Rugby: All Blacks still searching for halfback

Mitchell Drummond of the Crusaders charges forward during the round four Super Rugby match between the Hurricanes and the Crusaders. Photo / Getty Images.

After seven weeks of Super Rugby the All Blacks don't appear to be any closer to finding their third halfback.

The search, which began more than a year ago when Tawera Kerr-Barlow revealed he would be heading to France after the All Blacks played their last test of 2017, has not yet narrowed.

The net is still cast wide because a handful of players have shown promise, a glimpse of their ability and potential but none yet has made a definitive case to state their claim to be promoted and work alongside Aaron Smith and TJ Perenara.

New Zealand has one world class halfback in Aaron Smith; one excellent halfback in TJ Perenara and then a handful of good Super Rugby players none of whom have yet provided definitive evidence they are test quality.

The gap between Smith and Perenara and the emerging pack remains sizeable and hasn't closed any in the first two months of Super Rugby.

It's unlikely the All Blacks coaches are overly concerned but they would certainly like to see the picture change in the next seven weeks and for at least one halfback stake a definitive claim for promotion.

The selectors' preference will most likely be for their third halfback to be closer to Smith than Perenara in terms of skill-set and style.

The pass and run brand of rugby employed by Smith has become critical to the All Blacks - he generates width and tempo with his speed to the breakdown and accuracy and length of passing.

Perenara offers a more muscular, athletic game that has worked best coming off the bench. He's a supremely good support runner, ball player and tackler and that makes him a powerful force in the final 10 minutes when games can often be fast and loose.

It also means that should Smith ever be injured, the All Blacks selectors may want to elevate the as yet unidentified halfback into the starting role, hence their hope that someone will come through in the next seven weeks and consistently deliver what they are looking for.

And what they are after is for the group of emerging halfbacks to get hands on the ball quickly, pass it and then run.

By focusing his game on these simple acts Smith has established himself as the country's number one halfback and a world class operator. He doesn't dither. He doesn't stand over the ball orchestrating his troops or feel the need to pick up, crab sideways for a few steps and then pass.

Mitchell Drummond of the Crusaders is potentially the favourite to claim the third spot. He won a bench spot to play against the French XV in Lyon last year because his game is loosely similar to Smith's.

But he partly owed his call up to the fact that Brad Weber was making his way back from injury. The Chiefs halfback earned a test cap in 2015 but saw his 2017 season disappear when he broke his leg.

Weber is much the same size as Smith, is desperately quick over the ground and now that he's put the injury fully behind him, is showing, in patches, the form that earned him his solitary cap.

It's his Chiefs teammate Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, who is likely also being closely watched as he's another who has built his game on speed and simplicity.

Tahuriorangi started against the Sunwolves a few weeks ago and, despite making the odd mistake, stuck to the basic script of getting his hands on the ball and moving it quickly.

Those three may be ahead, but all have plenty to do to convince the selectors they are ready and it may even be that the All Blacks opt to select only two halfbacks for the June series against France, with a view to seeing what happens in the knockout rounds of Super Rugby before committing to a third No 9.

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