All Blacks: The talent quest

Sonny Bill Williams (inset) and Zac Guildford may find themselves missing the bus. Photo / Getty Images

When the All Blacks leave in October for the final end of year tour before the 2011 World Cup, some talented people will be left behind. Here's a look at those that could be left behind.

ZAC GUILDFORD
This time last year, Guildford was the country's form wing. Hawke's Bay were cruising nicely and Guildford was the man who couldn't stop scoring.

When he continued that formon the end of year All Black tour, his future looked well mapped out.

Much has changed in 12 months. The All Black selectors have cooled on him. They picked him for the June tests, then dropped him. He didn't do anything wrong - he just lacked impact. That is what he needs to discover in the next six weeks. His tidy portfolio and high work rate were perfect for kick and chase rugby.

But now the selectors are looking for wings who offer an element of security, as well as explosive pace and a touch of magic. Guildford has lost that finishing edge he showed last year and has operated more as a creator for others.

The Commonwealth Games sevens tournament is Guildford's best opportunity to show he has the pace, vision and agility to strike from deep; to get his hands on the ball and tear open a defence or to throw the miracle pass.

ADAM THOMSON
The All Black selectors remain keen on Thomson. He is a player they want to see come through, evolve his game and force them to pick him. That desire for him to succeed is driven as much by a sense of responsibility as it is by the potential of Thomson.

At the end of 2008, the selectors asked Thomson to focus on the breakdown, to improve his foraging and scavenging skills. Which he did - only for those to become virtually redundant as a consequence of the changed law interpretations.

The desire to see Thomson come good, however, is mainly driven by the conviction he has the raw attributes to play to current patterns. He is mobile, with superb speed. His aerobic capacity is excellent and he can cover the ground to link the play. He's also an aerial player, capable of winning lineout ball and taking kickoffs.

But Thomson needs to deliver. Somehow, playing for a struggling side, he needs to get his hands on the ball more and show his desire to carry. He needs to be running strong in the final minute. He needs to be everywhere and, like Guildford, the Commonwealth Games are the ideal place to display his basic running, passing and tackling skills.

ALBY MATHEWSON
The coaching panel clearly have enormous patience and faith in Jimmy Cowan. He is dogged, experienced and committed. Good qualities indeed but his form has been patchy. There is a reluctance to drop him but that's as much about their faith in Cowan as it is the lack of viable alternatives.

Mathewson has to make a compelling case for inclusion in the end of year tour party. If he plays out of his skin, sharpens his running game and uses it to devastating effect, then he'll force the selectors to think about taking him - even if it is as a third halfback.

So far this year, the All Blacks haven't worried about picking three halfbacks. They ran the risk in South Africa that if Cowan or Weepu was struck down the night before the test, they had cover - from whom, exactly, was not specified.

Mathewson,then,has to convince as a better choice than Cowan or offer such a lively portfolio, such an obvious ability to change the tempo or direction of the game, that he is taken as a third halfback - a wild card option that can be used off the bench to shake up the game.

NEEMIA TIALATA
In Marseilles in 2009, Neemia Tialata talked of the dark times he had experienced in the middle of the year and felt they were behind him. He said he was determined to retain his conditioning, to remain an All Black.

It's almost impossible to see him fulfilling his goals. When even an uber-fit young man like Owen Franks can manage only 45 minutes of test action before his lungs are burning and his legs are jelly, Tialata has little chance of going the distance.

His place was won last year on account of his scrummaging solidity. But with scrums barely a feature of the current landscape and the ball in play for close to 38 minutes per test, Tialata offers fewer reasons to be selected.

The template now requires props to contribute away from the set piece. They have to be mobile enough to make tackles, to get to the endless breakdowns and even, as TonyWoodcock showed in Soweto, get on the end of a backline and finish.

Tialata, even if he hones his conditioning in the next six weeks, isn't suited to the way the All Blacks are currently playing.

LIAM MESSAM
The talent is all there - no question. But Liam Messam has never quite convinced. The All Black coaches are taken with him. He can handle like a back, run like a back but unfortunately he has in the past taken his desire to be a back too far.

Messam struggled in the first test of the year in 2009 and was dropped. He made it back for the end of year tour but didn't play well in his one start against Italy.

So far in 2010, his All Black opportunities have been limited and, if he's going to retain his place, he needs consistently good performances forWaikato.

The coaches want reasons to pick him. Messam is their kind of player with his pace and vision. But he too often plays for himself - not through any selfish intent but because he's driven by instinct and intuition.

With the loose trio of Richie McCaw, Kieran Read and Jerome Kaino now virtually set in stone and the emerging talents of Victor Vito hardto resist,MessamandThomson may be competing for one berth. Their form over the next six weeks should decide the contest.

SONNY BILL WILLIAMS
The New Zealand Rugby Union are paying Sonny Bill Williams a reported $500,000 a year.

That's money they expect to see a return on and money that all but guarantees Williams will be named in the touring party for Hong Kong and the UK.

In an ideal world, he would already have played three games for Canterbury and gone some way to establishing his test credentials.

Now he has a maximum of six games to show what he has. In normal circumstances, that might be cutting things a little fine. Any player coming in cold to New Zealand would not normally expect to make the All Blacks on such limited football.

But this circumstance is far from normal. Williams is arguably not coming in cold, having excelled with Toulon.

His athleticism is obvious, as is his potential. In just 40 minutes with his club, he showed his distribution is top drawer and his off-loading an enormous asset.

His selection will be locked in once he manages a couple of starts for Canterbury and proves his match fitness.

BENSON STANLEY
Back in June, Benson Stanley joked that he owed his selection to the fact he was the last second five-eighths in the country still standing.

When he enjoyed a composed and effective debut against Ireland, he showed he deserved to be there. He's an intelligent footballer, well equipped to deal with the big occasion.

He's also a big defender and excellent communicator. The All Blacks have enjoyed having him around. He is a mature and influential figure off the field and the kind of bloke who mucks in - holding tackle bags and encouraging others. B

ut while he's impressed in the way he has fitted in, the squeeze is on for midfield places. Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith are the established pairing. Richard Kahui, once he fully recovers from injury, is a class act at centre and then of course there is the looming presence of Williams.

Those four will travel if they are fit and, with Rene Ranger another potential option in the midfield and Luke McAlister not forgotten about, Stanley could be the unlucky man unless he delivers something spectacular for Auckland.

LUKE McALISTER
The coaches' love affair with McAlister ended this year. The Blues midfielder simply didn't play enough for them to pick him. While they made allowances for that last year, the good will couldn't stretch into 2010. The belief grew that McAlister was not as focused as he needed to be; that peripheral issues were consuming him and he needed to remember his career had blossomed because of what he had achieved on the field.

In the past few months, there are good signs McAlistwer is recovering the formthat made him an All Black. His goal-kicking has found extra distance and accuracy, and he still has the ability to act as a second receiver, making tactical decisions.

But he needs to revive his game further in his direct running. The All Blacks are mainly interested in linebreaking second fives who can carry over the advantage line - something at which Nonu is superb.

McAlister in his prime was almost as good at stepping and driving into space and he needs to show he can still be that player. He also needs to commit himself more fully on defence. Too often he tackles without leaving his feet - where he can be pushed or bumped off. The All Blacks are looking to bring men down quickly.

COREY FLYNN
The return of Andrew Hore is going to complicate matters for Corey Flynn. From being the number two No 2, Flynn is suddenly going to be the number three hooker.

Normally that wouldn't be disastrous for his touring or World Cup prospects but it might be this time round.

Firstly, the selectors haven't operated with three specialists in their squad this year. Secondly, the presence of John Afoa blurs the issue. Afoa is now a hybrid frontrower, deemed capable of covering all three berths.

On the end of year tour, the coaching panel would have no qualms about travelling with Keven Mealamu and Hore, knowing that should either be injured close to match day, Afoa can come on to the bench. That's harsh on Flynn, who has shown himself to be an excellent team man in recent weeks and shown up well in his cameo appearances off the bench.

But the reality of the current All Black side is that they can be choosey. They have depth of talent and, if Flynn wants to force his way into the reckoning,he's going to have to oust either Mealamu or Hore.

TANERAU LATIMER
Last year, when pilfering ball on the ground was very much a live skill, Tanerau Latimer was a necessity in the squad.

A specialist openside back-up was imperative and Latimer, by the end of the season, proved he deserved to be the man in McCaw's shadow.

Now the game has changed, it's debatable whether a specialist back-up is required. The numbers on the back of the loose trio have come to mean less.

McCaw now plays a supremely good generic role where his basic aerobic fitness, ball carrying and tackling are the key features.

Latimer has genuine pace, he handles well as befits a former sevens representative and his conditioning is excellent.

The areas of concern for the selectors are his lack of explosive power in the tackle and physical presence at the collision.

His best hope of touring is if the coaches decide they really do need a specialist back-up for McCaw. If they do, then it will be a straight choice between Latimer and Daniel Braid.