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Sometimes you just need someone who you can rely on to hit the spot. A person who can just easily roll into your life and get the job done, and don’t mind if you’ve been committed to someone else since the last time you’ve seen them.
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That’s pretty much the way the All Black coaching staff have treated Matt Todd for his entire career, and it wasn’t lost on The Short Ball podcast hosts Scotty Stevenson and Mils Muliaina. In this week’s episode they’ve labelled the Crusaders flanker with the tag of ‘the All Blacks’ booty call’, after his omission from the Rugby Championship squad.
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For those of you unfamiliar with the term, the Urban Dictionary describes a booty call as ‘a late night summons, often made via telephone, to arrange clandestine relationships on an ad hoc basis’.
It’s obvious that if any of the loose forwards so much as stub their toe, Todd will be the first guy that Steve Hansen calls – although it may not be in the middle of the night.
So far in his Super Rugby career, Todd had to put up with the figure of Richie McCaw looming large over the number seven jersey for the Crusaders. However, the All Black captain was frequently put on ice to conserve him for the test season – then latterly used either a number eight or blindside, giving Todd a start on the openside.
His form has landed him eight test caps, mostly off the bench. However his most notable start came in last year’s third Bledisloe Cup test, in which he won Man Of The Match:
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So how should Matt Todd feel about being a booty call? Given that most New Zealanders would give a piece of their anatomy to pull on an All Black jersey, probably not that bad.
But until his phone starts vibrating, you can catch him shaking his booty in the Mitre 10 Cup.
