Barnstorming Asafo no All Blacks novice on Europe tour

It was never really going to be a case of if Asafo Aumua made the All Blacks squad, more a matter of when.The moment arrived on Monday when the hooker, whose hat-trick in theunder-20 World Cup final in June had him marked out as the next bigthing in New Zealand rugby, was named in the 37-strong party for theend-of-season tour.With coach Steve Hansen dispensing this year with the “apprentice”policy that saw Ardie Savea and Jordie Barrett tour with the All Blacksto gain experience in 2013 and 2016 respectively, Aumua had to earn hispassage as a playing option.The quietly spoken 20-year-old did so in no uncertain fashion, with aseries of outstanding performances for Wellington province propellinghim into the squad as the fourth hooker behind Dane Coles, Codie Taylorand Nathan Harris.“He’s dominating, he’s dominating when he carries, everything he does,he does really, really well and stands out,” Hansen told reporters afternaming his squad yesterday.“That’s not normal for a 20-year-old. So when you see non-normal behaviour which is positive, it’s not too hard to reward it.”Combining the power of 132-cap All Blacks rake Keven Mealamu and thespeed of Coles, Aumua made his Wellington debut as a teenager last yearand scored a hat-trick of tries against Northland.But it was his barnstorming performances for the ‘Baby Blacks’ at theunder-20 World Cup earlier this year that thrust him onto the worldstage.Inspired by a good luck video from the children at the after-school carecentre in Lower Hutt where he still works, Aumua scored five triesduring the tournament.For the last try of his hat-trick in the 64-17 victory over England inthe final, Aumua showcased his power by wrestling his way through fivewould-be tacklers to get to the line.He has also displayed his pace and skill for Wellington this season,most notably when he outpaced Taranaki winger Declan O’Donnell to scoreone try and stood up Canterbury fullback George Bridge with a stunningin-and-away for another.While his skills with ball-in-hand would impress anyone, Hansen will nodoubt be looking just as carefully at his core skills at the scrummageand lineout while they are on tour.“We’ll just do what we do with every new All Black, we’ll just make sure he is ready to go,” Hansen said.“And how much he gets will depend on how ready he is. He seems to be apretty mature young man. He’s got an opportunity now to spend some timewith three good hookers and learn from them and he’ll get a little bitof game time.“He’s one for the future probably but right now we’ll get to know him.”With matches against the Barbarians and a French XV among the five gameson the tour, Aumua could pull on the famous black jersey and stillreturn home without a test cap to his name.“The opportunity of this tour with the Barbarians game and the secondFrench game just gives us the opportunity to play someone like him,”Hansen added.“We need four hookers and he’s the obvious young up-and-comer. Ratherthan being an apprentice, he’ll get to tour and play. He’s prettyspecial so we’ll see how he goes.”SQUADForwards: Asafo Aumua (Wellington Hurricanes), Dane Coles (Hurricanes),Nathan Harris (Waikato Chiefs), Codie Taylor (Canterbury Crusaders),Wyatt Crockett (Crusaders), Kane Hames (Chiefs), Nepo Laulala (Chiefs),Tim Perry (Crusaders), Jeffery Toomaga-Allen (Hurricanes), OfaTu’ungafasi (Auckland Blues), Scott Barrett (Crusaders), Luke Romano(Crusaders), Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues), Samuel Whitelock ( Crusaders),Sam Cane (Chiefs), Vaea Fifita (Hurricanes), Jerome Kaino (Blues),Kieran Read (capt, Crusaders), Ardie Savea (Hurricanes), Liam Squire(Otago Highlanders), Matt Todd (Crusaders)Backs: Tawera Kerr-Barlow (Chiefs), TJ Perenara (Hurricanes), AaronSmith (Highlanders), Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) Lima Sopoaga(Highlanders), Ryan Crotty (Crusaders), Jack Goodhue (Crusaders), NganiLaumape (Hurricanes), Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs), Sonny Bill Williams(Blues), David Havili (Crusaders), Matt Duffie (Blues), Rieko Ioane(Blues), Damian McKenzie (Chiefs), Waisake Naholo (Highlanders), SetaTamanivalu (Crusaders)Itinerary Nov 4: v Barbarians at Twickenham Nov 11: v France in Paris Nov 14: v French XV at Lyon Nov 18: v Scotland at Edinburgh Nov 25: v Wales at Cardiff