Looking into the man behind the miracle at Loftus

Gareth Anscombe believers can rejoice. The wonderful day has arrived ... Anscombe was a matchwinning star on his full Super 15 debut at daunting Loftus Versfeld. The Blues\' latest first five-eighths did the bizzo in Pretoria, scoring all 29 points as Pat \"Lammy\" Lam\'s side grabbed their first victory of the season. Here are two versions of the Miracle at Loftus. Version one Why has Lam been so reluctant to give Anscombe the No 10 jumper? He should have been blooded last year and thus ready to start in the hot seat in 2012. It\'s not as if Lam has a lot of other choices at first five-eighths - Michael Hobbs is so ordinary you hardly notice him and there is so much to notice about Piri Weepu that he can hardly run. Anscombe is the future - Blind Freddy can see that. Blue and white is in Anscombe\'s blood (give or take a few trips across the harbour bridge). He was a world-class junior performer and is a genuine No 10, unlike past Blues prospects. Anscombe has an x-factor, even if it is not with a capital x yet. Yesterday, he overshadowed the Springbok ace Morne Steyn and, as in the NPC, displayed a knack of being in the right place at the right time. Lam has stumbled upon the answer to his misfiring team (Hobbs would probably have started again had a personal crisis not struck). Steering the Blues to a win over the Mighty Bulls at Loftus Versfeld places Anscombe on the bottom step to the pantheon. He will grow into a superb operator, and good enough to be in the All Black frame down the track. Not only that, but unlike some others we might mention - the words \"Stephen\" and \"Brett\" spring to mind - he cares about the Blues, wants to build his career there, and will stick with them through thick and thin. The world has been set right. A decade of success calls. The sun will shine. Any newcomer who can perform like that at a cauldron such as Loftus is something very special. Greatness has arrived.Version twoThe Bulls are not the Bulls of old and had a false sense of superiority after beating the struggling Cheetahs. The bumbling Blues had received a gigantic kick up the posterior so Anscombe was in the right place at the right time to benefit from the rugby bounceback theory. Many prized junior players have struggled to reach senior heights so junior stardom is no guarantee of senior success. The NPC is no place to judge players anymore because they are not always playing against the best, meaning Lam was right to be cautious about the step up for Anscombe. One swallow does not make a summer, so don\'t read too much into his single-handed and single-footed points-scoring demolition of the Bulls. Other teams will be more aware of him now, making Anscombe\'s life a lot tougher. He will be exposed as having obvious limitations compared to the wizardry of rugby stars past and present - such as Carlos Spencer and Quade Cooper - and also lacks the more measured brilliance of a Dan Carter or Andrew Mehrtens.Conclusion It is dangerous to read too much into one performance and things fell Anscombe\'s way to a degree, but Version One will turn out to be correct. Gareth Anscombe is the most important young backline prospect in Auckland rugby for a long time because he can bring structure and a football brain to the problematic central control position. Added to this, he has time on his side and a commitment to the region. Anscombe can certainly run but he has a conventional game compared with some of his predecessors and contemporaries like Aaron Cruden. Then again, where have all those tricky-dicky magicians like Brett and even the great Carlos Spencer got the Blues in the final analysis? The tough job for Anscombe is to impose his way of playing on a notoriously erratic outfit. He also has a couple of large and loony personalities around him at the Blues in the form of Weepu and Ma\'a Nonu. Have faith. Call it a hunch, but Anscombe is a young footballer who knows how to learn. Faith from the coaches and longevity will be the key. No one wants the Blues to take the dour route, but Anscombe could revolutionise the team by taking some madness out and putting more of the percentages in. At 20, he\'s young, and the best - a lot of it - is yet to come.