Murray Mexted has slammed fellow former All Black Jeff Wilson for urging the New Zealand selectors to consider benching star No 8 Ardie Savea.
On a recent installment of Sky Sports rugby show The Breakdown, player-turned-pundit Wilson claimed that Chiefs bruiser Luke Jacobson should be the starting ahead of Savea, to give the All Blacks a physical edge at the World Cup.
However, the 34-Test Mexted, who was an impressive all-rounder from the back of the scrum, reckons Wilson should stick to commenting on positions he actually played.
“I think he’s a winger talking about loose forwards,” Mexted said in a wide-ranging interview on The Platform with Martin Devlin.
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“It’s interesting isn’t it, Jeff was an outstanding rugby player and has now become a fantastic colour commentator and I guess it’s provocative.
“He’s talking about a position that he’s not an expert in, he’s never played in. He was a great finisher and try scorer, and actually quite a creative finisher as well. But I don’t think he knows the art of loose forwards.
“If you ask him what the role of the six and the seven and the eight were – and it’s not just Jeff, it’s any commentator that played in the outside backs – they don’t necessarily know about the role of those various loose forward positions.
“I do know about that role and I know Ardie Savea.”
Meanwhile, former Australia centre Morgan Turinui, now also a TV commentator, weighed in on the debate on social media.
Couldn’t agree more for matches july 29 and august 5. Feel free to pick him on other days… https://t.co/rUdADnnO8F
— Morgan Turinui (@MorganTurinui) June 28, 2023
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