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All Blacks coach Foster may have Kieran Read's replacement in 22-year-old Mikaele-Tu'u

By Alex Shaw
New Zealand's Marino Mikaele-Tu'u tries to fend off Australia's Liam Jurd during the 2016 U20 World Championship. (Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)

Few departing rugby players leave as big of a hole in their team as the one created by Kieran Read’s retirement from international rugby last year and could the Highlanders‘ Marino Makaele-Tu’u be the man to fill it for the All Blacks?

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Following the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, Read decided to call time on his international career and has since made the move to Japan and joined up with former All Blacks coaches Steve Hansen and Simon Cron. He left with 128 All Blacks caps to his name, placing him behind just Richie McCaw and Keven Mealamu in the all-time list of caps, whilst he also put together over 150 appearances in a 12-year career at the Crusaders.

Read was an integral part of the Rugby World Cup-winning New Zealand sides of 2011 and 2015, contributing not only as an effective ball-carrier, but also as a ruthlessly efficient lineout option and an extraordinarily successful captain. His stranglehold on the No 8 jersey and consistency when wearing it has seen few challengers to usurp his mantle as the stabilising force at the base of the All Black scrum.

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A young Jonah Lomu playing schools rugby.

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A young Jonah Lomu playing schools rugby.

Time inevitably passes, though, and New Zealand coach Ian Foster has to find a successor capable of filling those sizeable boots left by the 34-year-old.

Sam Cane has been made captain of the side and slots in as the team’s openside, whilst Ardie Savea is pencilled in for a role, whether that is on the blindside or providing significant impact off of the bench. Savea has been used fleetingly at No 8 in international rugby, most recently against Namibia at the Rugby World Cup, though he has always been preferred as a flank by former head coach Hansen.

Chiefs back rower Luke Jacobson has recently been brought into the All Blacks mix and physically matches up relatively well with the height, weight and mobility that Read brought to the position, though like Savea, he is generally preferred on the flank at club and international levels. The same generally goes for blindside Shannon Frizell, with the Highlander adding an appetising lineout option to whatever back row he is part of.

In terms of the more specialist options at the position available to Foster, Highlanders No 8 Mikaele-Tu’u put on a show in the Super Rugby Aotearoa opener in Dunedin on Saturday. The Hawke’s Bay man was abrasive at the contact area and was frequently able to get over the gain-line as a ball-carrier and get his side moving forward. If Foster hadn’t been looking before, he certainly will be now.

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At just 22 years of age, there is plenty of growth left in Mikaele-Tu’u, as well, and if combined with Cane at openside and an adept lineout option on the blindside, wouldn’t detract from the adaptability and all-round strength of the All Black back row over the last decade. He picked up the man of the match award against the Chiefs on Saturday and was fully deserving of the accolade.

His opposite number in that game, Pita Gus Sowakula, was also impressive, and the former Fijian basketball player is a wildcard to take on the role moving forward. If he could be convinced to commit his future to New Zealand rather than Fiji, he would offer a length and comfort with the ball in hand that would be unrivalled amongst New Zealand’s current No 8 options.

At the Hurricanes, one-time capped All Black Gareth Evans is another potential candidate, with the 28-year-old having shown his consistency and impact at the Super Rugby level with both the ‘Canes and Highlanders, for a number of years now. Foster will know that Evans could do a job for him in international rugby, although if the goal is to find a long-term replacement for Read, his search to find competition for Mikaele-Tu’u and Sowakula should take him to the rebuilding Blues.

Akira Ioane is arguably the most heralded of the options available to Foster, with the Tokyo-born loose forward having previously dominated in age-grade rugby and he was swiftly moved up into senior contention at the Auckland-based franchise. He was able to flash his ability early with the Blues, though he did struggle to consistently string together effective performances earlier in his 20’s.

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Now, with four full Super Rugby seasons under his belt, Ioane is a far more effective performer week after week, he has an All Blacks cap to his name and he matches up physically with Read as closely as any of the players mentioned here. He does not boast Read’s same mastery of the lineout yet, though he offers plenty as a ball-carrier both close to the ruck and in the wide channels. He has become a much more rounded player over the last 18 months.

Ioane has a significant rival in Auckland, let alone the All Blacks, however, with the 21-year-old Hoskins Sotutu enjoying a breakout campaign at the Super Rugby level. The versatile back row has looked comfortable at No 8 at the pinnacle of domestic rugby in the country and throws his name into the mix for Foster to consider, should he, like Sowakula, be willing to cut ties with Fiji in order to represent New Zealand.

New Fiji head coach Vern Cotter will be doing his best to persuade both Sowakula and Sotutu to get onboard with his vision for Fijian rugby, but with limited opportunities domestically in New Zealand should they commit to Fiji, it will be a tough sell for Cotter. The lure of the black jersey is strong in terms of tradition and earning potential in New Zealand.

Given the domineering hold that Read has had on the jersey over the past decade, Foster has to be relatively happy with the options that are available to him moving forward, even if there is a complete lack of international experience on offer outside of switching Savea to a role at the base of the scrum.

Evans and Ioane offer Super Rugby experience and have both donned the silver fern already, Mikaele-Tu’u and Sotutu are younger but offer salivating potential and longevity at the position, whilst Sowakula is the wildcard, bringing the basketball and Fijian flair in equal measure.

Mikaele-Tu’u has taken an early lead in the race thanks game-winning performance he put in at Forsyth Barr Stadium and though not as highly-touted coming through as some of his rivals, the former New Zealand U20 is showing sizeable strides in his post-age-grade development.

Thankfully for Foster, he has nine more weeks of watching these talented players go head-to-head with one another as they duke it out to be the first to be given the opportunity to fill the void left by Read.

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J
Jon 50 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

34 Go to comments
j
john 3 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 8 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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