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Aaron Cruden has beaten cancer, so filling the All Blacks’ hot seat in their biggest Test match of the professional era holds no fears.
Two weeks ago the 22-year-old five-eighth was skateboarding and drinking beer in Palmerston North, but now he’ll be New Zealand’s `main man’ in Sunday night’s Rugby World Cup semi-final.
While most interest has been surrounding skipper Richie McCaw’s dodgy right foot, Cruden is the most questionable wildcard in what will be his first start since a forgettable Bledisloe Cup run-on debut 13 months ago.
Coach Graham Henry on Friday highlighted the magnitude of the occasion by labelling the Eden Park blockbuster the biggest match of all his players’ careers.
In fact, New Zealand have not faced a more important Test since the 1995 World Cup final against the Springboks in South Africa – a season before the game went professional.
They have missed every tournament decider since, and their hopes of ending a 24-year Cup drought copped a massive blow when peerless playmaker Dan Carter was ruled out with a groin tear.
That injury saw the originally overlooked Cruden called in to the squad.
His heady ascension was complete on Friday when selected to replace Carter’s back-up Colin Slade, who also succumbed to a groin problem in the quarter-final win over Argentina, against the Wallabies.
Cruden has endured his share of worry in his 22 years, overcoming testicular cancer as a teenage sensation just three years ago, but is champing at the bit.
“Another huge challenge that I’m really looking forward to,” he said. “Against Australia it’s always an epic battle and when you chuck a semi-final into the mix it’s huge.”
Australia have announced their forwards will target Cruden’s light frame and body-on-the-line defence in the No.10 channel but he wouldn’t want anything less.
“I suppose if they’re going to target me, it will be give me more of a chance to get involved in the game and to grow my confidence, and become more comfortable out there,” he said.
Cruden’s combination with four other Hurricanes backline teammates will be a key to the seven-Test rookie feeling at home, especially between in-form duo Piri Weepu and Ma’a Nonu.
He’s aiming to do what two of the All Blacks’ finest playmakers, Grant Fox in 1991 and Carlos Spencer in 2003, failed to do by guiding New Zealand to a semi-final win over Australia.
In making two other changes to his side, bringing back Israel Dagg and Richard Kahui from injury, Henry has 11 of the 15 starting players from the 25-20 Tri Nations deciding loss to the Wallabies in Brisbane.
But he warned his squad was far more focused and determined than the “disjointed” August 27 failure, which came shortly after flying back from South Africa and naming their World Cup squad.
“It was messy quite frankly, irritating for me at the time,” he said. “But there was a bigger fish to fry later on and I think people’s heads were there (looking at the World Cup).”
McCaw has taken a softly, softly approach to nurse his foot through to the end of the tournament, sitting out training to ensure he will last 80 minutes.
But Wallabies coach Robbie Deans, his former Crusaders mentor, is expecting nothing but his best in a mouth-watering breakdown contest against David Pocock.
“Richie will play out of his skin,” Deans said. “He’s one of those blokes.
“He doesn’t work his way back into form and back into the game, he hits the ground running.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.