Tag: Super Rugby Pacific

Super Rugby Pacific 2023: Signings to Watch

Super Rugby Pacific 2023: Signings to Watch

While most rugby fans in the Northern Hemisphere are getting ready for the return of the Six Nations, the Southern Hemisphere is getting ready for the beginning of the next phase of Super Rugby. Kicking off on February 24ᵗʰ when the Crusaders host the Chiefs, this will be the second edition of the new format, which sees the 5 Australian franchises, 5 New Zealand franchises and 2 Pacific Island franchises fighting out for a title that has generally found its way to Christchurch since the 2017 tournament—Crusaders won all of the full competitions and both Super Rugby Aotearoa competitions, but were not in either season of Super Rugby AU (won by the Brumbies in 2020 then the Reds in 2021) or Super Rugby Unlocked (won by the Bulls) and just missed out on a spot in the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman final, won by the Blues.

And so, as usual, it’s time for me to look at the players who have transferred into the competition or to a new team in the competition ahead of this season and select 7 players who I think you should be keeping your eye on this season for one reason or another. Who would be your picks? Let me know in the comments!

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Freddie Burns

Starting with a very recent transfer as it was announced just last weekend that Freddie Burns would be released from his contract with Leicester Tigers in order to join the Highlanders. Having originally come through and made his name at Gloucester, Burns is a player who I have always kept an eye on and enjoyed watching. Considered somewhat of a maverick fly half early in his career, he has matured over the years into a solid and reliable 10 who can vary up the attack. Has years of experience in the Premiership with time spent at Gloucester and Bath and 2 spells at Leicester, while he also spent a year in Japan with the Shokki Shuttles and picked up 5 senior caps for England early in his career. Something makes me feel that Burns’ style of play will work nicely down in Dunedin, and teams should watch out for his tried and tested chip and chase in and around their 22.

Patrick Tuipulotu

The 43-cap All Black returns from Toyota Verblitz, and boy will the Blues need him with Luke Romano retiring and Josh Goodhue going the other way to join Black Rams Tokyo. A strong but dynamic carrier, Tuipulotu was a key part of the Blues’ rise up the table in recent years and a leader in the team. But more than anything, this season could see him competing with the younger Tupou Vaa’i for the final second row spot in the All Blacks’ World Cup squad.

John Ryan

Maybe a bit of a surprise that I have picked a front row over Damian McKenzie, but the scrum is such a key part of rugby at the moment, both as a platform to attack off and a weapon to win penalties. As such, the loss of Angus Ta’avao for the season with a neck injury could have been huge, but the Chiefs have reacted well with the addition of John Ryan. Boasting over 200 appearances for Munster and 24 Ireland caps, Ryan will provide an experienced and solid option to help secure the scrum and put the Chiefs on the front foot.

Melani Nanai

How do you improve one of the strongest teams in rugby? Well the Crusaders look like they have managed to do so once again by adding to their depth on the wing with Melani Nanai. The Samoan did not have the most successful of times at Worcester, but he is a proven threat in Super Rugby, having played 5 seasons for the Blues before their recent upturn in results. With Braydon Ennor and David Havili having both transitioned from the back 3 to centres, Nanai adds some depth to the back 3 to allow a rotation alongside All Blacks trio Will Jordan, Sevu Reece and Leicester Fainga’anuku.

Jack Debreczeni

Another player making the return from Japan, the former Melbourne Rebel arrives from the Hino Red Dolphins. Capable of covering 10 or 15, Debreczini can help Noah Lolesio by being a veteran presence to learn off, while also providing a second playmaking option as a 15 with regular fullback Tom Banks going to one of Debreczini’s old clubs, Honda Heat.

Monty Ioane

A major loss for the Azzurri’s Six Nations campaign, Montanna Ioane was released from his Benetton contract for mental health reasons and chose to return to Australia, eventually being picked up by the Melbourne Rebels. The nephew of former Wallaby Digby Ioane, Monty Ioane frequently impressed in poor Italian sides with his strong carrying and good footwork creating metres despite them having few other weapons to take the defence’s focus off him, and will surely benefit from the space opened up by the hard carrying of Cabous Eloff and Pone Fa’amausili.

Harrison Goddard

And we finish off the list with what I believe (without going back to check) to be an historic moment on this site by selecting a player transferring from Major League Rugby. After amassing just 41 minutes of Super Rugby in 3 seasons with the Rebels, Goddard made the decision to move stateside and join the LA Giltinis, helping them win the MLR in their debut season and being named the team’s Most Valuable Player for their 2022 season—an impressive feat in a team that boasted players such as Billy Meakes, Matt Giteau, DTH van der Merwe, Dave Dennis, Adam Ashe and Hanco Germishuys. Now he’s back in Australia with the Waratahs, who are coached by Darren Coleman, who was coach of the Giltinis in their debut season, so will surely be given a chance to compete with captain Jake Gordan for the 9 shirt. If Goddard can propel himself into a successful career following his return to Australia, don’t be shocked to see other young players follow in his footsteps and using the MLR to gain some much-needed experience of regular professional rugby before returning back to fight for a starting spot in one of the top leagues.

Movember_Partner Badges_Proud Mo Grower_BlackThis year, I’m doing Movember a little different with my Movember Marathon.

You can find all the details on my announcement.

Visit my JustGiving page for updates or if you would like to donate.

Help me to change the face of men’s health!

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Seeing Red

Seeing Red

If recent reports are to be believed, World Rugby are considering expanding the 20-minute red card to more competitions. If they do this, it will just show how out of touch the governing body is with the sport and how it is putting the spectacle before player safety.

So let’s take a step back first and look at what the law is. Much like football, if a player is red carded, they are immediately removed from the field of play and their team plays the remainder of the game with a player less. However under the new variation that is currently being trialled in Super Rugby Pacific, while the red carded player’s match is over, the team is allowed to bring on a replacement after 20 minutes.

So what’s happening in Super Rugby. Well I think the only appropriate word would be “mayhem”! It’s not much of an overstatement to say that the majority of games are seeing at least one red card, generally for dangerous play that included contact with the head.

Red cards are surely at an all-time high worldwide, with amendments to the laws in recent years that have been intended to make the game safer by reducing contact with the head. And yet despite the increased sanctions with the risk of a red card—and despite stories in the news of James “Cubby” Davies recently retiring due to a concussion, having not played since November 2020, and former players Steve Thompson and Alix Popham’s revelations that they now suffer from early-onset dementia—players appear to be unwilling or incapable of adapting to the new laws.

The red card is meant to be a deterrent, a punishment to encourage better behaviour, but it has clearly not been enough and the arrival of a 20-minute red card is even less of a punishment, so it is no surprise to see Super Rugby matches turning into a contest of “who can crack a man’s skull open first?” And the reason that this 20-minute red card is being considered: because there is a group of people out there—unfortunately fuelled by a number of so-called “experts” in the media—who complain that red cards ruin the game. Newsflash: they don’t. What ruins the game is players suffering avoidable injuries.

So what should be done?

Well first of all, the 20-minute red card should be scrapped altogether rather than expanding. Current punishments are clearly not a sufficient deterrent, so reducing them will just make things worse, as we are seeing in the Southern Hemisphere.

Secondly, the post-match disciplinary process needs a complete overhaul. As it stands, different offences have different minimum entry points depending on the severity of the offence, while extra weeks may be added for repeat offenders. However, this is all ruined by having weeks taken off for such rubbish as accepting the charge, remorse, attending a “tackle school”, good behaviour in the disciplinary hearing and a previously clean record. You just need to look at the recent case of Axel Müller, whose horror tackle started at a 10-week entry point but ended up being just a 5-week ban once everything was considered! I would argue that any reasons to reduce a ban are removed, while a financial impact also be brought in, with both club and player receiving a fine dependent on the severity of the incident and the disciplinary history that season, with the money being spread among grass-roots rugby and charities focused on head injuries and player welfare. If bans haven’t been enough to encourage better behaviour, perhaps losing money will give players the impetus to improve their technique, or give teams the reason to focus on improving technique.

In line with this, World Rugby needs to enforce more consistency across the board, both from match officials and disciplinary panels. While nobody could argue Hame Faiva’s red card in the Six Nations against Ireland, Ireland’s Ryan Baird escaped even a citing for exactly the same thing later in the match. English referee Karl Dickson is accruing a horribly long list of incidents that he has adjudged to be a yellow card or less, which have then resulted in a citing and the disciplinary panel deciding the incident worth of a red card. Meanwhile, some of the decisions of the judiciary panels SANZAAR have put together have been questionable to say the best, as a number of red cards have been overturned, including a horror shot from Tom Banks on Toni Pulu that rightly ended in a penalty try and red card, but also left the Brumbies fullback requiring facial surgery. You need consistency in order to set a precedent, otherwise players will be able to cite previous incidents where players have escaped punishment for the same offence.

Finally, there is a law that I thin needs changing and that is the one that if a maul becomes unplayable, the ball is turned over. Instead I feel that whichever team was the more dominant right before it became unplayable should get the scrum feed. The reason for this is that the law encourages players to go high for the “man and ball” challenge that holds the player up and creates a maul, leading to a turnover. Look back at England’s match against Ireland and Charlie Ewels’ early red card. England went for a number of high tackles in those opening minutes in an attempt to hold up the ball, and it was a combination of this and Ewels’ inability to adapt to the tackle laws that led to him getting an early shower.

World Rugby has a big decision to make regarding the 20-minute red card. I just hope that they make the right decision.

Super Rugby Pacific 2022: Signings to Watch

Super Rugby Pacific 2022: Signings to Watch

While most rugby fans in the Northern Hemisphere are getting ready for the return of the Six Nations, the Southern Hemisphere is getting ready for the beginning of the next phase of Super Rugby. Starting on February 18ᵗʰ, Super Rugby Pacific will be the biggest tournament since the pandemic caused the early cancellation of the 2020 competition. The South Africans are now gone and a part of the United Rugby Championship, and we have also lost Argentina’s Jaguares and Japan’s Sunwolves, leaving us with 5 Australian teams (the 4 from the 2020 season, and the Western Force, who were axed but returned in Super Rugby AU and Super Rugby Trans-Tasman), 5 New Zealand teams and 2 new teams in Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua.

Now I love watching Super Rugby—though I’m not sure if I’ll be able to this year as there is still no news on a UK broadcaster for the competition— as we get some wonderful attacking rugby, so as I like to do for most of the leagues that I can follow with some degree of regularity, I’ve picked 1 new signing per team who I think fans should be keeping an eye on this year. In some cases (most notably the Reds, who have only brought in a couple of new players) this was very hard, whereas for our 2 new teams, I was lucky enough to have the entire roster to pick from.

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Blues

Starting with the Blues, and the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman Champions may have one of the most exciting signings of the year in Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. The 28-year-old has been a superstar in rugby league and now makes his move over to show what he can do in the 15-man code. Expected to play centre, he adds a real playmaking ability into the midfield—as if they needed more attacking quality! With the World Cup fast approaching and questions over the best All Blacks centre pairing, don’t be shocked to see him getting capped in the June Tests.

Brumbies

For the Brumbies, we look at a familiar face for fans in fullback Jesse Mogg. The 3-cap Wallaby returns to Canberra after 6 years in France with Montpellier and Pau. A dynamic runner with the ball, Mogg’s presence will force Tom Banks to play at the top of his game to keep the 15 shirt, while he can also appear on the wing to help alleviate the loss of Solomone Kata.

Chiefs

An easy pick here for the Chiefs, in Josh Ioane. Aaron Cruden was clearly never a long-term option when he returned to Hamilton, and with him gone, neither Kaleb Trask nor Bryn Gatland looked like the player who could lead the Chiefs to the very top. However in young Josh Ioane, they have a player who is entering his prime and will be keen to push for a spot in the All Black’s World Cup squad, or put himself at the forefront of the discussion for the next cycle. Could he be the guy to bring the Chiefs back to the top?

Crusaders

How do you improve one of the strongest teams in rugby? Well by adding Pablo Matera. The former Pumas captain is one of the best blindside flankers in the world, a monster on defence and a great carrier, who also isn’t afraid to put boot to ball with surprisingly good effect. If you want to create a strong pack who can also get around the park to keep up with the backs, this is the kind of signing you want to make!

Fijian Drua

Probably a surprise pick here as I go for prop Manasa Saulo. You wouldn’t expect me to look at a squad of Fijians and pick a prop as one to watch, but if you can’t hold your own at the scrum, it won’t matter how exciting the attacking talent in your team is. Well Saulo comes to Super Rugby with top flight rugby experience from his time at Toulon and London Irish, as well as 43 caps. With a relatively young and inexperienced batch of props on the roster, Saulo will be a great teacher to help take the new generation of Fijian players to the next level.

Highlanders

Another player returning to known pastures, my pick for the Highlanders is Marty Banks. With Ioane, Caleb Makene and Tim O’Malley all gone, it’s just Banks and Mitch Hunt left to cover fly half. The good news is that, now on his third spell at the club, it should be easy for Banks to slip straight in. But will he be there to provide cover for Hunt, or will he be a regular at 10, allowing Hunt to shine at 15?

Hurricanes

While the return of TJ Perenara is huge, I’ve instead gone for Owen Franks. The ‘Canes roster is very young at prop, and so the arrival of a player of Franks’ experience (150 Crusaders appearances and 108 New Zealand caps from 2009-2019) will not just help shore up the scrum when he is on the pitch, but also greatly help the development of the new generation coming through.

Melbourne Rebels

Another returning player to make the list, Matt Philip comes back to Melbourne following a brief spell with Pau. While the Wallabies have been up and down over the last few years, Philip has been one of the more consistently good players. Reliable at the set piece and a strong carrier, Philip will play a key role in trying to put the Rebels pack on the front foot as the team tries to cope with the loss of Isi Naisarani.

Moana Pasifika

There were so many ways that I could go with this pick, but I eventually landed on fly half Christian Leali’ifano. The Australian fly half is of Samoan heritage, and will help provide shape and stability to the team as they find their footing against much more experienced opposition, while helping William Havili and Lincoln McClutchie grow into players of Super Rugby quality.

NSW Waratahs

While Michael Hooper’s return is the obvious pick here, I chose to look beyond the obvious and instead pick Jamie Roberts. Aged 35 and 5 years on from his last Wales cap, Roberts is still more than capable of excelling at the top of his game. His experience at centre will be vital in shoring up the defence, while his reliability and his picking of a line will be a real attacking boon for Will Harrison and co.

Queensland Reds

Without a doubt one of the hardest to pick, the Reds only have 4 incoming faces this season: 3 from Queensland Premier Rugby which is well beyond my scope of knowledge, and one from Harlequins’ academy. It is that academy player, Tom Lynagh, who gets the nod though. At 17 and with no top-flight rugby under his belt, he will surely be third choice at fly half, but if he possesses half the quality of dad Michael or brother Louis (who has been called in the England Six Nations squad), we may only be an injury or two away from seeing him come in at 15 to get some experience.

Western Force

And last but not least, we reach the Force and their new signing, Izack Rodda. Rodda brings an impressive degree of experience and international quality to partner Jeremy Thrush in the second row, while proving a solid yet dynamic carrier in the loose. The Force have been steadily improving since their return in Super Rugby AU, and Rodda is just the kind of signing they need to step up against the quality of the New Zealand franchises.

Do you think I missed someone? Let me know who your picks would have been.

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