Five Future Stars Of New Zealand Rugby To Watch For This Season
With Super Rugby’s pre-season match programme kicking off this week, Scotty Stevenson looks into the squads to reveal some lesser-known lights who could make their mark on the competition this season.
Sio Tomkinson – Highlanders
You don’t need to be a madly passionate Highlanders fan (is there any other kind?) to know this team is well catered for in terms of midfield talent. Richard Buckman returns after sitting out 2016, All Black Malakai Fekitoa is a natural first-choice centre, Jason Emery has plenty of miles on the clock and Rob Thompson and Tei Walden both return for another season. Matt Faddes, who was thrust into the side last year as a handy provincial utility and who by the end of the season was the club’s rookie and player of the season, will be keen to prove 2016 was no fluke.
Into this mix comes a 20-year old Otago centre called Sio Tomkinson, who featured in the Highlanders wider training group last season but is yet to be capped for the club. It is only a matter of time. Tony Brown promoted Tomkinson – who has represented New Zealand at Schools and Under-20 level – to the full-time roster this season, and we doubt he will spend another entire year watching from the sidelines. If you want to know what excites us about this kid, have a look at him line up Sam Cane in last year’s Mitre 10 Cup.
https://youtu.be/1Tnbr_eNztY
Solomon Alaimalo – Chiefs
Northland may be the perennial strugglers of the provincial competition in New Zealand but while team highlights were few and far between in 2016, fullback Solomon Alaimalo put together a handy individual reel that saw him finish in the top 20 in all the key running stats – metres gained, clean breaks and defenders beaten.
It was no surprise that he was handed a contract by the Chiefs at the end of the season – not because the club has a shortage of outside backs, but because it has a history of those outside backs suffering injuries. Consider this: James Lowe, Shaun Stevenson, Sam McNichol, Toni Pulu, Tim Nanai-Williams and Glen Fisiiahi would all have the jump on Alaimalo in terms of experience or position on the pecking order, but not a single one of them has come through a season without time on the medic’s table.
Whether that is down to the combative style of play that the Chiefs have adopted, or the rigours of a tough training workload or just dumb luck, no team has required more outside back cover in the last five seasons. Alaimalo may be a rookie, but odds are he’ll get a shot this year.
George Bridge – Crusaders
Nemani Nadolo has left the building, and Super Rugby, which is tragic news for Crusaders fans but great news for Matt Duffie. Nadolo was the go-to winger for the Crusaders last season, and given this is a club that loves to stick to the game plan, they have wasted no time in searching high and low for a Fijian winger to replace him.
Manasa Mataele may not be Nemani Nadolo, but at least the presence of a Fijian winger in the Crusaders side (Jone Macilai is still there too) makes everyone feel normal. That said, it may be another youngster who steals the march on both of them. George Bridge has been signed for the season and given his history playing for both Canterbury and the NZ under-20 side under coach Scott Robertson, expect him to be given a chance to shine at franchise level.
Bridge is not a power winger in the Vunibaka/Nadolo style, but the 21-year old knows his way to the try line. He scored five tries in eight appearances in Canterbury’s championship run last year and, perhaps even more impressively, made 43 tackles with a 92% success rate.
With both Nadolo and Johnny McNicholl having left the club at the end of the 2016 season, the Crusaders don’t have huge depth on the outside. That bodes well for Bridge who’s elevation to playing 23 seems inevitable, and could signal a less conservative selection policy under Robertson.
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Stephen Perofeta – Blues
Dual pivot players have become all the rage in New Zealand rugby, and the blame can be laid squarely at the feet of Beauden Barrett, who is as much at home at fullback (despite his insistence that it is not his preferred position) as he is at first five eighth. Not that anyone is complaining. Fullback-first fives are the ultimate utility back for a coach, and a great pressure valve in high tension moments.
With that in mind, the Blues were quick to snag the signature of teenaged Taranaki fullback Stephen Perofeta, who represented the NZ under-20s last year and is eligible for another world championship this season. Perofeta’s debut season of Mitre 10 Cup was an unqualified success, but one gets the sense we haven’t seen anything yet.
What was most impressive about Perofeta in the domestic championship was his decision-making. He finished the season ranked 8th in running metres, but rarely did he overplay his hand, eschewing the chance to boost his own personal stats, instead focusing on putting the team in good positions. His ability to carry to the line on kick returns was one of the best things about his game.
That is why there is more than a small chance that the Blues have identified Perofeta as a potential franchise five eighth. He has good vision for the game, time on the ball, a kick repertoire and a selfless style of play that signals a starring role. It is doubtful he will supplant Piers Francis or Ihaia West in the short term, but don’t count out a start at 10 at some stage this season.
Wes Goosen – Hurricanes
This was Wes’s first touch in Super Rugby which is a ridiculous first touch if you ask us, or anyone else for that matter. Goosen, South African born and a Wellington Lions squad member, was a WTG prospect for the Hurricanes last season and won his first start after five members of the team were stood down for disciplinary reasons.
Despite the scintillating start to his Super Rugby career, he was largely unused for the remainder of the season, making just one further appearance off the bench. Despite that, coach Chris Boyd elevated Goosen to the senior roster this season and we expect him to be given a few more chances in 2017.
There is good reason for that: Goosen was a superb for the Lions in another tough Mitre 10 Cup season. He led all players in clean breaks, ranked fourth in metres gained and in backline carries and sixth in defenders beaten. And he is still only 21 years old.
It won’t be an easy road to a starting spot for Goosen – Julian Savea, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Old Man Jane have All Blacks pedigree to go with their experience, but Goosen shapes as a ready-made replacement should any of Chris Boyd’s first string attack go down. He’s better than injury cover, though, so don’t be surprised if he is picked on merit alone.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
29 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
29 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
29 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.
29 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick 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.
29 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?
11 Go to comments