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'The Rolls Royce of fullbacks': Calls for All Blacks selection grows louder as David Havili impresses again for Crusaders

(Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

David Havili’s scintillating early Super Rugby form continued on Friday evening as he captained the Crusaders to a convincing 33-13 victory over South Island rivals, the Highlanders, at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch.

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Standing in for injured skipper Scott Barrett, the 25-year-old fullback continued from where he left off in previous weeks against the Waratahs, Chiefs and Blues as he sliced the Highlanders defence on multiple occasions to put the visitors on the back foot throughout the contest.

Havili’s attacking exploits are reflected in his stat sheet from this match, which he ended with a team-leading 82 running metres, six defenders beaten, five offloads – the most from any player throughout the encounter – and a clean break.

Continue reading below…

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He probably should have also had a try assist added to that list as well, but a long range pass following his solitary line break to a wide open George Bridge was fumbled with the try line in sight.

Performances of this ilk have become common for Havili in the opening rounds of the new Super Rugby campaign, as he registered similarly compelling displays in Nelson, Hamilton and Auckland over the past three weeks.

Subsequently, the three-test All Black has become the most dangerous player in the competition with ball in hand, an accolade of which is again represented by his season statistics thus far.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8mys_kA7SK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

He leads the competition in ball carries (45), defenders beaten (25) and offloads (14) – twice as many as the second-placed Jack Goodhue – while also sitting in second-equal for points scored (30), fourth for metres carried (258) and sixth-equal for line breaks (six).

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So rich is his vein of form that fans are already predicting Havili’s return to the national side three years after his last appearance, while others have taken to Twitter to express their awe of the utility back’s attacking feats in the wake of his most recent showing.

https://twitter.com/sweetxmelly/status/1230754547464732674

It’s clear to see that an All Blacks re-call wouldn’t go amiss among New Zealand’s online fanbase, but whether or not such a selection comes to fruition remains to be seen.

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Despite Havili’s exceptional start to the new season and all the utility value he adds, he still has to usurp the likes of Damian McKenzie and Jordie Barrett for his preferred fullback role, which was last filled at the World Cup by none other than Beauden Barrett.

However, his top-class form has proven him worthy of starting ahead of the highly-touted Will Jordan at the Crusaders, proving he can displace other creditable candidates from their respective places in the pecking order through his own ability.

That leaves new All Blacks boss Ian Foster with a premature selection headache, but with plenty of talent at his disposal, it could well be Havili who stands as the crème de la crème of Kiwi fullbacks when Wales and Scotland roll into town in July.

In other news:

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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