Chiefs 'never had any conversations' with All Blacks regarding Tupou Vaa'i switch
The Chiefs will roll out all three of their All Blacks locks in their starting line-up when they tackle the Blues in Auckland this weekend.
With Brodie Retallick returning to the franchise this season after a two-year sabbatical in Japan, Tupou Vaa’i earning a national call-up for the first time in 2020 and Josh Lord getting elevated last season, there were plenty of questions heading into the season concerning how Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan would best utilise the second-rowers at his disposal throughout 2022, especially with Naitoa Ah Kuoi also being a key performer for the team over the past two years.
The impressive performance of Laghlan McWhannell in Round 1 against the Highlanders – when he partnered Retallick – looked to have made things even more complicated for McMillan.
Against the Blues, however, the Chiefs coach has managed to fit all three of his All Blacks second-rowers in the starting XV by playing Vaa’i on the blindside flank. With Ah Kuoi on the bench, McWhannell is the unlucky man who misses out – but that might only be temporary, according to McMillan.
“Laghlan McWhannell, I thought he was one of our best players against the Highlanders but he just misses out purely because we just need to get minutes under the other boys,” McMillan said after announcing his side on Thursday. “The guys that are playing this week, their job is to do such a good job that it makes it hard for Laggy to get back in there, which they’ll have to perform pretty well to do that.”
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While McMillan has every confidence that Vaa’i can perform well in the No 6 jersey despite never playing a professional match in that position, the decision wasn’t born entirely out of the need to get all his top players on the paddock, although that did come into it.
“It’s just really the fact that you’ve got Mitch Brown, Simon Parker, Samipeni Finau and Luke Jacobson sitting on the sidelines,” McMillan said. “We’ve probably been forced into that a little bit but it’s gonna provide us with another option [moving forward], assuming it goes well.
“The other part of it is we’ve got five really good locks and we haven’t had the opportunity to play them all so we need to get some minutes into them and we’ve got a big few weeks ahead of us. So that’s one way we can get them all out on the park.”
At one stage last year, deep into the All Blacks’ third Bledisloe Cup encounter with the Wallabies, the coaches asked Vaa’i to take over on the blindside flank but the more experienced Scott Barrett pulled rank and slotted into the role, with Vaa’i taking his customary spot at lock. McMillan confirmed he had “never had any conversations” with the national selectors, however, and that the decision to shift Vaa’i there for Saturday’s match was his and his alone.
While the injury situation provides Vaa’i with his first opportunity to earn some game-time this year, it’s not ideal for the Chiefs to have now lost All Black Jacobson to the list of absentee flankers. McMillan suggested that the 24-year-old shouldn’t be sidelined for too long, after coming off the field at halftime during the Round 1 clash with the Highlanders.
“He’s just got a minor knee strain,” McMillan said. “He got stepped by a fleet-footed back, I think, against the Highlanders and tweaked it. Again, just being conservative with him. It’ll be three to four weeks, I’d imagine.
Two further All Blacks, Samisoni Taukei’aho and Anton Lienert-Brown, are also set for their first appearances of the season on Saturday. The former – who was perhaps the biggest mover on the national circuit last season – will start in the No 2 jersey while the latter will join the fray off the bench.
Other changes to the squad from the opening round see Etene Nanai-Seturo take over from Jonah Lowe on the left wing and Chase Tiatia slot in at fullback ahead of Emoni Narawa, with both Lowe and Narawa absent from the 23 altogether. The return of the experienced Aidan Ross should also add some extra starch to the front row with Ollie Norris dropping to the reserves in place of Atunaisa Moli.
Coach McMillan hinted that the internal squad game played during the off-week may have played a role in some of those selections.
“We would have loved to play Moana [Pasifika] to kick off their season in Queenstown,” McMillan said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be … It would have given us an opportunity to play a couple of guys so that we would have given the balance of our squad a run over the first couple of weeks.
“But equally, we made the most of that week. We freshened up but we also had an internal hit-out which was pretty brutal and there’s actually a couple of guys that stood out and they forced their way into the match-day 23 as a result so it was worthwhile.”
Saturday’s match kicks off at 4:35pm NZT from Eden Park.
Comments on RugbyPass
Super rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
7 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
7 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell 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…??? 🤑🤑🤑
14 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
14 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)
4 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?
5 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.
6 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.
22 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
22 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.
7 Go to comments