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Freakish Super Rugby No.8 could play for England
He qualifies for New Zealand, Fiji, England and played most of his life in the backs. Yet a few years after making the transition to the back of the scrum, Hoskins Sotutu is being dubbed an All Blacks No 8 in waiting.
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Witnessing the Blues’ continued resurgence during Super Rugby Aotearoa it is impossible to miss Sotutu’s blond-haired presence often leading the charge alongside captain Patrick Tuipulotu’s pink tips.
The 21-year-old, in his first full Super Rugby campaign after debuting late last season, has kept talented teammate Akira Ioane out of the No 8 role with a series of captivating performances, and now seems destined to crack the All Blacks squad later this year.
Blues forwards coach Tom Coventry is far from alone in being impressed by his No8 who returned from lockdown to deliver personal bests in the bench press, squat and aerobic testing.
New Fiji coach Vern Cotter is understood to be hopeful of luring Sotutu and if All Blacks coach Ian Foster doesn’t come calling, England may yet try their luck.
Whatever colour the jersey, test rugby beckons.
“Last year, we were critical of some of those things so he’s got the bit between his teeth. He understands he needed to change and he has,” Coventry says. “We’ve given him an opportunity early in the year to impress. We trusted him and he has taken that chance.
“He’s a catalyst for the change in our squad and the Blues fortunes.”
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Sotutu has made the most tackles (27) — jointly with Blues flanker Dalton Papalii — and the most carries (22) by any forward in the New Zealand derby competition.
Although those stats signal vastly improved work rate and support play, it’s his silky skills that have tongues wagging.
Last week in Hamilton, as the Blues secured their first away win over the Chiefs since 2011, Sotutu scored from close range and then sealed victory in challenging conditions with a superb cutout pass off his left hand to put Mark Telea in.
It was no fluke. Earlier in the year, when the Blues defeated the Waratahs in Sydney, Sotutu sent Telea over with a deft grubber kick.
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While harnessing the abrasive attributes required from No 8, Sotutu’s range of skills were honed at Sacred Heart College where he played in the backs until Year 12. His father, Waisake, who as vice-captain led Fiji to the 1999 World Cup, played on the wing for Auckland from 1991-97 and the Blues in 1996, naturally had a key role in nurturing his son’s talents.
From the confines of isolation, Hoskins Sotutu and I spoke about his impressive season with the @BluesRugbyTeam. #SuperRugbyhttps://t.co/pWOhi1kKJm
— Tom Vinicombe (@TomVinicombe) March 26, 2020
“I started off on the wing because, you know, Fijians are wingers,” Sotutu tells the Weekend Herald this week. “I think I got a little bit slower and bigger so the coaches decided to chuck me in the forwards and see how I go and I’ve stayed there.
“My dad helped me with those sorts of skills growing up. We’d get out on the field and kick the ball to each other and if I did a bad kick he’d probably keep me there until I got it right.
“It’s funny for him now though — he’s a back and he’s trying to tell me what to do in the forwards. When I was younger it was all right but now it’s like ‘you’re a winger buddy’.
“I’ve always been able to pass off both hands all right so being in the backs probably helped.
“I like the forwards here because within our structure a lot of loose forwards get space to run with the ball. You’re in amongst the action all the time as well.”
Sotutu is born and raised in New Zealand but he knows a decision on his test eligibility looms.
“Whatever is next will come. I’ve got my dad’s Fijian heritage and that Kiwi side and my mum is English as well so I can qualify for an English passport.
“When the decision comes it will come easy but for the moment I’m just focusing on the Blues.
“I’m still learning. I’m taking this as my debut season and trying to find my feet and keep working on my craft.”
There is a danger in building prodigies up too soon but, in the case of the All Blacks, there is also a desperate need for a No 8, with Kieran Read’s test retirement leaving Ardie Savea the only established replacement.
Coventry chuckles as he recalls the Blues considering Sotutu to fill in the backs when injuries hit last year but there are no jokes predicting his rapid rise to the All Blacks.
“Having three choices is pretty cool but I like to think he’s an All Black in the making,” Coventry says, echoing the thoughts of many.
“In New Zealand, we’re pretty good at knowing when we’ve got talent available and ready to play. There is no set formula. We all see it.
“I’m not a big fan of making guys wait too long. You get them on the grass when they’re in good shape it doesn’t really matter about their age.
“Experience, well, you pick that up in Super Rugby.
“This competition is arguably as good as any you’re going to find in the world and not far behind test rugby so if he’s handling his own in this then I’d suggest he can handle himself at the next level as well.
“It’s not really a position we specialise in when kids are at school,” Coventry says. “The days of Buck Shelford and Zinzan Brooke being specialist No 8s, we probably haven’t really created one since those two were at the forefront of the game in New Zealand.”
It seems only a matter of time before Sotutu follows in those revered footsteps.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
1 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
13 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)
1 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?
1 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.
16 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
16 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.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to comments