Anton Lienert-Brown and Jordie Barrett celebrate after winning the Bledisloe Cup. Photo / Photosport
Anton Lienert-Brown and Jordie Barrett celebrate after winning the Bledisloe Cup. Photo / Photosport
COMMENT:
After another Bledisloe Cup humiliation at the hands of the All Blacks at Eden Park, the Wallabies left Auckland on a 6am flight the next day bound for Australia and then a pre-World Cup camp in New Caledonia.
While Michael Cheika's men attempt to find themselves in the tropicaljungles of Noumea with heads probably still ringing after being dominated all over the pitch by an All Black team reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes (and Cheika apparently would have preferred the camp to have remained secret), it appears to be business as usual for Steve Hansen and his fellow selectors, who have their 31-player squad for Japan all but written in indelible ink and know exactly where they're going.
The squad will officially be announced at Eden Park next Wednesday but only an unfavourable injury report will change things now.
What have they gone for? Form and class. And the second element includes experience, so Rieko Ioane and Ben Smith will be there, as will Owen Franks because while none of that trio has been playing as well as they may like, they aren't about to be jettisoned at this point.
Sevu Reece in action against the Wallabies. Photo / Photosport
George Bridge, Sevu Reece and to a lesser extent Jordie Barrett fulfill the form part of the equation because they answered any lingering questions that may have surrounded their World Cup inclusion during the recent 36-0 victory at their fortress.
They played as Hansen expected them to: with energy and creativity, and Reece appears to be a wing fast becoming a potential World Cup secret weapon – a bit like Nehe Milner-Skudder was four years ago. Hopefully for Reece's sake, and that of the All Blacks, the muscular outside back's flame burns a little longer than Milner-Skudder's.
It's difficult to believe that the 22-year-old Reece only made his Super Rugby debut this year – he finished it with 15 tries for the Crusaders – and he's shown he can comfortably handle the pressure and expectation associated with starting an important test, and, apart from World Cup knockout matches, they don't get much more important than a Bledisloe Cup decider.
But there is another back who will have impressed the selectors just as much, one who has performed extremely well all year and taken that form on to the international arena, perhaps with a slightly lower profile, and that is midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown, who was perhaps the All Blacks' best player at Eden Park, a high bar indeed.
All Blacks' Anton Lienert-Brown runs out of a tackle by Australia's Samu Kerevi. Photo / Photosport
The adaptable Lienert-Brown, who played centre in Auckland and second-five the week before in the defeat in Perth, posted numbers while playing for the Chiefs this year that blew the selectors' minds. He was the best second-five in the country during Super Rugby and yet was so good in the No 13 jersey recently that it's difficult to know what his best position is.
He can be a classic midfielder in terms of his supporting lines, but is so strong and so unorthodox when attacking that he is a genuinely difficult proposition to defend against.
His strength and desire to keep the ball in play when under extreme pressure on the right sideline in the first half at Eden Park will live long in the memory.
So the 24-year-old, who has started just over half his 37 tests, will be one of the first names on the midfield list for his form, class, and ability to play either midfield position.
Ryan Crotty makes it on the same criteria apart from form (due to broken thumb). Sonny Bill Williams, who is hitting form and has the ability to shine when the lights are brightest, is the specialist second-five and Jack Goodhue the specialist, incumbent, centre, albeit with a hamstring strain.
That will require a tough conversation with Ngani Laumape, a player who couldn't have done much more to advance his case and is perhaps the unluckiest not to get the call-up.
Probable All Blacks World Cup squad:
Hookers: Dane Coles, Codie Taylor, Liam Coltman. Props: Joe Moody, Ofa Tuungafasi, Angus Ta'avao, Owen Franks, Nepo Laulala. Locks: Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Patrick Tuipulotu, Scott Barrett. Loose forwards: Kieran Read (c), Sam Cane, Ardie Savea, Matt Todd, Jackson Hemopo. Halfbacks: Aaron Smith, TJ Perenara, Brad Weber. First-fives: Richie Mo'unga, Beauden Barrett. Midfield: Sonny Bill Williams, Anton Lienert-Brown, Jack Goodhue, Ryan Crotty. Outside backs: Rieko Ioane, Ben Smith, George Bridge, Sevu Reece, Jordie Barrett.
