Leicester Fainga’anuku moving into the back row was probably not something that was expected.
His form in the back row has got many fans and pundits calling for him to be given a chance in the 7 shirt for the All Blacks this summer.
Double World Cup winner and then All Blacks captain Kieran Read has however said that he is not ready for the back row in test rugby.
A difficult start to the season for Fainga’anuku
Fainga’anuku brought out into the professional game he was a tough and lightning quick winger and soon got his chance for the All Blacks.
After a spell in France, he came back into the Crusaders and mostly played at 13 to try and get more ball-in-hand time. Read commented on the period saying, “It’s been good. I think at the start of the season, Leicester couldn’t find his feet. he told The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast.
“He’s probably one of our better wingers at the World Cup in ’23 but just didn’t find his feet at the start of the season. He was dropping balls.”
“He wasn’t having an impact. He’s not a centre that’s going to create space and use vision and great voice and everything, which is what you need here in New Zealand. We need a centre to be able to do that for us.
What next for Fainga’anuku?
Fainga’anuku has looked impressive in attack for the Crusaders. Read thinks there are still some are areas of his defence that he is lacking to be a top clas seven
“I think loosie (6), or potentially on the left wing, I think are great positions for him,” he said. “Is he an All Black seven? No, I watch him and you see these things that he does in his game as a seven.”
“At the top level, (that) he’s missing. Getting off the scrum, being able to work around the corner and put himself in positions to be able to have impacts. There are things there that he’ll need to work on.
Read does recognise that Fainga’anuku is the Crusaders’ best on the pitch, but does know that he could take the step up to the next level.
“Crusaders’ best on the field”
“And saying that, he’s been the Crusaders’ best on the field. And it probably doesn’t matter what number, but I like a loose forward number or a left wing where he doesn’t play like a winger. If you’re an All Black coach, you go, ‘Okay, you need this guy on the field somehow to be able to do what he does’.
“So, I’ve been really impressed. And it works for the Crusaders, for him, that seven (role). I’m not sure if you go to the next level, it’s totally different, whether he could do the same thing.”
Dave Rennie will have the difficult task of deciding what works best for Fainga’anuku in a black jersey and how he can use all the positives of his attack and build on the defensive areas of the game that he needs to improve. This was particularly evident in the heavy defeat to the Chiefs, where the incredible backline were able to pull the Crusaders’ defence apart, scoring six first-half tries.
