Whereas lots of the additions to the All Blacks‘ Rugby Championship squad introduced on Sunday have been anticipated, one notable omission was that of halfback Finlay Christie.
Three No. 9s have been named as anticipated by Scott Robertson and Co. however after incomes choice for the England Sequence, current Tremendous Rugby Pacific champion Finlay Christie’s identify was absent.
In his place, fellow Steinlaer Sequence performers TJ Perenara and Cortez Ratima, joined by San Diego debutant Noah Hotham.
Hotham was drafted into the squad after watching the English series from home thanks to a knee injury to Perenara in game one and Christie then going down in the second Test. The 21-year-old was then thrown in the deep end in California earlier than expected when Ratima went down early and failed his head injury assessment.
Christie had carved out a role in recent All Blacks teams off the bench, and coming into the Scott Robertson era the halfback offered the second most experience in a black jersey of anyone in the country at that position, second only to Perenara.
However, with debuts now under the belt for Ratima and Hotham, selectors liked what they saw from the youngsters and backed their ability to continue to translate their form at the next level.
“I want to address with Fin, what he’s done over a period of time with us in the environment and on the field, he’s been great,” Robertson told The Breakdown on Sunday. “It’s an extremely tough call.
“My job is to create opportunities for men, to create competition, to have different age groups come in and create competition and that’s what those two young halfbacks have done.
“Cortez is a Test footballer, he raises to the occasion. Noah took his opportunity. Fin’s in next if anything should happen, he could be in next week.
“We just want him to go and get that intuitive style game that he can play at NPC and be ready to become an All Black at any time when needed.”
Soon to re-enter the selection fray is Cam Roigard, the 2023 breakthrough talent who was expected to succeed Aaron Smith in the black No. 9 jersey before a patella injury cut his Super Rugby Pacific season short for the Hurricanes.
Roigard was seen by RugbyPass practising with the team in Auckland the week of the second England Test and is expected to recover in time for a hugely challenging Northern Tour.
Should Roigard be available come November, The Rugby Championship remains the last chance for the likes of Perenara, Ratima and Hotham to impress selectors before one of the trio is likely dropped to make way for Roigard. And, should Christie impress in the NPC, there’s plenty of competition around the Kiwi halfback stocks.
