New Zealand's All Blacks selection debate has kicked into its annual overdrive — and on the latest episode of Sky Sport's The Aftermatch, Kirsten Bee and long-time analyst Beef put a line through any remaining doubt about Chiefs flyer Leroy Carter.
The pair were unpicking the Chiefs' dramatic late win over the unbeaten Hurricanes at FMG Stadium Waikato — the moment Wallace Sititi pounced on a charged-down Damian McKenzie drop-goal attempt to score a matchwinning try in the 84th minute. But it was Carter's earlier intervention, setting up Daniel Sinkinson's try with a run-and-offload combination, that had the panel most excited about the Test picture.
"That's my favourite of mine and the show just showed why he was a bolter in the All Blacks last year," Bee said. "I saw glimpses of All Blacks v South Africa in Wellington from Leroy Carter."
Beef was not in a hedging mood. "When you think about now where he stands, like obviously this is the time of year where people in our jobs start talking about this one and that one or we could have a bolter here. I don't think it's even a debate. He'll be there. You know, he has been very, very good. Again, he's shown that he's more than capable of filling in at 13. He came and played 13 at the end of the game for the Chiefs in the last sort of 15 or 20 I'd say, and he was really, really good. Just defensively he's so solid."
It was Carter's work in the run-up to Sinkinson's try that Beef reached for as exhibit A. "That match-equalling try that he set up for Daniel Sinkinson. You might just look in and go he just ran in an open space. The ability to sum up and deliver the pass at the right time to mean that those three defenders that were floating around for the Hurricanes had no impact on Daniel Sinkinson's run to the line — is so classy. It just looked too simple for people probably to appreciate what he did. And then obviously the over-the-top offload, but the ability to do what he did and to make it look so simple and do it so calmly just shows where he's at at the moment. He is at the top of his game and right up the picking order, I'd say, when it comes to picking All Black teams."
Bee summed up the appeal. "He's got that ability to just change the game in a moment. He is so good to watch, that guy."
The two did not shy away from just how absurd the climax of the match was. "That was like the greatest game, the best game of Super Rugby this year, hands down," Bee said. "We were on the edge of our seats the entire time, but it never felt like — after Asafo scored that try — it didn't really feel like the Chiefs were in that game, Beef."
Beef conceded the Hurricanes would be reviewing a win that got away. "There's no way of hiding from it. Yes, we were part of a great game. Yes, we played well, but we let one slip."
Beef also doubled down on his Jonas MVP voting — the show's unofficial player-of-the-year count — with Chiefs captain Simon Parker taking the three points for the weekend. But when talk returned to the All Blacks squad of 80-odd names being discussed for the tour to South Africa, Carter's name was treated as a given rather than a debate.
With Scott Robertson facing a selection calendar that may test every inch of New Zealand's back-three depth, Sky Sport's verdict is a clear one: Leroy Carter is no longer a bolter. He is a starting option.
