Three pundits analyse the All Blacks hooker position

In most positions, the All Blacks are blessed with quality in depth to pick from, one of the more strong positions is hooker, where Scott Robertson and his All Blacks coaching staff will have a difficult decision to make about which three hookers will wear the black jersey in the France series in July.

Chiefs hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho has impressed in his comeback from a major injury that kept him out for long periods of 2024, and Asafo Aumua from the Hurricanes is also back in some solid form.

Pair that with the emergence of Crusaders’ young hooker Ioane Moananu and the experienced heads of Codie Taylor and Kurt Eklund, the hooker stocks for 2025 are looking strong for the All Blacks.

Former All Black Jeff Wilson believes Taukei’aho has quickly regained some confidence after a tough year in 2024.

“Look, no doubt Codie Taylor’s is over and above. But Samisoni for me, it’s the fact that we needed to see that performance and the way that he’s playing,” Wilson told The Breakdown.

“He had a quiet year last year, and injuries have been a problem. I think he lost a little bit of his confidence around carrying the ball, he made a few errors, and then he got conservative, whereas now he’s going well, actually, I’m in a competition. I can’t settle, I have to do this every week.

“If we see this type of Samisoni, it’s something special, it’s how the people above want to use the hookers for me.”

Sky Sports commentator and analyst Taylah Johnson agrees that Moananu is an All Black smokey, but insists he’s not that close in contention, with other, more experienced options leading the race.

“We’ve got massive depth there and I think you mentioned Moananu, he has been so exciting to watch, he’s a smokey,” Johnson said on The Breakdown on Friday

“I just love watching everything that he does, we even saw a chip and chase, he actually collected it.

“But who do you leave out? You’re gonna pick three hookers, you’ve got to go, okay, he’s for sure, one for the future.”

Stan Sports commentator and former Wallabies centre Morgan Turinui says that Blues hooker Kurt Eklund could be the one to come in as cover if there was an injury to Codie Taylor, as you know what you’re going to get from the 33-year-old hooker.

“If Taylor gets injured, then that’s where you bring in Eklund. You know what I mean because if you want 60 minutes out of him in Argentina, that’s a guy who can get his role right. “

Wilson and Johnson both tend to agree on the missed opportunity New Zealand Rugby had in keeping Ricky Riccitelli on their shores after he was never selected for the All Blacks.

“You mentioned Ricky Riccitelli, he’s off overseas because we didn’t offer him anything. That’s the issue there and I think two years ago, he was probably one of the most prime hookers in Super Rugby, and even his NPC season was outstanding last year, and he didn’t even get a call-up,” Johnson said.

“It was very strange, it was odd. I mean, I couldn’t understand those selections. It’s been hard for him, though, because there’s been three that have been clearly above him, and I suppose there’s not really a point of difference in regards to having him on the bench,” Wilson said on The Breakdown on Sunday night.