Why the in-form Cullen Grace was only a late call-up for the Maori All Blacks
Cullen Grace made his All Blacks debut in 2020 following a breakout season for the Crusaders.
The blockbusting loose forward was attributed with the hardest shoulders in the country by coach Scott Robertson and was rewarded with a spot in the first squad of Ian Foster's regime as head honcho of the New Zealand national side.
Grace managed just one solitary appearance off the bench in the six-match season, however, and after a bout of second-season syndrome in 2021, wasn't recalled for last year's international calendar. Injury struck the 22-year-old ahead of the NPC season, sidelining him for the entirety of Canterbury's campaign, putting an end to any chance Grace had of earning recall late in the year.
2022 has seen Grace take some mammoth strides forward for the Crusaders, with the youngster earning 15 appearances for the Super Rugby Pacific champions - 13 of which were in the number 8 jersey.
The All Blacks squad was named ahead of the grand final where Grace was instrumental in tearing apart the Blues' lineout and paving the way to a Crusaders victory but had Foster announced his team a week later, perhaps Grace would have forced his way into the side on the back of his season-defining performance at Eden Park.
Despite missing out on the national side, however, Grace still has an opportunity to press his case at a higher level and has been called into the Maori All Blacks squad ahead of their two-match series with Ireland.
That came as somewhat of a surprise, given Grace missed out entirely on the Maori All Blacks squad that was named last year - despite being fit and available when the team was selected.
Thankfully, coach Maori Clayton McMillan cleared up some of the confusion surrounding Grace earlier this week.
"We're robust in how we go about ensuring that everybody who plays in the team has gone through an eligibility process,” McMillan told media on Thursday. "All players must have Maori whakapapa or genealogy confirmed in order to represent the side.
“We found out, fairly late, that Cullen was eligible. We've been through that process and found that he's as Maori as I am."
As such, Grace has now been summoned into the team alongside halfback Sam Nock and lock Max Hicks.
Had Grace's genealogy been confirmed last year, it's likely he would have been included in a side that earned two hard-fought wins over Samoa - but this year he'll get to showcase his talents against Ireland's mid-week squad, who will undoubtedly leave no stone unturned on the field in order to fight their way into the first-choice 23 to take on the All Blacks.
For Grace and a host of other players on the cusp of New Zealand's national squad, such as halfbacks TJ Perenara and Brad Weber, the two-match series with Ireland offers a similar opportunity, with places in the All Blacks' Rugby Championship squad still up for contention.
“He's played great rugby all year, is a recent All Black, and this is a vehicle we hope will help promote not only Cullen, but every other member of our team, to higher honours," said McMillan.
Grace will be competing with the likes of Reed Prinsep, Caleb Delany, TK Howden, Cameron Suafoa and Billy Harmon for a spot in the side to take on Ireland in the first match of their two-game series next Wednesday. If Super Rugby form is the bar, it's hard to imagine the 22-year-old not being one of the first names on the team sheet.
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Spot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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