All Blacks weigh up midfield options for Bledisloe Cup

Seta Tamanivalu (Photosport)
Seta Tamanivalu (Photosport)

Picking who'll play in the All Blacks midfield in Saturday's second Bledisloe Cup Test isn't easy.

With Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty and George Moala all injured, three rookies are lining up for a spot alongside Malakai Fekitoa

For years the midfield has been a straight forward selection.

Now uncapped Anton Lienert-Brown and Rieko Ioane are vying with two-Test All Black Seta Tamanivalu for a game on Saturday.

Of course we won't know who it is until Thursday's team naming, as assistant coach Ian Foster gave little away.

"Seta has been with us before, so he's obviously got a head start when it comes to knowledge of what we do and we saw a little bit of that today," said Foster.

"But Rieko learnt well and what we saw on the training park was pretty positive, and don't forget that Anton is there learning too."

The coaches are looking for who best understands the game plan from training and conversations.

"One of the reasons that's really important for us is that we don't want players going out there and spending time thinking about a lot of things on and off the park, so we want the game to be instinctive to them, so they can go out and play."

The other option is fullback-come-winger Ben Smith, who covered the midfield in the first Test win.

Smith enjoys his versatility and the challenge of switching into midfield if he's needed.

"Connecting with the guys inside and outside of you, whereas on the wing a lot of the time you've got to cover the last man, that's pretty simple. It's defensively making sure that you make those adjustments," Smith said on playing in midfield.

With six players already used there in four Tests, adjustments are a theme in the midfield this season.

Newshub.