Ross Karl: Fans need to be patient with new All Blacks hooker Asafo Aumua

Asafo Aumua is a long-term project that has amazing potential, so fans be patient, says Ross Karl.
Asafo Aumua is a long-term project that has amazing potential, so fans be patient, says Ross Karl. Photo credit: Getty Images

OPINION: Asafo Aumua is the kind of barnstorming talent that only emerges every couple of years. He's a player you turn on your telly to watch.

But when you're a hooker, having line-busting and try-scoring prowess doesn't mean you'll be jumping any queues in the All Blacks.

There's a bit more to school up on, before you throw balls into a Test-match lineout, ahead of world-class players Dane Coles or Codie Taylor.

He's coming off the bench against the Barbarians on Sunday, behind Nathan Harris.

The 25-year-old Harris is very much the third-string All Blacks hooker and he doesn't capture the public's imagination, not like Aumua will.

Despite that potential, the 20-year-old is still very much the fourth hooker. Things change quickly in rugby sometimes, but hooker is a position where you play the long game.

Steve Hansen says he's thinking about Aumua's potential for 2020, more than the 2019 World Cup.

At that stage, Coles will be 32 and might have won a second World Cup. The world's best hooker might just be considering his long-term future. 

Asafo Aumua dominated headlines during the Mitre 10 Cup season.
Asafo Aumua dominated headlines during the Mitre 10 Cup season. Photo credit: Getty Images

By then, Aumua's scrummaging, lineout skills and game nouse could be primed perfectly.

Coles is the right person to compare to Aumua. He burst onto the provincial scene in 2007, outrunning backs and scoring tries.

He was the talk of national provincial rugby, just like Aumua, but Coles had to do an apprenticeship behind Andrew Hore at the Hurricanes.

It took Coles five years of first-class rugby to make the All Blacks. It takes a No 2 time to learn the trade.

Hansen says Aumua's looked slightly overawed at training this week, as well he should be. The under 20's star is running alongside his heroes.

He's only a few months into his professional career and he's having to soak up more information than he'll be used to. It's one of the things all new All Blacks seem to say - you learn so much more in that environment.

It means the Barbarians and midweek matches on this northern tour are a perfect fit for Aumua. He might not be an apprentice, like Ardie Savea or Jordie Barrett were, but he is taking a month-long course at All Blacks University.

That comes with a couple of practical assessments, yet graduation isn't close.

Aumua is a long-term project that has amazing potential, so fans, be patient. His time will come.

It might come sooner than your average hooker, but he might not be a Test match fixture for a few years yet.

Ross Karl is Newshub's rugby reporter.