Murray Mexted claims bolter can ‘become like Zinzan Brooke’ to solve All Blacks ‘weakness’
All Blacks legends Zinzan Brooke and Murray Mexted.
Former All Blacks number eight Murray Mexted wants Simon Parker to develop into a Zinzan Brooke-type player after a positive start to his Test career.
The 25-year-old made his Test debut against Argentina in Buenos Aires before retaining his place in the XV for the huge Eden Park clash versus the Springboks.
Parker started at number eight in the Argentina capital before being shifted to blindside flanker in Auckland last weekend.
Impressive start to Test rugby
He has retained his spot at number six for the next encounter with the Boks, suggesting that he could well be this year’s breakout star.
The Chiefs forward has proven himself to be effective in both positions but Mexted would like to see him feature more at the base of the scrum for the All Blacks.
“You’ve got to have three really good lineout forwards these days, not two. I think that Parker has got potential as a lineout winner because he’s big, so I think that’s handy,” he told DSPN with Martin Devlin.
“[Tupou] Vaa’i is fantastic isn’t he? He’s getting better and better with age, he’s like a good red wine, and of course [Scott] Barrett’s fantastic too.
“I reckon those are our big boys, those are the boys that can win the ball in the air, and I’d love to see this guy Parker become like a Zinzan Brooke.
“You never had to worry about the ball in the air when Zinzan Brooke was playing because he was screaming for the ball, telling everyone to get out of the way.
“That was a bit of a weakness that we saw in this All Blacks team – aerial possession. There might be a little bit of a weakness there and that’s what the Springboks were trying to exploit.”
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All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson has kept the loose trio which lined up at Eden Park for the second match of their double-header in Wellington.
The lock combination of Barrett and Vaa’i also remains, but Mexted is concerned at the amount of lineout options New Zealand have at their disposal.
‘Not good enough’
“You’ve got to get 50 per cent of the ball to beat them and we got 48 per cent of the ball. It was good enough in the end but it’s not good enough as far as I’m concerned.
“Most of the ball these days is not scrum ball, most of the ball these days is aerial possession, whether it’s lineouts, kick-offs or tactical kicks – it’s aerial possession.
“You need guys that are really good under the high ball. I think that’s one of the reasons why they moved Vaa’i to lock.
“I thought that was a really interesting call. I wouldn’t have done that, only because he’s 10cm shorter than the guy he was marking, but he seems to have upset the Springboks lineout and the All Blacks selectors and coaches have picked that up.
“In the past, he’s been very good in getting a hand to the ball, but the problem is that if you’re giving away 10cm, you can’t be the principle ball-winner. It’s just not going to work.
“There needs to be someone else getting the ball. We’ve got Barrett but not too many others and I don’t think we’ve got enough.”