All Blacks : Hansen's Big Decision

When Daniel Carter is declared fit to play again, All Black coach Steve Hansen will have to make one of the tougher calls of his coaching tenure.

The All Blacks have the best and second best first-fives in rugby.

Cruden's glorious performance has made it awkward for the selectors to immediately return Carter to the All Black No 10 jersey when he recovers from his broken leg.

Awkward because Carter doesn't have quite enough rugby behind him this year to have provided a good gauge of where he truly is physically and mentally.

It's likely that Cruden will now have another two tests - against Argentina in Napier and South Africa in Wellington - to make the selectors' decision when it comes that little bit more awkward.

Carter, who broke his leg in the Super Rugby final, may be available for Canterbury in the next few weeks, with a view to travelling with the All Blacks to Argentina.

"He won't be available to play for us until probably the week of the Argentina away game," said Hansen. "But we're not going to rush that either. We want to make sure that he's right to play ... we won't just rush him straight in, we want him to be really comfortable and excited about being back when the time is right for him to be back."

Which player should be the first choice number 10?

1650–1700 votes

Dan Carter 33%33%Aaron Cruden 55%55%Beauden Barrett 12%12%

OPTA MATCH STATS

Match Stats — Team Stats

New Zealandv vs Australia

• Attack

  TriesNew ZealandComparisonAustralia675%25%2MetresNew ZealandComparisonAustralia57259%41%397CarriesNew ZealandComparisonAustralia12656.3%43.8%98Defenders beatenNew ZealandComparisonAustralia2268.8%31.3%10Clean BreaksNew ZealandComparisonAustralia1477.8%22.2%4PassesNew ZealandComparisonAustralia19358.7%41.3%136OffloadsNew ZealandComparisonAustralia1961.3%38.7%12Turnovers concededNew ZealandComparisonAustralia1240%60%18

• Defence & Discipline

  TacklesNew ZealandComparisonAustralia10950.2%49.8%108Missed TacklesNew ZealandComparisonAustralia1031.3%68.8%22Turnovers wonNew ZealandComparisonAustralia1052.6%47.4%9

• Kicking

  Kicks in PlayNew ZealandComparisonAustralia2374.2%25.8%8ConversionsNew ZealandComparisonAustralia6/6 (100%)50%50%2/2 (100%)Penalty GoalsNew ZealandComparisonAustralia3/4 (75%)42.9%57.1%2/2 (100%)Drop GoalNew ZealandComparisonAustralia0/0 (0%)50%50%0/0 (0%)

• Breakdown

  Rucks WonNew ZealandComparisonAustralia7249.3%50.7%74Rucks LostNew ZealandComparisonAustralia750%50%7Rucks Won (%)New ZealandComparisonAustralia91.1%49.9%50.1%91.4%Mauls WonNew ZealandComparisonAustralia975%25%3

• Set Plays

  Lineouts WonNew ZealandComparisonAustralia1458.3%41.7%10Lineouts LostNew ZealandComparisonAustralia00%100%1Lineouts Won (%)New ZealandComparisonAustralia100%52.4%47.6%90.9%Scrums WonNew ZealandComparisonAustralia457.1%42.9%3Scrums LostNew ZealandComparisonAustralia150%50%1Scrums Won (%)New ZealandComparisonAustralia80%51.6%48.4%75%

• Discipline

  Penalties concededNew ZealandComparisonAustralia1045.5%54.5%12Red CardsNew ZealandComparisonAustralia050%50%0Yellow CardsNew ZealandComparisonAustralia266.7%33.3%1

 

 Kicks in play is quite interesting , the ABS style of play tends to mask the f act that they kick more than anyone else .

 I think it is a blessing to have 5 Fit Number 10s in NZ always ready to fit into the Team Game Plan. Everyone has a part to play. Gone are the days of depending on just one person to carry the ABs. 2011 was the perfect year to put the Whole Team playing Total Rugby Ethos into practise. Even Donald fit right in. It is more about the Team than relying on individual brilliance to win the games and so it should.