A Highlander, a flying Fijian and an NZ schoolboy - the recipe for Waikato’s exceptional turnaround
Twelve months ago the 2017 provincial season had just come to a car crash of an end for Waikato.
The once mighty province managed just two wins throughout the Mitre 10 Cup competition – both coming in the first three weeks of the competition, which gifted them the undesirable record of having the longest losing streak for a Waikato team in the province’s almost 100-year history.
The 2-8 record for the season meant that Waikato finished bottom of the premiership ladder – relegating them to the Championship for 2018. This was to be Waikato’s first time in the second-tier of the competition since the current iteration of New Zealand’s NPC began in 2011.
Things weren’t quite as bad as some reports made them out to be. Much was made out of the fact that Waikato hadn’t ventured into the second division in 31-years, however, the Championship is a considerable step up in quality from the old second division. All the same, this was a big fall from grace for once of the country’s traditional heavyweights.
2018 has been a completely different story. Jono Gibbes has stepped in as the coach and in his first and only season with the team, he has helped them play some of their best rugby in a number of years. Now, the team is on the cusp of immediately being promoted back into the Premiership – but what has changed with Waikato this year that has allowed this dramatic turnaround in results?
Playmakers and goalkickers
Clever recruiting in some key roles has played a huge part in the turnaround in Waikato’s fortunes in 2018. Last season there was a noticeable lack of leadership in the key halfback and first five positions – partially due to the fairly regular rotation that seemed to occur, and partially due simply to the abilities of the players that were selected.
Everything has changed this season, with Jack Stratton and Fletcher Smith – recruited from Canterbury and Otago, respectively – guiding the Waikato team around the pitch in the majority of their matches. Stratton had to contest for the 9 jersey with returnee Kylem O’Donnell, whilst Smith spent the early part of the season at fullback with Matty Lansdown calling the shots from 10.
Notably, it was in their first few games, before the team was settled, that Waikato played their worst rugby of the season. Once Stratton cemented himself at halfback and Smith and Lansdown swapped jerseys, the Waikato engine finally started to purr. The reliable 9-10 guided Waikato throughout the rest of the season and there has been hardly a stutter a since.
It wasn’t just direction that was lacking in 2017, however. Dwayne Sweeney, Sam Christie, Lansdown, Sevu Reece and Pita Ahki were all handed the kicking tee at various times throughout the season – players who have never been known for their astute goal kicking – and the results were, unsurprisingly, quite disastrous. The final success rate for the season fell short of 60%.
Fletcher Smith’s accuracy has eradicated this problem altogether. Smith has successfully landed 49 kicks at goal this season – the most of any player in the competition and has been striking the ball with enough precision to notch up an 86% hit rate for the season. Instead of losing matches due to dire goalkicking, Waikato has come out on top in most of their matches in the goalkicking stakes. Of course, there’s a lot more to Smith than simply being a good goalkicker.
Reece more dangerous than ever
Sevu Reece has been Waikato’s biggest attacking threat for the last couple of years, but that hasn’t been enough for him to secure a Super Rugby contract, giving rise to him signing a contract with Connacht which was to commence at the end of the season.
With his future secured, Reece has really let loose this year and has scored a total of 12 tries (a competition best) – with one more opportunity to add to his tally coming up this weekend. The last time a player managed to notch up as many tries in one provincial season was in in 2009, when Zac Guildford amassed 13 for Hawke’s Bay.
It’s no coincidence that Waikato’s last loss of the season – against Otago two weeks ago – occurred when Reece was serving a one-match ban for an assault charge levelled against him. Reece has been in exceptional form this year, clocking up metres seemingly at will. Whilst his defence still leaves much to be desired, there’s no question that his attacking threat more than makes up for any deficiencies in his game – at least at the provincial level.
With Roger Randle, one of Waikato’s most prolific try scorers of all time, joining the coaching team for the 2018 season, Reece has no doubt has been receiving some well-placed feedback on the art of finishing. Reece’s aforementioned assault charge has meant the termination of his Connacht contract – but has he done enough this season to reap rewards at the next level?
Positive injection of youth
A number of young Waikato players should find themselves on the receiving end of Super Rugby contracts come recruitment time. Quinn Tupaea, in his first season, dominated the 13 jersey and has been arguably one of the best players in the competition. Bailyn Sullivan, traditionally a midfielder, has also earned some valuable game time this year on the wing on the back of a very successful U20 campaign. The two combined for an exception showing against Northland a number of weeks ago and will both be on the hunt for fulltime contracts for 2019’s iteration of Super Rugby.
Matty Lansdown is another player who has shown promise for a number of years – earning plenty of praise for the Waikato U19 team a few years ago – who came of age this year. With the slightly older Fletcher Smith pulling the strings from 10, Lansdown was able to focus on his personal game without the burden of bossing the rest of the team around the paddock. Looking ahead, he will likely focus on the fullback jersey in the years to come and would be a good pickup for any New Zealand franchise going forward.
Of course, there are also a number of old heads in the team in the forms of Dwayne Sweeney and Wallaby Toby Smith. It’s the combination of youth and experience that has served the team so well for the 2018 season.
Bringing back Jono Gibbes was a stroke of genius for the Waikato Rugby Union. Gibbes is a Waikato man through and through and will hopefully return to the shores of New Zealand in the near future to continue his development as a coach. Whilst it’s disappointing that he is leaving Waikato after only one season in charge, his work with the team should pave the way for a great future.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
To me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
26 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
26 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
48 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
26 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
26 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
26 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
26 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
26 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to comments