Hore still All Blacks frontline hooker

From The Hip

OPINION: Taranaki's Andrew Hore and Jason Eaton are there, but there's no mention of Scott Waldrom.

Hore and Eaton were certainties for the 33-man All Blacks squad to tour Japan and Europe later this year before it was announced yesterday, but Waldrom wasn't even mentioned on the list of players unavailable.

The 29-year-old openside flanker was with the All Blacks on last year's end-of-year tour and was one of the standout players for the Hurricanes in this year's Super 14 competition.

But Waldrom has been off the radar since injuring his knee playing for Taranaki against Canterbury in September's Ranfurly Shield match and was reportedly out for six weeks.

Waldrom wasn't answering calls yesterday, but his omission could signal the end of his short All Blacks career – one game against Munster.

Hore is indisputably the No 1 hooker, with Eaton one of four locks in the squad – the others being Brad Thorn, Tom Donnelly and Anthony Boric.

Hore had a heavy international schedule during the Tri-Nations campaign. With back-up Keven Mealamu suffering a chest injury, Hore shouldered most of the workload and his appearances for Taranaki in the Air New Zealand Cup were limited to just two games – against Manawatu and Southland.

Eaton had a far lighter workload during the Tri-Nations, with only a couple of appearances from the bench, while his game time with Taranaki amounted to six matches including the past three.

The surprises in the All Blacks squad of 18 forwards and 15 backs for the six-match tour were Bay of Plenty first five-eighth Mike Delany and Otago fullback-winger Ben Smith.

Delany has been in good form, but he couldn't secure a starting spot for the Chiefs in Super 14 and there are questions as to his ability to step up at international level.

Whether Smith gets much game time on tour remains the big question and, if the All Blacks selectors were looking for a try-scoring winger, why then was Wellington's Hosea Gear overlooked? With 11 tries, only Zac Guildford has scored more in Air New Zealand Cup matches this season with 13.

The selectors' axing of Joe Rokocoko only adds to the puzzle. With Rokocoko rightly dumped, Gear was an obvious contender to replace him.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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