All Blacks great hits out at Dave Rennie’s ‘naive’ response over Crusaders star
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie and an inset of Leicester Fainga'anuku.
Justin Marshall has hit out at Dave Rennie’s verdict on Leicester Fainga’anuku’s role in the All Blacks team, stating his stance is naive.
The Crusaders star is currently in a race against time to make the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour to South Africa after suffering a leg fracture in the Super Rugby Pacific semi-final defeat to the Chiefs.
Fainga’anuku looked bound to be in the All Blacks squad for the July internationals before sustaining the injury after a stellar season at the Crusaders following his spell in France with RC Toulon.
All Blacks’ midfield puzzle
The 26-year-old enjoyed a strong start to his time back in New Zealand, featuring mostly in the centres, but he really stole the headlines during the Super Round when he was named at openside flanker for the Crusaders. He produced a man-of-the-match performance that day against the Waratahs and spent the remainder of the season starting in the number seven jumper for his club.
Whilst he enjoyed a fine run of form in the back-row during the Super Rugby campaign, Marshall believes that he is still better as a centre, with his skillset suiting Rennie’s backline.
He said as much on Sky Sports NZ’s Breakdown show after ex-All Blacks prop Angus Ta’avao remarked, “The skillset that he can bring there fits the bill for me at centre” during a section of the show where the panel answered fans’ questions.
“100% on that,” Marshall replied.
“I have been right from the start of his international career that he is a centre that can challenge defenders. He’s got an offload. He’s a good distributor, and he breaks tackles.”
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Justin Marshall’s ‘problem’
Speaking to the media in May, Rennie made no mention of the Crusader star’s ability to play in the midfield but did say that he was a prospect for the back-row and on the wing.
“He’s gone well. I’ve been really impressed with him from a work ethic point of view,” he said.
“He’s carrying a lot, stealing a lot of ball and so on. There’s a lot to refine there in his game at number seven, but his ability on the edge as a winger or at seven gives you genuine versatility in your squad.”
Marshall has taken issue with the fact that his midfield ability wasn’t mentioned by the head coach.
“The problem for me was when Dave Rennie was asked about him at centre, he said that he didn’t see him in that jersey, which I think is naive to do that. You’ve got to give somebody a go,” he said.
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Fainga’anuku lacks the pace for the midfield
However, legendary winger Jeff Wilson argued that Fainga’anuku has the ability to attack from the centres but doesn’t believe that he has the speed to play in midfield for the All Blacks. He adds that pace is a requirement for a centre in the modern game, particularly on defence.
“He doesn’t have top-end speed,” he said.
“He doesn’t have high speed. He has powerful running. He does that; the trouble is, if you don’t have that speed, you then have to be a very, very smart defender at centre, and we’ve seen that you can get stretched with guys who have got out-and-out speed.
“You see across the world now a lot of the wingers, they’re all top end, right? And they’re trying to hit you; they’re coming around the corner, they’re turning, and the moment you get held, you get done; it’s really hard to make it up. There’s no doubt about his attacking ability. Not a problem. Defence issue.”
