Is Wallace Sititi the All Blacks’ answer at No 6?

By Alex Powell

Since Jerome Kaino’s exit in 2017, the All Blacks’ No 6 jersey has at times been a revolving door for players wanting to make it their own.

Just as quickly as someone has laid claim to being a mainstay on the blindside of the scrum, they’ve either faded or lost in a challenge to the next man up.

Akira Ioane always showed promise, but could never consistently string a series of world-class displays together. Vaea Fifita did the same before he said goodbye to New Zealand.

Luke Jacobson’s form at Super Rugby level has warranted an extended spell, only for his versatility to pencil him in as a perfect bench player - capable of covering any of the loose forward trio. Samipeni Finau started this year at No 6 but was badly exposed in Johannesburg.

Meanwhile, players like Scott Barrett, Ardie Savea and Dalton Papali’i were all trialled at No 6, despite their best positions being elsewhere.

Shannon Frizell looked to be the man to solve that problem in 2023, but a switch to Japan left the All Blacks back at square one unless the national union rethinks its eligibility policy.

Last week, Ethan Blackadder made his own claim to be the number one No 6, only for injury to rule him out of the picture in Cape Town.

But as the youngest player in the All Blacks’ first squad under Scott Robertson, Wallace Sititi has given selectors plenty to think about investing in over the current four years.

Selected as a 21-year-old earlier this year, and celebrating his 22nd birthday on the day of the second test against South Africa in Cape Town, Sititi was a risky selection for Robertson.

However, even as the All Blacks fell 18-12 to lose the Freedom Cup to the Springboks, Sititi showed he has the potential to be a test regular.

In his afternoon’s work, Sititi carried 11 times for 30m on attack and recorded a game-high of six defenders beaten. On defence, he made eight tackles, albeit missing three, to go with one turnover won. And come the set-piece, Sititi won four lineouts - the same number as South African colossus Eben Etzebeth.

One game is hardly a fair metric to award Sititi the No 6 jersey through to the next World Cup in 2027. But given the fact he’s young enough to command that jersey for potentially three World Cup cycles - given he’ll be 34 by the time 2035 rolls around - investing in Sititi now is clearly worth doing so.

Asked about Sititi’s display in his post-match press conference, Robertson didn’t hold back in his appraisal of the youngster in his first test start.

“He can play, can’t he?” said the All Blacks’ coach. “I’m really pleased for him. He’s an exceptional young man when you get to know him.

“He’s a lovely kid. He gets on that field and he can turn it on. He’s got a great skill set.

“He’s mentally tough, he’s physically tough. It’s hard to believe he’s so young and performs like that.

“We’re really pleased for him, he took [his chance].”

After a standout season for the Chiefs in their run to the Super Rugby Pacific final, Sititi’s selection came at the expense of Hoskins Sotutu, arguably the competition’s standout player.

At the time, All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan and Robertson made references to Sititi’s work on both sides of the ball being the decisive factor in his selection.

If Cape Town was anything to go by, the duo’s faith is well-placed. As World Rugby’s player of the year, Savea is more than qualified to judge how a young loose forward has performed.

Mirroring his coach, Savea also gave a glowing review of what his teammate was able to do against the world champions.

“He was awesome, I thought, tonight,” said Savea of Sititi. “[He was] very dangerous with the ball in hand.

“For a young fella, he walks around like he’s a veteran, he acts like a veteran.

“I’m very proud of Wally, and I’m sure there’s many more tests to come for him.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission