All Blacks Have Depth to Cover Aaron Cruden Injury at World Cup

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: April 21, 2015

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When it was announced yesterday that Aaron Cruden would likely miss the Rugby World Cup, the feeling around New Zealand was one of disappointment, not panic. There is depth to cover for the loss of Cruden, but it certainly is a cruel blow to someone who has worked so hard.

It shows the state of New Zealand rugby in the fly-half position, they have come a long way.

Four years ago when Dan Carter went down in the pool stages of the 2011 World Cup, to say the nation panicked would be an understatement. It was more of a national emergency. There was no clear back-up and while Cruden, Colin Slade and Stephen Donald got the job done, they made far harder work of the final than Carter would have.

This time around the depth is there and while there is no one of the ability of Carter in 2011, there are four players who would have easily made the cut to back the great man up.

Carter himself receives a great boost in his chances to go to one last World Cup. There have been question marks over his game recently and indeed he has not been sighted in top form for an extended period of time since July 2012. Injuries have plagued him, a sign that he is not as young as he once was.

He no longer threatens as much with his running game, caused by a loss of the explosiveness that made him the world's best No. 10.

Perhaps we need to look past that and look at the player Carter is now, what he can still do well. The trouble is that is hard to do, as he has played such little rugby over the past three years.

There is no doubt he can control a game, bringing intelligence and all the experience in the world. He still distributes well and his defensive game is second to none, with great technique and a mindset that sees him go looking for tackles, often defending close-in to save a forward having to get to the spot. 

While prior to the Cruden injury there were doubts as to whether there would...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union

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