Ardie Savea should find himself ahead of teammate Sam Cane in the pecking order for the All Blacks' number seven jersey, according to New Zealand rugby great Buck Shelford.
Arguably the best player in Super Rugby this year, Savea's position within the All Blacks heading into the World Cup is under somewhat of a cloud, competing with Sam Cane for minutes as the first choice openside flanker.
As a result, Savea has been utilised on the openside of the scrum, starting in the number six jersey so far for the All Blacks. However, he alternates with Kieran Read and switches to number eight in attacking set pieces.
Speaking to 1 NEWS today, though, 22-Test veteran loose forward Shelford made it clear where he stands on the issue of the best number seven.
"I actually think Ardie [Savea] will be a starter," Shelford said.
"They can't afford not to start him because he's in such good form, whereas Cane doesn't have that form Ardie's got."
Having returned from a broken neck midway through this season, Shelford is somewhat sympathetic to Cane's plight in trying to quickly get back to his best, but insists that the best man for the job has to play, regardless of circumstance.
"Cane's only come back right towards the end of the season.
"I think that I wouldn't put a person who's in form [Savea] on the bench. He can change a game when he comes on, but he can change a game when he's there right from the start, too.
"[The All Blacks are] missing that real tough, go forward football. When he gets his hands on the ball, Cane doesn't get a lot of go forward football, he gets it, gets tackled, goes to the ground.
"Ardie fights the fight, wheels out of his tackles, breaks the first tackle, sometimes the second, sometimes the third. He gets that extra five-ten metres all the time.
"Halfbacks want the ball on the front foot, that's what you get with Ardie."
The All Blacks could unleash the tandem of Cane and Savea once again this weekend, taking on Tonga in Hamilton as their final pre-World Cup Test.
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