‘Game-changer’ is often an overused term in sport, but with the New Zealand eligibility of halfback Folau Fakatava likely to be signed off before the All Blacks face Ireland in July, Ian Foster is arguably about to be presented with just that.
A recent report in Stuff has stated Tonga-born Fakatava, who was eligible to play for the All Blacks from the end of 2020 until a knee injury ruled him out and World Rugby changed the rules from a three-year stand-down to five years, may be about to get his wish.
All of the New Zealand-based parties have been hopeful that this would be the case, but it doesn’t always pay to second-guess World Rugby’s decision-making or flexibility in such matters.
After some intensive to-and-fro, the game's administrators have apparently recognised the anomaly in Fakatava’s case and so the 22-year-old is very much back in the picture.
And hopefully, from an All Blacks' perspective, in time to bed in before next year’s World Cup, where his power running and defence around the fringes could prove to be a significant point of difference.
If it seems unfair to put such pressure on a young man yet to make his Test debut, well that’s where the All Blacks are at the moment.
They have traditionally always had bright young things coming through on a yearly basis, usually from a stacked New Zealand Under-20 team.
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But the last time significant numbers came through from that source was in 2012, the year, incidentally, that another Highlanders halfback by the name of Aaron Smith made such an impact, along with other world-class players such as Brodie Retallick, Beauden Barrett, Julian Savea, Charlie Faumuina and Sam Cane.
The All Blacks have also traditionally had forwards that can run and pass better than any opposition. That’s not quite the case now, and nor is it that they have a backline which can identify and use space better than whoever they’re playing.
Ireland and France were better than them at that during their respective victories in Dublin and Paris last year and, significantly, it wasn't all that surprising watching them do so.
The All Blacks were at the vanguard of the game's attacking arms race from 2012 until 2017 when the British and Irish Lions showed the rest of the world how to nullify, bog down and tie up the men in black.
Under Foster, they have displayed consistent weaknesses against teams with big packs and well-organised and highly-motivated defences. They just don't seem to have a Plan B.
And so to Fakatava, who has had opportunities to get out from under Smith’s shadow and leave the Highlanders for more game time elsewhere but decided instead to stay and learn and develop.
And how he has. The Smith-Fakatava one-two punch at the Highlanders is easily the best in the competition – combining the former’s speed of pass, feet and thinking with the latter’s late-game power and control.
The under-resourced Highlanders, with only four wins from 12 matches this season, haven’t capitalised as they would have liked, but one can imagine Fakatava in particular thriving behind an All Black pack and in front of Beauden Barrett or perhaps Richie Mo’unga as opposition defences tire.
Fakatava is relentless for the Highlanders. He has the power to drop tiring attackers and win turnovers like a fourth loose forward but his attack is just as impressive.
He carries with him a crushing inevitability when his teams are attacking close to the line, the sense of a boulder rolling down a hill, a one-man game changer who buoys his team and sinks the opposition in equal measure.
He isn’t the only solution for an All Blacks team who lost to the Springboks last year, along with Ireland and France, and who will probably go to Paris next year as second or even third favourites for the World Cup behind the home nation. They are currently ranked third in the world behind South Africa and France.
But Fakatava could be a key component in revitalising their attack. The common denominator in the All Blacks’ biggest failures stretching back to the 2019 World Cup semifinal against England has been their inability to stress a hard-charging and well-coordinated defence either tactically or individually.
Fakatava has the potential to change that and put the All Blacks over the advantage line with his running and offloading game.
And, if that happens, it’s game on - no matter who the opposition is.
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