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Daniel Rona: 'I work hard on my skills rather than running over people'
Daniel Rona hasn’t lost in nine appearances for the Chiefs. Would they have won the Super Rugby Pacific final against the Crusaders last year had he played?
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“Oh, man. I don’t know about that; I didn’t even know that until you told me; the boys out there did their best,” Rona told RugbyPass.
“It’s nice being off the tools; concreting; it’s not that hard; I had a good crew,” Rona reflected when asked about his previous occupation.
The 23-year-old was brought into the Chiefs as injury cover during pre-season last year. The Taranaki centre was then awarded a 30-day “development” contract which expanded to a three-year deal in May. Covering injuries Rona proved mature and incisive.
“Anton Lienert-Brown went down in round one against the Crusaders and then Alex Nankivell went down. It was hard for those guys but it was awesome to get so many opportunities,” Rona said.
“I back my skills; I work hard on my skill sets rather than running over the top of people. I think that’s my point of difference.”
Rona started every match from round six to 11 in 2023. After brief appearances from the bench in wins over the Highlanders (28-7) and Blues (20-13) in the preceding two rounds, Rona was only off the field for 24 minutes in the next five weeks.
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His best display in that span was his last. He scored two tries and cut the Highlanders into ribbons in a 52-28 drubbing in Dunedin. Rona was surplus to requirements after the 29-20 win over the Reds in the quarter-final.
The Chiefs’ pre-season results were far from convincing. In Japan, they were thrashed 14-38 by the Saitama Wild Knights before a slender 35-30 victory over Kubota Spears. Last Friday the Chiefs succumbed to the Blues (24-38) on a festive afternoon at the Takapuna Rugby Club.
“Japan was awesome. We learned a lot about our game and each other,” Rona said.
“Saitama were a pretty good side. The biggest lesson in that game was executing our carry and clean better. Winning races to the breakdown and being clinical at the ruck is massive for us. Lachlan Boshier, an ex-Chief, really hurt us there.”
The Chiefs have the ammunition to hurt the opposition in midfield. All Blacks Anton Lienert-Brown (70 Tests), Quinn Tupaea (14 Tests), M?ori All Black Rameka Poihipi, and promising youngster Gideon Wrampling are all available for selection with Rona whose half-brother Curtis played three Tests for the Wallabies in 2017.
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Daniel attended New Plymouth Boys’ High School where he started as a halfback before shifting into the First XV midfield.
In 2019 he was snapped up by the Taranaki Rugby Academy. He scored a try on his NPC debut against Waikato in 2020. In 2021 he featured in all ten wins by Taranaki en route to winning the now defunct NPC Championship.
In 2023 Taranaki won the NPC Premiership with Rona scoring a try in the 22-19 win over Hawke’s Bay in the final.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments