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Cantabrian Sam Darry's move north paying dividends with the young lock clocking up more game time than Crusaders counterparts
When Sam Darry signed with the Blues for 2021, he expected he’d spend most weekends watching his teammates from the sidelines. That’s been far from the case, however.
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With the likes of Patrick Tuipulotu, Josh Goodhue, Gerard Cowley-Tuioti and Jacob Pierce on deck, Darry entered the season as the side’s fifth choice lock – at best.
Various injuries to Dary’s more experienced teammates throughout the season, however, have paved the way for the 20-year-old to chalk up four appearances for the Blues, with the Cantabrian set to run out for his fifth start against the Chiefs this evening.
“I came in always wanting to push for a spot, but I knew I was young, and I’ve got a lot of development to do. I probably thought of it more as a development year,” Darry told superrugby.co.nz.
“But, obviously, I’m stoked to be getting the playing time that I am. It is slightly unfortunate circumstances due to the injuries to Paddy [Patrick Tuipulotu] and Josh [Goodhue] being out.”
While Pierce is yet to make an appearance this season, captain Tuipulotu injured his shoulder in the Blue’ loss to the Chiefs and hasn’t featured since that Round 5 clash. Goodhue, meanwhile, has spent some time out due to concussion but will make a return on the bench this weekend.
Even when the Northlander has been available for selection, however, it’s been Darry who’s often started games in the latter half of the Blues’ campaign.
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That’s come as a big surprise to the big man – who was hoping to earn some minutes in the Trans-Tasman competition but wasn’t expecting to feature much in the hyper-competitive Aotearoa tournament. A wrist injury to Goodhue earlier in the season, however, paved the way for Darry to earn his first cap against the Highlanders at Eden Park.
“I expected I might get a run in one of the Aussie games, but to get thrown in there, in what was our second game of the season, against the Highlanders was pretty special,” Darry said.
“It is a massive step up from anything I’ve ever done. You definitely notice that physicality when people hit. They don’t really miss at this level, you find that out pretty quickly.”
The Blues have made a handful of changes to their starting XV – including elevating the incredibly promising Zarn Sullivan into the fold. #SuperRugbyAotearoa #BLUvCHIhttps://t.co/sc2RCazhD0
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 29, 2021
It wouldn’t be unfair to suggest that Darry has been one of the most impressive locking performers of the season, sniffling the fourth-most lineouts per minute of any player in the Aotearoa competition this year and making 90 per cent of his tackles.
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It’s been a fast-paced apprenticeship for the youngster who turned down a training contract with the Crusaders to head north and pledge his loyalties to the Blues – but it’s one that should pave the way for a long career with the Auckland-based side.
Instead of having to toil behind the likes of Samuel Whitelock, Scott Barrett, Mitch Dunshea, Quinten Strange and Luke Romano down south, Darry is clocking up plenty of minutes and developing his game on the pitch. In fact, at the end of the day, once the Blues have matched the Crusaders in regular season games played this year, Darry will have accumulated more playing time this year than Dunshea, Strange and Romano put together – which can only be good for the young man’s game.
“You can learn as much as you want on the training field, but you’ve got to be putting it into practice on the playing field and learning as you go,” he acknowledged.
Darry will again partner Gerard Cowley-Tuioti in today’s Battle of the Bombays. The pairing have started four matches together this season, with both also earning a starting cap apiece alongside captain Tuipulotu.
Darry will be up against two fellow newbies at the Chiefs with Waikato’s Samipeni Finau and Taranaki’s Josh Lord holding down the fort in the second row for the inexperienced side.
Both Finau and Lord also made their Super Rugby debuts this year but have had few chances to showcase their talents as yet.
This evening’s match kicks off at 7:05pm NZT from Eden Park.
Comments on RugbyPass
If rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
23 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
23 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
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