The latest episode of The Breakdown has reset the All Blacks selection debate after the Chiefs' extraordinary extra-time win over the Hurricanes at Eden Park — and at the top of the panel's bolter list is Chiefs No. 6 Simon Parker, with Damian McKenzie's case for the 10 jersey emerging as the show's other dominant thread.
Panellist Jeff Wilson did not mince words on Parker's display in the Round 10 thriller. In a discussion ranging across New Zealand's bloated loose-forward queue, the former All Black flipped the conversation to a player who had slipped under the radar.
"Yeah, I think by far his best game of the year," Wilson said. "Um obviously a bit of a forgotten man as far as all the chat this year as far as the loose forwards are going around, but he was so physical with his carries and his defense. And then couple of really wonderful handling moments, you know, he got a couple of whomp, boom, and he's off his first five for a couple of times."
Wilson's argument was that Parker's spell as the six jersey owner in the All Blacks last year can be revisited precisely because the Chiefs have thrown him minutes at 8. With Ardie Savea's positioning a permanent variable and the eight jersey still not settled, Parker's dual-role versatility makes him a real bolter heading into the winter.
The panel's other fixation was the Test flyhalf race. Audience questions were running hot about Damian McKenzie's case over Ruben Love, with one viewer putting it bluntly: "Tell me why McKenzie is not in the 10 conversation for the All Blacks. The man is class."
Beaver refused to crown anyone after one night, but conceded McKenzie looked different.
"Well, I don't think he's ever left the 10 conversation. I think it's just probably some of the media playing," Beaver said. "But he's in now. He's got it. I don't think one game will dictate it, but for me, it was a different Damien McKenzie last night. He got his hands on the ball more than I think I've seen him ever at 10. And, you know, it clearly looked like he was up for it, and it was a little bit personal because he was so direct. He played a lot squarer. Couple of times he just he just tucked and decided to take the line on, and it was a beautiful thing to see."
The panel was careful to distinguish between McKenzie's assertive carry game and a simple Man of the Match argument. Beaver's point was that the directness is the evolution All Blacks coaches have been asking him for, and that "dummy and tuck, eh?" was finally on the menu.
Wilson was equally insistent, however, that Ruben Love had not been dropped out of the picture by one defeat. The Hurricanes playmaker has built a season on front-foot rhythm, and Wilson argued that Eden Park finally exposed him to a counter-scenario he needed.
"Ruben's been brilliant, and he's been operating in a Hurricanes team that's had all their own way. At least now, he's now got a reference point to go back and go, 'Right, where did things — where was I comfortable? Where wasn't I comfortable?' Because last night, the thing for the Hurricanes that was different to the last month of rugby was the pace of the ball. And when you're a first five, that is the biggest hindrance to you playing how you want to play is the pace of the ball."
The bigger story across the whole episode was how deep the All Blacks loose-forward pool now looks. The panel kept circling back to Peter Lakai, Du'Plessis Kirifi, Luke Jacobson, Samipeni Finau, Hōhepa Parata and the Chiefs' own rotation, before Muliaina conceded the conversation had become unmanageable.
"The conversation for me gets really complicated around, 'Okay, who's specifically playing eight in the six jersey?' Finau was outstanding last week. This is getting really challenging if you start thinking about a squad of maybe 33 players, a half a dozen loose forwards, who gets in and who doesn't."
Wilson stretched the framing into a compliment to Chiefs defence and to Jacobson personally.
"It was very Sam Cane-esque of the fact playing right through the — for Luke Jacobson, I think it was really poignant about the way that he's represented the jersey," he said.
There was plenty of airtime for Cam Roigard, whose extra-time substitution drew immediate head-scratching from Wilson, who had been on the sideline commentary.
"This is right in front of me. I was commentating sideline, and I can tell you he's filthy. He's filthy when you've played 80 minutes, and you've been influential in terms of doing your job, and he clearly to me looked fine," Wilson said. "You've committed him to the 80 minutes he can go the next 10 if he needs to. I thought he was good. I don't understand the substitution at the time. This is a guy that we're comparing, you know, to Dupont. You're taking him off 29 seconds into extra time? He must — he's either injured or he must be a different reason."
The episode landed at a point in Super Rugby Pacific where form, fatigue and selection logic are colliding. By the end of it, Parker had graduated from forgotten man to genuine bolter, McKenzie had reaffirmed his claim to the 10 shirt and the All Blacks' biggest ongoing riddle — where everyone fits in the loose forwards — had only deepened.
For head coach Scott Robertson and his selectors, The Breakdown's discussion was a reminder that the Super Rugby weekend that just ended did not simplify a single question.
