Rugby: Thank Evans Henry will go out on a limb

Bryn Evans at an All Blacks training session. Photo / Getty Images

For a system built to deliver unity and consistency of thinking, there is obvious division between the All Black and franchise coaches.

Clearly the All Black coaches have a different template in mind to their franchise colleagues. The franchises supposedly have a dual purpose of trying to win games and trying to build potential All Blacks.

We have reached the stage where the two are not mutually exclusive. They used to be. Not these days.

The All Black coaches have started to see athletes in a different light to their franchise brothers. There could be an element of egotistical selecting at work.

After all, it was Graham Henry who shocked everyone with the selections of Jason Eaton and Isaia Toeava. Every All Black coach loves the thrill of finding a special player in the most obscure place.

Adam Thomson was another of Henry's gems - a player largely on the periphery of both Otago and the Highlanders last year, taken to last night's starting XV.

But Bryn Evans - that's taking things too far, surely. Who is Bryn Evans and why did Colin Cooper see the Hawke's Bay lock as a very definite third choice while Henry and his panel started him on the bench last night?

Henry is not daft enough to stake his career on a player he doesn't believe can cut it. They see Evans as a player they can mould into a world-class lock. He's got the height and the structure to easily carry more bulk. He can get around and his timing in the air is good, his hands are safe and his adherence to the basics strong.

We have to ask whether Cooper simply failed to appreciate what he had right under his nose. Or whether the All Black coaches have a different vision of what type of lock they believe will fit their game plan.

It's more about the latter. The changes to the lineout laws that kicked in last night make it easier for sides to retain their own ball.

Genuine aerial forwards carry a premium now, not so much to secure their own possession, but to challenge opponents'.

Having spent the better part of five years rooted to the ground on opposition ball, the All Blacks finally found some aggression against Australia at Eden Park last year and rediscovered their love of theft and disruption.

Just as critically, the All Blacks need to tidy up their work at kick receipts. There has been a carelessness in this area that creeps into their work at the most inopportune times. Evans is rated a skilled operator in this department, which is why he is now ahead of some more experienced campaigners.

Isaac Ross doesn't quite have the same execution of the basics but is further ahead in terms of his mobility. He is being viewed as a coaching job - the kind of player who could be taught the missing parts of his portfolio and crafted into a rather handy final product.

That's why Henry said in naming both Ross and Evans earlier last week: "He [Ross] works with Brad in that regard, he's a genuine middle lineout player and a genuine athlete. So he's got all the bits and pieces to develop into a top international lock. We're excited about his potential.

"[Evans is] good in the air and a good scrummager. He does the basics well, so if we can just get those guys time in international rugby, I think we can develop them into pretty reasonable international locks."

This vision is at odds with the franchises who, judging by the selections made, tended to prefer more physical athletes.

No one completed more cleanouts than Kevin O'Neill at the Chiefs, while Craig Clarke wasn't far behind. Jason Eaton and Jeremy Thrush are not renowned as aerial forwards - they can carry the ball and offload, though neither really operates in the wider reaches.

Maybe the franchise coaches will buy into the All Black way of thinking once they see how the likes of Ross and Evans develop. Maybe they won't have a choice - maybe the All Blacks will send out a directive as to what they are after at lock and force everyone to work towards it.