The fact the All Blacks have five quality midfielders who are all capable of starting at this year's Rugby World Cup is more of a blessing than a problem to solve, assistant coach Ian Foster says.
Foster was asked by media today about the "midfield puzzle" he and the rest of management had to solve with the knockout stages of this year's tournament drawing closer but the coach said the question was moot.
"The puzzle is yours, not ours - I think that's the easiest way to say it," Foster said.
"I know there's lots of speculation about it and you probably think we're always trying to hide something but we've always said we've got four - or in our language we reckon we've got five - great midfielders."
The All Blacks opted for Ryan Crotty, Sonny Bill Williams, Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue at this year's tournament, with Ngani Laumape the fifth and unlucky midfielder to miss out on selection for Japan.
All four selected have played decent minutes in the All Blacks' opening two wins against the Springboks and Canada and tomorrow Linert-Brown and Goodhue have been given the chance to perform again against Namibia in Tokyo.
It's a stark contrast to the All Blacks' last World Cup campaign where veterans Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith we're easily identified as the first-pick duo.
But Foster said both approaches work.
"I think we're seeing improved performances from all four of them.
"It's a tough selection area, there's no doubt about that, but it's tough because we haven't got a bad option."
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