Rugby: Rise of the field marshals

Aaron Cruden. Photo / Getty Images

It has been a treacherous business assessing the Young Turks who have fancied taking Dan Carter's crown. A few have breezed into Super Rugby, strutted around as if they were modern Al Capones with the competition in their pocket, only to have their bluff called.

The likes of Daniel Kirkpatrick, Jimmy Gopperth and Cameron McIntyre promised so much but ultimately delivered little, so there has to be caution in being overly excited by the new generation of emerging first fives. Aaron Cruden, Beauden Barrett, Gareth Anscombe, Lima Sopoaga and Tyler Bleyendaal - it is a challenge to find much to fault them on so far this year.

Shifting to Hamilton and teaming up with his former mentor Dave Rennie has been the making of Cruden. The hesitancy has gone from his game and he's been running like the impish scamp he is.

He has the best security blanket in the game - Sonny Bill Williams and Richard Kahui standing next to him - and these days he bangs over his goals.

Barrett has been the man to ignite the Hurricanes and has a delicious passing game; he also appears to be able to kick the ball the length of the Ganges. Taranaki are already planning on the basis they will lose him to the All Blacks this year which is why they have signed James Marshall from Tasman.

Anscombe made a sensational start with a 29-point haul against the Bulls and showed his temperament is right for this level of rugby and that he, perhaps more than any of his peers, has the skill set of yesteryear. He kicks off both feet, sees the space and understands the need to be playing in the right territory.

Bleyendaal and Sopoaga have impressed with their composure and confidence and the landscape could hardly be more different than this time last year.

Then, the very thought of Carter having so much as a sniffle sent the nation into hysterics. There was no obvious understudy.

The cupboard was so bare that Luke McAlister and Stephen Brett had to be taken seriously for a while.

Cruden was in a daze for much of the year - wondering where it had all gone wrong with the Hurricanes.

His confidence was shattered by being dropped after just one game and it wasn't until much later in the year, the World Cup in fact, that he began to look remotely like being an All Black.

Colin Slade, the chosen back-up, barely played all season after breaking his jaw twice. His appearance in the first All Black squad of last year was a leap of faith from the selectors - a calculated risk that he'd come good in time.

Slade never quite repaid that faith and he is still struggling to produce his best.

There is no doubt that Cruden is ready to play test rugby again. His size will always be a concern but the rest of his game is in such good order that he'd make an impact if he was thrown into a black jersey now.

Barrett is preposterously young yet Taranaki coach Colin Cooper has little doubt that his protégé will be involved with the international side at some stage in 2012. Anscombe isn't at that level yet but, even in his cameo appearances to date, he's done enough to make everyone believe it is a case of "yet".

This new generation are mentally tougher, better equipped and more focused than their predecessors, say their coaches and peers.

That's the difference; the reason why the likes of Cruden, Barrett and Anscombe are likely to carve out decent test careers.

These young men have a better handle of what it means to be professional and they have grounding, perspective and an innate sense rugby is their career, rather than just a bit of fun while it lasts.

"Gareth is very professional," says Blues backs coach Bryce Woodward.

"He demands high standards of himself. I think there is a combination of reasons for that. Family is one place you would look and strength of character comes out of your family and he [Anscombe] is fiercely determined and that carries through from his upbringing.

"In professional rugby, to hold on to talent, you have to give them opportunities. We definitely want to hold on to Gareth, we see him leading this franchise for a number of years and our goal is to try to get him into a black jersey."

The quality is now spread across the country. New All Black coach Steve Hansen needn't worry as much as his predecessor about the general health of Carter.

For the first time since Carter emerged in 2004, there is genuine depth; there are now two, maybe three (if and when Slade finds his form) and possibly four (if Anscombe can continue to develop) first fives capable of playing test rugby.

In time, they could even become competition for Carter, a scenario unthinkable 12 months ago.