Another excellent performance from Charles Piutau will have given All Blacks coach Steve Hansen plenty to think about ahead of next week’s rugby Test against France.
The 22-year-old Blues back scored two of New Zealand’s eight tries in their 54-6 win against Japan in Tokyo on Saturday and in the process likely put himself in the running for the right wing berth in Paris.
Backing up from his first start against Australia in Dunedin a fortnight ago, where he did pretty much everything but score, Piutau admitted it was nice finally to get some points on the board in his eighth Test.
“It was awesome,” he said.
“I had a bit of a drought in the first few games so it’s a good feeling being able to finish off and complement the guys that did all the hard work on the inside.”
Piutau’s speed and footwork got him on the outside of the Japanese defence and he linked well with fullback Beauden Barrett – then replacement Tom Taylor – and centre Ben Smith.
Aside from his own tries, he had a hand in several others, most notably Smith’s in the first half.
Hansen acknowledged Piutau’s contribution, saying he had played well, scored two good tries and was unlucky not to get another.
But Piutau wouldn’t be drawn on whether he had done enough to put pressure on more established names, such as the returning Cory Jane.
“For me, it’s just getting the opportunities and making the most of it,” he said.
“Whatever the coaches are telling me to do that week, I’m trying to do that to the best of my ability.”
It was Piutau’s opener that broke the deadlock in the 10th minute.
But it took until the 27th minute for the next five-pointer to come and he admitted the All Blacks had got sucked into playing Japan at their own game.
“We didn’t really want to get into throwing the ball around but it kind of did happen like that,” he said.
“We didn’t get into our structures as well as we wanted to. In that first 20 minutes, they really came out passionate playing in front of a home crowd.”