Ex-NRL star tipped to join Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in Auckland squad
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is tipped to be reunited with one of his former Warriors teammates after Auckland Rugby announced another unnamed cross-code star is set to join the province.
Auckland Rugby took to social media on Thursday to announce a new player signing is imminent in the wake of Tuivasa-Sheck’s shock exit from the Warriors earlier this week, which paves the way for him to play for the province over the coming weeks.
“We hear you! We’re still making moves behind the scenes,” Auckland Rugby captioned a post of a silhouette of an unnamed player on Facebook and Instagram.
“This dual-international joins his other Rugby League loving friend this season.”
View this post on Instagram
While the identity of the dual-code player has not yet been revealed, fans and pundits have flooded the comments section in each of the posts speculating that the player in question is Brumbies wing Solomone Kata.
The silhouette used in the post looks akin to that of Kata, leading numerous social media users to predict the former Warriors and Melbourne Storm powerhouse is heading to Eden Park ahead of the upcoming provincial season.
From what Auckland Rugby just put out on their Instagram it looks like Solomone Kata will be playing the Bunnings NPC…
— Jamie Wall (@JamieWall2) July 29, 2021
Kata, a New Zealand and Tongan rugby league international, signed with the Brumbies ahead of the 2020 Super Rugby season after five seasons in the NRL.
During his time in the 13-man game, the 26-year-old was Tuivasa-Sheck’s teammate at the Warriors between 2016 and 2019.
In 2018, the pair helped guide the Warriors to their first NRL play-offs appearance in seven years, with Kata contributing 12 tries in 23 appearances.
In total, Kata – a former Tonga U21 rugby union representative who moved to New Zealand as a schoolboy in 2011 after taking up a rugby scholarship to attend Sacred Heart College in Auckland – scored 46 tries in 93 NRL matches.
Since his move to rugby union, Kata has chalked up five tries in 19 appearances, with all five of his tries coming in his first six outings to open the 2020 season.
Kata, who was part of the Brumbies side that claimed the inaugural Super Rugby AU title last year, has made a name for himself as a powerful and damaging ball-runner.
That much was reflected in this year’s Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, where he was among the league leaders for defenders beaten.
Kata wouldn’t be the only Australian-based Super Rugby player to play in this year’s NPC, as Reds flanker Angus Scott-Young was named in the Bay of Plenty squad earlier this week.
Scott-Young cited the lack of top-level rugby in Australia at this time of the year as a reason behind his temporary move across the ditch.
“With no provincial rugby taking place in Australia at the back end of this year, there is a five-month period where there isn’t much high-level rugby on offer,” he said.
“For me personally, I wanted to come to a new environment. I got my manager to put some feelers out to New Zealand, and this opportunity came up.
“I’ve always wanted to play in New Zealand. You guys are the best in the world.”
The 2021 NPC season is due to kick-off next weekend, with Auckland scheduled to open their campaign against fierce rivals Canterbury at Eden Park on August 8.
The Auckland squad is set to be fully unveiled after their final pre-season clash against Northland this weekend.
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments