After the Highlanders' victory over the Hurricanes in the Super 15 final, ODT Online rugby writer Jeff Cheshire asks whether they should have featured more prominently in the All Black set-up this year.
They called them a team of no-names. A group of battlers with a few stars sprinkled in amongst them. Hardly anyone gave them a chance and perhaps that was justified, at the start of the year.
As the season progressed, those same no-names started to show that they could in fact mix it with the best. They became known as a team of hard workers, a group of men who all did their job and would wear opponents down by being good as a team.
Fair enough too. They are team of players who just focus on doing their own jobs.
But for whatever reason, the abilities these players have shown as individuals seem to have gone unnoticed. Is doing your job well not the definition of being a good rugby player?
When the All Blacks squad was named a few weeks ago only five Highlanders were included. Surely that has to be some kind of record - the Super Rugby champion having just five players named in the largest national squad ever. It makes you wonder what else some of them have to do.
Of course you can say you can only take so much out of Super Rugby form. But there comes the challenge of picking the players who will be able to flourish at the next level. In that sense you are not necessarily looking at who is playing the best, but whose game translates the best. Coming from that point of view, you would think there would be a few Highlanders catching the eye.
Most of the forwards would have every right to feel aggrieved.
With a shortage of hookers, you would think Liam Coltman would have been a sensible choice. A direct, hard-working hooker, Coltman has stood out all year. He gets around the field at pace and brings more physicality than the hookers chosen for the All Blacks. The critique of his game up until this year has been his lineout throwing, but he has well and truly sorted that out. Is he seriously not better than Codie Taylor?
Then there is the propping duo of Josh Hohneck and Brendon Edmonds. At the start of the year it would seem ridiculous to mention those names in All Black talks, but as Aaron Smith would say, they have earned the right to be in the conversation. Both play the game at a fast pace, both are hugely physical, both are always quick to get back to their feet and both have proven they can scrum.
Now, the key difference between test rugby and Super Rugby are the increased pace, increased physicality and at times the game is played tighter. Surely those two would still thrive under those conditions, given what their strengths are. It is not as if they are just big ball carriers who get away with running through flimsy defences, or players who just do what needs to be done without making an impact while doing it.
Or at least surely they are better than some of the players chosen. Ben Franks has lived off reputation since 2011 and is a liability discipline-wise. He played in the final in the weekend and was shown up by both Highlanders props. Then you have Tony Woodcock, another who has offered little outside of set-piece for a long time now. He makes little impact in contact and does not get around the field at anywhere near the same speed as Hohneck and Edmonds.
Teams defending the World Cup have had their campaigns killed by trying to cling on to old players for too long in the past. That seems evident here. Why not at least give one of those Highlanders a run in the lead up and see how they go? They have certainly been playing well enough.
Then there are the locks. Of course Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick will be the first choice duo and Jeremy Thrush and James Broadhurst deserve selection. But has Luke Romano really done enough over the past two years to prove he justifies selection? Granted he has been injured, but there are other good options available.
All four of the Highlanders locks have been brilliant, with Mark Reddish and Alex Ainley in particular standing out over the past two months. Again their strengths come in the speed they get around the field, their ability to keep that speed up, their physicality and their ability to get back in the game.
Both have been stand outs in playoff games that have been played at test match intensity. Surely they justify at least getting a look in ahead of a guy who was playing well two years ago, but really has not shown it in since then, regardless of the reasons for that. Ainley is not the youngest player around, but if we are looking to the World Cup, he only has to be playing well for a few more months to make selecting him worth it.
The loose forwards could make similar arguments. Elliot Dixon plays the same ranging loose forward role as Victor Vito and has been just as good, if not better. The work he gets through, but also his ability to make an impact in the loose, makes him an attractive option. Nasi Manu is similar, a hard worker who can provide a bit more go-forward, but is equally good when it comes to just making tackles and getting to rucks.
Those two would have a hard time making the final 31, but surely in such a large initial squad they must have pushed close.
There is not quite the same problem in the backs. Five of the starters were rewarded, while Patrick Osborne was probably just unlucky that there are so many other good outside backs around. His time may well come, as he has come a long way and developed an all round game that he did not have two years ago.
What about Richard Buckman though? He has become something of a cult-figure in the south, but really he is much more than that. As a utility back, it is hard to think of anyone better. He can fill in from second five-eighth outwards and is reliable in everything he does. You just do not see him making mistakes. He reads the play well and is superb defensively, often racking up a high tackle count and missing few. In the weekend he looked after an extremely dangerous Ma'a Nonu, which is as tough a defensive assignment as you will get in at second five-eighth.
Then there is his underrated pace and ability to go through holes. He can be a threat with ball in hand, but has the head to know when to try to strike and when to hold the ball to steady the ship. Under the high ball he is safe, while he will chase kicks and apply pressure too. What more can you ask of him? If he were called into the All Blacks, you would have to be confident he would not let them down at the very least.
Of course had the Highlanders not made the final you would have to think several of these players would have been called in for the match against Samoa. That cannot be helped.
It makes you wonder though. There are certain players who seem to be given a chance after a handful of good performances, then others just cannot buy a chance no matter how well they play.
This Highlanders team had a bunch of players who were in good form and shown that they are capable of playing in a way that you would expect to translate well to the test arena. Yet they are overlooked for players who are unproven in recent times, or were chosen based on how well they were playing anywhere up to four years ago.
Surely it is time these men are noticed. They are not no-names any longer and they have quashed every theory as to why they would trip over.
Seriously, what else do they have to do?
