Rugby: Slade can get his kicks

Colin Slade has time. Photo / Getty Images

It's a good time to be a kick and catch specialist again - as rugby appears to be drifting back to where it was in 2009.

The twist in 2011 is that it's more than just the back three who have to be able to take high balls and launch counter-attacks. That has now become an essential part of the brief for any first five aspiring to make the All Blacks.

Which is handy for Colin Slade who has played most of his senior rugby at fullback and wing, has undoubted aerial skills and, despite his injuries this season, has crept to the top of the queue as back-up to Dan Carter.

The All Black selectors are aware there has been more kicking this season; that the referees are not as strong around the tackled ball as they were in 2010 and, as a consequence, more teams are choosing to kick high and chase. The ping-pong that ruined 2009 hasn't been prevalent as teams are dropping players deep ready to counter-attack when they believe the opportunity exists.

For most teams, the key player in launching counter-attacks has been the first five. Anyone watching the Reds play the Crusaders in Brisbane might have wondered whether Carter and Quade Cooper were playing fullback. They spent more of the game fielding high kicks and counter-attacking than they did launching set plays. Cooper in particular plays more like a fullback who occasionally fills in at first receiver.

The All Blacks feel they need first fives who are comfortable playing that sweeping role; where they fall deep after the initial play and fill in as auxiliary fullbacks. They are looking for players good at taking high balls and then using the possession from deep.

Slade is brave and committed. He has a natural sense of position and has the pace and vision to work with the other members of the back three.

Stephen Brett is probably the best of the other contenders at counter-attacking from deep but his overall portfolio has not been good enough to merit selection. The door remains open to Slade.

The question now is how much game time he can manage before the selectors have to make their call. He is at least two weeks away from getting the all-clear and his chances of playing Super Rugby are dependent on how far the Highlanders progress.

He'll be given the chance to prove himself in the ITM Cup at Canterbury and knows the World Cup squad will not be named until August 22. The All Black coaches have told him he still has time and that's a view former selector Peter Thorburn believes is genuine.

"There is still time for Colin Slade," says Thorburn. "This panel have shown they are prepared to take a risk - if they think someone is good enough and fits the style of rugby they want to play then they will select him.

"I actually thought when Slade first came on the scene that fullback was going to be his best position."

Selecting Slade, who has just 20 minutes of test experience, is potentially risky but, with the lack of a compelling alternative, it is a risk the selectors can easily justify. What they know is that Slade's skill-set is the strongest in terms of the way they want to play the game. The issue is his form but that is fixable. The ITM Cup, where most teams are facing a schedule of at least every five days is in fact a blessing for the All Black selectors.

It's also been a blessing for Slade that no one in the chasing pack has made a case for World Cup inclusion.

Deemed unfortunate to have broken his jaw twice already this year, Slade's lack of game time may in fact be his greatest asset. While he's been at home eating through a straw, his main challengers for the role have gone backwards. Aaron Cruden is making a late charge but still hasn't shown unequivocally that his kicking is where it needs to be, while Stephen Donald, Brett, Mike Delany and Luke McAlister have all been patchy at best.

Without any obvious alternative to Daniel Carter, Slade remains of considerable interest particularly as a result of the way the game is evolving this season.