Plenty of talent in pool for All Blacks

Wing remains a problem selection area for the All Black panel but not in the way it was just a few years ago.

Doug Howlett was an automatic pick then but it was daylight to second. Jonah Lomu was struggling because of his kidney condition and the reliable Caleb Ralph was put on the left wing.

Now there is a logjam of talent - Howlett, Joe Rokocoko, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Ma'a Nonu, Rico Gear and Ralph - fighting for test places. Which way will the selectors go for the internationals against Fiji and the Lions?

Howlett and Rokocoko have been the preferred choices for the last two All Black coaching regimes of John Mitchell and Graham Henry.

Both wings have a stack of experience - Howlett has played 45 tests and Rokocoko has already racked up 23 appearances with an incredible 27 tries - and they have the advantage of playing together for Auckland and the Blues with the incumbent All Black fullback Mils Muliaina.

It is that combination more than anything which may sway the panel's thoughts, even though both wings have had mixed Super 12 seasons.

Howlett looked sharper in the last two games in South Africa than he was earlier in the series. His workrate has remained high throughout but his timing had been astray, some of his passing and kicking skills a little ragged.

Meanwhile, Rokocoko has yet to fire. At times he has been lackadaisical in his support play, not quite urgent enough to help develop counter-attack options. Some of his other play has also been a tad sloppy but his class still shows and he has the priceless commodity of pace.

The selectors wanted to take Sivivatu on the short tour to Europe at the end of last year but he did not qualify through residency until that trip was complete.

Shoulder surgery had decided the issue anyway and the Chiefs left wing also missed the first stages of this Super 12 season.

Attacking chances have not been plentiful but when he gets an opportunity he nails them with speed, balance and verve.

Sivivatu also makes play for others and his defence is strong - he is very solid under the high ball.

Nonu is explosive, hugely dangerous, a player whose individual brilliance is his strength. His handling, passing, ball protection and tackling are erratic but he can be devastating.

His introduction in the last third of an international when loose forwards and defences are tiring might be the best use of Nonu.

When Gear went south, he travelled for the lure of regular rugby.

The Crusaders have been the beneficiaries and Gear has bagged 12 tries already, showing his pace to finish moves as well as his deadly in-and-away swerve which can flummox the best defenders.

He is a silky player with a smooth change of pace but he may lose out in the final wash-up. Is he markedly better than Howlett on the right wing if at all? Aren't there questions about his contact work, his lines on defence?

If you want steady as she goes, low mistake rate, a dependable allrounder, then Ralph is your man, but he will not make it past the others.

Against the Lions, the selectors will err in favour of those who have been there before or those who worked hard and finished so well against France last November.

The wings that day were Howlett and Rokocoko. Expect them to be back in black for the Lions series.