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One of the players that stood out most to me in the Super Rugby third round was Gareth Anscombe.
I know, this is an Australian site and we don’t often discuss New Zealand rugby in detail. I thought we might try and change that today – his performance deserves it.
Initially you’ve got to note that Anscombe has kicked 15 from 16 attempts at goal this season. Before you smirk that kicking for the Chiefs isn’t going to be hard when they trample in 10 tries in two matches, that means he has nailed seven from seven penalties as well.
No mean feat.
On top of that the eye test proves that most of the kicks are going gun barrel straight and climbing evenly all the way along their trajectory. That’s a sign of a kicker lining them up with confidence in his action.
But you need to consider that Anscombe has come across after playing for the Blues franchise last season. That is somewhat of a shock for a promising player that is only 21 years old. However, his play wasn’t fantastic last year either.
At the Blues he was a solid kicker but seemed to lack confidence and often bailed out and kicked away possession early.
Watching him play games for Auckland in the ITM Cup whenever I happened across them, Anscombe always seemed poised and in control but for whatever reason it never seemed to stick for the Blues.
Anscombe played 30 games for Auckland and 10 for the Blues but that lack of confidence and general execution led to the Blues having a good enough excuse to de-list him from their squad.
Enter the Chiefs.
Anscombe has always been a good kicker and kicking 93 percent for the season isn’t his only contribution.
Since coming back to the Chiefs and being installed at full-back, his game has completely transformed.
It’s hard to know from the outside what exactly to attribute the change to.
It’s obvious that the Blues weren’t a confident team last year and that sort of smouldering environment wouldn’t be good for a youngster compared to the up-beat environment around a Super Rugby championship team.
Playing at the back Anscombe has shown a willingness to bring the strong support of Leila Masaga and Asaeli Tikoirotuma into play or run it back himself. When he does chose to kick – less regularly – he is specific about going to places where a chase can be specific.
I’ve also spied Anscombe giving great little passes to supporting flankers and second rowers during the Cheetahs game. With Anscombe available to act as a second five-eighth, the Chiefs can ensure that the blind side of the field needs to be defended well at all times, while Cruden wreaks havoc on the other side.
The highlight of Anscombe’s new-found confidence has to be the good backline move that resulted in him scoring against the Cheetahs on the weekend.
The Chiefs ran a play that involved Cruden running two loops and Anscombe came inside the second one and absolutely hammered with speed through a gap. He then lifted his knees and hit top speed quickly to score un-touched.
As he ran onto the ball and exploded through a gap on that play it was the first time viewing Anscombe I thought, ‘That’s a real athlete.’ He ran with purpose and even looked a bit formidable doing so.
That isn’t how I ever would have described Anscombe during his time in blue up the other end of State Highway 1.
In Australia the form full-back is probably Jesse Mogg who has crossed the line three times and generally showed great pace and positioning.
I’d argue that no South African full-back has shown much form yet; I’d direct you towards SP Marias as a willing worker though.
In the New Zealand conference Charles Piutau has been a force to be reckoned with but I’d argue Gareth Anscombe is the best performed all round full-back in this still young season.
Keep an eye on the young man at the back of the Chiefs for the rest of the year. He was only born in 1991 and we may just be witnessing the coming out party of a very talented star.
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.