Nonu will continue to wait on the wing

The Hurricanes burst into life when Ma'a Nonu shifted into the midfield but coach Colin Cooper is likely to keep the All Black out on the wing.

Some might think that is madness. The Blues midfield had no means of coping with the power of Nonu when he slotted into second-five 10 minutes into the second half at Eden Park on Friday night.

His first contribution was to run over a groggy Steve Devine and then smash through Luke McAlister and Ben Atiga before presenting the ball beautifully to the supporting Jerry Collins.

For the next 10 minutes he smashed and bashed and left the Blues all shook up. Yet, Cooper would only say "that's an option" when asked if he will start Nonu in midfield this week.

Clearly it is an option, but Cooper will probably decline to utilise it for a while yet.

It would seem that Cooper has rightly judged that wing offers Nonu the freedom to rampage and pop up where he likes without having to worry too much about the game plan and the midfield structure.

With Tana Umaga and Conrad Smith offering enormous defensive presence as well as a deft range of attacking skills, Nonu is free to do what he likes.

Cooper doesn't want to burden Nonu with too much responsibility when he is so devastating with ball in hand. Nonu possibly lacks the pace of some of the others he will meet on the flanks. He can sometimes get caught out of position and be vulnerable to the chip over the top.

These, however, are issues Cooper and the Hurricanes will live with. What Nonu offers is game-winning power which works best when there are others inside him pulling the strings.

Cooper declared himself delighted with the way his backs played on Friday night and restated his belief that the time has come for the Hurricanes to deliver.

"The team's been together the last couple of years and we have high expectations of ourselves. I was really pleased it went from the training field on to the ground," he said

"I thought we adapted better when the rain came - we were more committed."


- HERALD ON SUNDAY