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'Hard to take': Jason Holland reacts to Devan Flanders' Japan move

Devan Flanders of the Hurricanes passes during the round seven Super Rugby match between the Hurricanes and Queensland Reds at Hnry Stadium, on March 28, 2026, in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
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Departing Hurricanes assistant coach Jason Holland is struggling to find the answers, like many, about how to keep New Zealand-based players in the country, after the latest in-form player announced his departure overseas.

Hurricanes loose-forward Devan Flanders is the most recent Super Rugby Pacific player to sign a deal overseas, after the likes of Fehi Fineanganofo, Dalton Papali’i, Sevu Reece, and AJ Lam also secured lucrative deals outside of New Zealand.

His current assistant coach, Holland, was full of praise for Flanders and how he’s grown as a player when addressing media in Wellington on Tuesday.

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“Yeah you can see why Devan’s taken an opportunity, it’s a massive shame having watched Devan through his career here at the Hurricanes, to get more and more mature, understand the game, understand himself around how he gets ready.

“It does get disappointing when they get to the stage where they’re probably at their best, they understand themselves really well, and they’re about to play their best three or four years of footy.

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“So that’s where it becomes hard to take, but it is what it is, and we’ve got to do our best to make sure those guys are playing their best footy in New Zealand.”

Flanders has stood out among a stacked loose-forward group at the Wellington-based franchise, with Holland agreeing that the 26-year-old is playing the best rugby of his career.

“Yeah definitely, look, he’s worked hard on his game and himself over the last three or four years, I know he’s put a lot of time into his prep and how he gets himself in the best possible space to play really well.

“Which players do as they mature, and it gets the best out of them. So really happy with where he’s got to man, he’s playing some awesome footy, and I’m sure he’ll be doing everything he possibly can to continue to play the best footy for the next couple of months.”

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Flanders represented the All Blacks XV in both 2024 and 2025, and is considered by many as an All Black bolter for  2026 after impressing during the opening twelve rounds of Super Rugby Pacific for the Hurricanes.

Wellington has become my second home, and I’ve truly appreciated the support from the community,” Flanders said in a statement.

“I’ve loved every minute of my time with the Canes, and the club is definitely in good hands moving forward.”

Hurricanes head coach Clark Laidlaw acknowledged the loose-forward’s decision to take an opportunity when it came about.

“Devan’s a true product of the region, played all his rugby for Hawke’s Bay and the Hurricanes, and has grown into an amazing man and a really good rugby player,” Laidlaw said.

“He’s done an amazing job with the coaches this year. An example of that is in the defensive lineout, where he’s a real leader now in an area of the game that is important.

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“We’re going to miss him for sure, but we wish him and Mariah all the best with his future career. We look forward to continuing to connect and welcoming him home and back into the club whenever he wants to be back, because he’s a true Hurricane.”

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J
JW 35 mins ago

My take has been to create a model that gives you the opportunity to develop quick and a 7/8/9 team university league (similar to NFL), they have one pro contract term, 2/3/4 years, before they get funnelled into just three probably/possible/trial/state/regional/island teams and the rest can take up overseas contracts and earn the big bucks developing overseas, and then return to NZ at their peak.


Of course with this model the problem has always been that you cannot develop better anywhere else in the world, so these guys will come back less at their peak. I’m not so sure we need to worry about that anymore and the margin could be miniscule.

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