Aaron Cruden - the missing flyhalf

Especially in view of the fact that Cruden is a potential successor for Carter - I was following him and studied his performances carefully in Super 15 this year.  From a performance perspective - he was the New Zealand Jantjies this year.  In a few gamees he showed some class and inititated some attacking moves - but those were in far too few a games.   In most games he was poor to average and showed nothing - either in defence or attack.

He was rarely used for kicking at goal and that may have influenced his minor contribution to the Chiefs this year.  Now I see he has been dropped and is on the bench this coming week.    On average he was probably the poorest New Zealand flyhalf this season.

I would like to hear what our New Zealand members think.

Not so clever mike its hard to believe what you're saying about you following Cruden this year otherwise you woudve known he's been playing all year with a groin injury.

After topping the points table last year with 251 points to being unable to kick this year also accounts for the percieved difference in his peformance.. With a dab hand and accurate boot of Anscombe who has been a god send for the Chiefs we can afford to rest Cruden

And i 'm sure the blues coach is kicking himself for letting Anscombe go even after he single handedly demolished the Bulls at Loftus - what a dumbarse but lucky for the Chiefs Anscombe can fill in for Cruden.

Bit short in the centers at the moment the Chiefs though with Nanai Williams, Ngatai, Kahui ,Horrel all injured so Save Tokula gets a run . Lookout for Tawera Kerr Barlow back at halfback too after breaking his jaw.

Cruden will come in off the bench no doubt as he has'nt missed a game yet this season or last season - not a bad attendence rate what say you not so clever mike...

And i have to ask how the Mighty Chiefs could have got to their current top of the table position with double the amount of bonus points as everyone else without Cruden the general being there, dictating play, calling the shots and weaving that magic...

Brycy

I do not think that groin injury is all that serious a factor - if it was the Chiefs should NOT have played him as in the long run it could ruin hs playing career.   He was just not up to standard - and that is a fact.  

I know that New Zealand supporters put their players on a pedestal and never queery performances - so I did expect a spirited defence from you.   Last year Cruden accummulated goal kicking points like it is unbelievable - but this year he was exposed as a player that was not a point  gatherer for the Chiefs and in other aspects of the game questionable.

The latter is the point I really want to raise - not what happened last year - but what he showed thus far this year.   To my mind he showed very little this year to date.   I think that is the problem in his case.   We shall see how Anscombe is doing at flyhalf this weekend.   I suspect he will do very well - and that may be to the detriment of Cruden as well.   If Anscombe is a bigger factor in attacking rugby by the backline - Cruden may just find him on the bench far more often than he would like.

 Wayne Smith is managing his players really well including Cruden! Wayne wants him fresh for the Finals run and he also knows the French are almost here and so is the Rugby Championship and Bledisloes!

The Crude is no Dan Carter and that's a fact. Its a step down after Dan

Hey clever mike where's Goosen - the missing flyhalf. I see an injured Cruds kicked six from six last night . Despite playing like shit the Chiefs still seem to win , Cruden obviously has nothing to do with it though i take it.

Beans i like your avatar . Do you think some of that greatness will rub off on you? Speaking of beans -the Stormers will be getting theirs shortly mate as the Worrytahs are running hot.