 14 campaign that he simply had to be given a go in the black jersey immediately.
Kahui himself would probably be surprised by his elevation. At the start of the season he listed his goals as playing well and staying injury free. At times he achieved the first but his hopes of staying healthy lasted until just round two when he twisted his ankle diving to score in the Chiefs' 20-17 victory over the Waratahs.
It was an injury he never truly shook off, missing several chunks of the season, including the season-ending trip to South Africa where the Chiefs went belly up without their backline's defensive linchpin.
Given that he entered the Super Rugby season having missed almost an entire year after major shoulder surgery, and ended it hobbling around on a dicky ankle, it's hard to see how Kahui could be fully fit even now.
Having not played for seven weeks, he'll certainly lack the match fitness of teammates who have two tests already under their belts.
The need to bring him up to speed in case he is needed later in the test schedule is clearly the rationale for his selection but surely there were other, more deserving contenders. A stocky bloke whose switch from wing to his more natural midfield slot helped reignite the Blues' season comes to mind.
Given that genuinely eye-catching performers such as Keiran Read and Lelia Masaga were considered too green for immediate promotion, their claims instead filed away for the end-of-season Northern Hemisphere tour, the decision to rush Kahui into the All Blacks is somewhat baffling.
In between injury breaks, he has played some good but hardly startling rugby this year. The strongest string to his bow is his defensive skills, so he is hardly a risk against an England backline possessing all the dynamism and inventiveness of a dead jellyfish.
But there haven't been too many raking Anthony Tuitavake-type breaks forthcoming from Kahui and, on the odd occasion when he has got clear, there has been a question mark over his top-end pace.
That said, the 23-year-old is a prospect of exceptional quality. Thoughtful, articulate and genuinely humble, he fits neatly into the team's "better people make better All Blacks" philosophy. It's no surprise the All Blacks coaches like the cut of his jib.
If they're after someone who can follow instructions and execute a game-plan, they have chosen well.
Having set the national championship alight in 2006 as Waikato romped to the title, the question was never if Kahui would be an All Black, but when.
While it's questionable whether that time should be now, Kahui at least believes it is. This week he said he felt mentally and physically in the right place. It's up to him now to prove that is the case.
