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Auckland coach warns that time is running out for Julian Savea's Mitre 10 Cup aspirations

By Online Editors
(Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Former All Blacks star Julian Savea has been warned by Auckland Mitre 10 Cup coach Alama Ieremia that time is running out if he wants to commit to play for the province in this season’s campaign.

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Savea has returned to New Zealand following a two-year stint in France’s Top 14 competition with Toulon, signing a two-week deal as injury cover for the Hurricanes towards the end of Super Rugby Aotearoa.

While he didn’t take to the field for the franchise he made 116 appearances for between 2011 and 2018, the 30-year-old played club rugby in Wellington for Oriental Rongotai last month.

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Despite his ties to the Wellington region, Savea is now living in Auckland where his partner’s family resides, and has spoken recently of his desire to play for a province within the area.

Three Mitre 10 Cup sides – Auckland, North Harbour and Counties Manukau – exist within the city, but North Harbour have already named their squad for the 2020 season, which kicks off in under three weeks.

That has already diminished playing options for Savea, leaving Ieremia to urge the 54-test All Black to come to a consensus about where he wants to play.

“We connected when he arrived home, but that was back in the original lockdown,” Ieremia told Newshub. “He has to make his mind up about where he wants to play, so that’s probably a question for him.

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“He just needs to tell us when he has his mind made up, because we are pretty happy where our squad is at.”

During his time in both France and Wellington club rugby, Savea has been deployed in the midfield at No. 12, despite making a name for himself and playing most of his career on the wing.

The 2015 World Cup winner and 2016 Super Rugby champion has spoken about his newfound preference to play in the midfield rather than on the wing, but Ieremia told Newshub his midfield ambitions might not be realised with Auckland.

“I know he said he wants to play No. 12, but playing midfield in club rugby is a little different to Mitre 10 Cup, so we will see.”

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With a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in New Zealand, Auckland has been the hardest hit city in the country as it continues to endure a level three lockdown.

That has forced the cancellation of two pre-season games while another, scheduled for September 4, is in significant doubt.

That leaves Auckland facing the prospect of kicking off their Mitre 10 Cup campaign against Otago in Dunedin on September 12 without having played any rugby beforehand.

However, Ieremia hopes his side can congregate and train together before September 6, when the entire country may be back to level one restrictions.

“We are just looking for some clarity around what that looks like in terms of training and the numbers of players we are allowed.

“There are protocols around health and safety, so we just need to get our head around that, but we realise there are more important things going on at the moment around the country.”

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Jon 6 hours 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”?

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j
john 8 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.

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A
Adrian 10 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

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