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All Blacks prop Atu Moli set for first Chiefs appearance of the year while Liam Messam promoted to start
It’s been over a year since Atu Moli last ran out for a game of professional rugby but the talented prop is finally set for some minutes after a number of harrowing injuries.
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Moli, who represented the All Blacks at the 2019 World Cup, has been named on the Chiefs’ bench for their Saturday night clash with the Brumbies.
The 25-year-old has notched up a handful of club appearances this year and last featured for the Chiefs in their final match of the initial Super Rugby campaign last season that was cut short due to the global pandemic.
Moli underwent FAI (femoroacetabular impingement) surgery on both his left and right hips to treat chronic hip dysfunction while he also spent considerable time on the sidelines in 2018 due to a leg-threatening haematoma.
“We’re really happy for Atu,” said head coach Clayton McMillan. “He’s had a bit of a treacherous run with injury but he’s maintained a whole lot of positivity and continues to add heaps of value off the field, in and around our environment.
“Now that he’s worked himself back to a point where he can get back out on the field I think is great for everybody and rugby to see.
Moli’s return offsets the loss of fellow tighthead prop Angus Ta’avao, who will join fellow prop Reuben O’Neill on the injury list.
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“He’s sort of trained with us over the last six or seven weeks at tighthead and it’s really through Gus pulling up with a bit of a join strain from middle of the game last week that has opened the door for Atu to come in but that’s timing,” McMillan said.
“We’ve been sort of asking the last two or three weeks whether he’s ready to go but he wanted a little bit of time at club rugby. He’s got that and now he’s fizzing.”
Sione Mafileo will take over the No 3 jersey while Moli is set to make his return from the bench. Mafileo will be joined in the front row by Samisoni Taukei’aho, who made a storming impact off the bench against the Western Force last weekend while Aidan Ross holds his place at loosehead prop.
New Zealand sides will be left with egg on their faces if they buy into the belief that victories are assured in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman and bonus points will be the deciding factor come finals time. #SuperRugbyTT
?? @TomVinicombehttps://t.co/NhgcgEq8hi
— The XV Rugby (@TheXV) May 18, 2021
The only other change to the forwards sees 181-cap Chiefs legend Liam Messam slot in on the blindside flank with Pita Gus Sowakula expected to add impact from the reserves.
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“Pita Gus has done an outstanding job for us and to be fair, I think Liam will probably give us more early in the game and Pita Gus will give us an injection of power and speed,” said McMillan. “I’m not saying that Liam hasn’t got that anymore but [we’re going for] the experience and the front-end and a little bit of explosiveness at the back-end.”
In the backs, Damian McKenzie somewhat surprisingly will again start the match in the first five position. Saturday’s game against the Brumbies will mark the first time that McKenzie has retained the same role over consecutive weeks since the Chiefs’ win over the Highlanders in early April.
In fact, there’s just one change to the backline with Bailyn Sullivan taking over from Shaun Stevenson on the right wing.
Bradley Slater, Rameka Poihipi and Kaleb Trask all join the substitutes bench.
The Chiefs have lost their last two fixtures against the Brumbies but McMillan is confident that following their first hit-out with an Australian team last week, they’ll be well-prepared for the challenges ahead.
“You just respect the Brumbies right across the board,” he said. “[They’re] probably the most clinical of the Australian sides, I would think. A bit like the Crusaders, very structured, put a lot of pressure on you at set-piece. They’re a good side irrespective of who we put out there.”
“We know we’ve got an arduous four weeks ahead of us but we don’t want to make excuses for anything and you’ve just got to embrace it, make the most of it and get out and play.”
Chiefs: Chase Tiatia, Bailyn Sullivan, Anton Lienert-Brown, Alex Nankivell, Jonah Lowe, Damian McKenzie, Brad Weber, Luke Jacobson, Lachlan Boshier, Liam Messam, Tupou Vaa’i, Josh Lord, Sione Mafileo, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Aidan Ross. Reserves: Bradley Slater, Oliver Norris, Atunaisa Moli, Zane Kapeli, Pita Gus Sowakula, Xavier Roe, Rameka Poihipi, Kaleb Trask.
Comments on RugbyPass
Well that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
2 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
2 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
2 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
18 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
18 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
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