Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Blues v Chiefs
Kick-off: 7:05pm, Saturday Feb 15
Eden Park, Auckland
Live blog updates on RNZ Sport
It's one of the deepest positions in the country, but Finlay Christie is determined not to get lost among New Zealand's stack of halfbacks.
Such is the depth that this weekend sees four of the five Kiwi teams with international halfbacks in their reserves for the first round of Super Rugby Pacific.
And while Christie wants his All Black's jersey back, first he will have to battle his way off the bench for the Blues.
Christie played two tests in 2024 before falling out of favour with Scott Robertson ahead of the Rugby Championship.
"It's obviously the goal, try and get back in there but as I've done so many other years, I just want to focus on playing for the Blues and try to play well, then I'll give it a good crack."
Christie will now also need to reclaim his starting position at the Blues, having been benched in favour of Taufa Funaki for round one.
He likely won't have to wait long to stake his claim either, should he get his chance against fellow benched All Black Cortez Ratima at Eden Park on Saturday.
"I don't really think about it too much going into games when I'm coming up against great players, but when you're in those games it's just awesome to be competing against the best."
Christie said the quality of nines keeps him motivated to constantly improve his game.
"It does bring the best out of you. You've got to be on, I guess on both sides of the ball so much more, that competition just sort of drives you and makes you want to be better."
As well as Ratima and Christie, Robertson is spoiled for choice in the halfback department with the likes of Noah Hotham, Cam Roigard, Folau Fakatava and Xavier Roe all strong candidates.
"There's some good battles all throughout the country. There's some great nines going around, not only in other teams but in our team as well. So competition is everywhere and that's only healthy."
Christie has been in talks with Robertson about what he needs to do to get back in the frame.
"We had a week camp in January and we got a few work-ons and what we can do well, what we can do better, there's been a few things in the pipeline."
The Tasman talisman was faced with plenty of scrutiny at the 2023 World Cup, where he usurped Roigard as the second choice halfback behind Aaron Smith.
However, Christie paid no attention to the armchair critics.
"I didn't hear any of it. I was locked in at a World Cup trying to compete, trying to get a position back and obviously by the end of it trying to prepare for a World Cup final so didn't have too much time to listen to what was going on."
The result of the final on the other hand...
"That will hurt for a fair while."
While more national honours are his long-term goal, Christie's immediate focus remains on the Blues and defending their title.
"We can't be complacent. We've got [coach] Vern [Cotter] behind us who doesn't let any of that slip in, so there's no sense of that at the moment. The boys are working bloody hard. We obviously know how hard it is to win the championship from last year, there are no corners being cut."
He said anything they achieved last year now means "bugger all."
"Everyone's at the same level in the starting block. If we go around thinking about how cool it was last year, then we're going to get left behind. We've got to reset, refresh and be ready to go."
All Blacks halfback Finlay Christie in action against Ireland 2022. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
