'He stole about three or four of our balls': Blues excited about Anton Segner
The Blues are ecstatic to have picked up Tasman product Anton Segner, the 20-year-old German-born loose forward that has been turning heads since he arrived in New Zealand.
Segner was named in the Blues squad for Super Rugby Pacific 2022 after signing a three-year deal with the Auckland franchise, who lured him from the clutches of the Crusaders where he was involved with their academy.
Blues forwards coach Tom Coventry explained that Segner has been a “sponge” for information with a big desire to reach the next level.
He said the Blues see the loose forward as cover for all three positions in the back row, adding strength to a unit that already includes All Blacks stars Akira Ioane, Dalton Papalii and Hoskins Sotutu.
“We’re really happy with Anton,” Coventry told media on Monday.
“He’s been under Leon’s [MacDonald, Blues head coach] guide down in Tasman, seen him come through schooling.
“Really conscientiousness young boy, got a great skillset, really resilient. We saw him play through a shoulder injury in the final against Waikato last week.
“He emulates what we are about, working hard, growing his game since he’s come to New Zealand. He’s been a sponge for picking up knowledge, he’s been able to transfer that into his game.
“He’s good over the ball and he’s got the ability to play in more than one position. We are looking at him being able to fill in at No. 8 occasionally as well.”
MacDonald recalled a story about when he first came across Segner while he was a student at Nelson College and was invited to train with the Tasman NPC squad.
“He made an instant impression. I heard a lot about him, more around his leadership and his drive. When I was coaching Tasman, we would get some schoolboys to come down and do a work experience sort of thing,” MacDonald said.
“Somehow he managed to come down and train with us a couple of times. He stole about three or four of our balls at our training run as a schoolboy. The older boys, the Shane Christie’s, were getting a bit frustrated with him.
“I was tempted to take him out, but it just showed at a young age he was a determined, tough fighter.
“He loved the physicality, to his detriment. He’s had a few setbacks with injuries as a young 7, because of his diligence he’s built his frame up now.
“He’s an impressive 106-107 kgs. He’s just got everything that we are looking for in terms of the types of players that we want, aspirational-wise, that want to be All Black because that means they are willing to do a little bit extra than the normal person.
“His leadership qualities we’ve talked a lot about, and that’s not necessarily being the captain, it’s being able to lead yourself.
“Turning up on time, making sure you are doing the necessary homework preparation, you’re learning all your lineout moves, all those things that are really important, and he has that in spades.
“You can rely on players like that to deliver.”
Anton Segner is one of six new Super Rugby rookies in the Blues squad alongside halfback Taufa Funaki and midfielder Corey Evans, both of whom played for the Blues U20 side.
MacDonald highlighted the selection of Funaki as an example of the New Zealand’s development system working after incumbent halfback Jonathan Ruru left the Blues to take up an opportunity in France.
“It was a three-year offer in France for Jono [Ruru]. He’s been fantastic for us and we supported him in that shift. He made it pretty clear to us that at some point overseas is where he wants to go, and this was a really great opportunity for him,” he said.
“We feel we are in a good space [at halfback]. We are really happy with Finlay [Christie]. He’s taking his game to that All Black level, and Sam Nock, he’s been around with us for a long time and it’s really for those two to grab it.
“But, also, it allows us to start bringing through some of our youth. Taufa Funaki has come through New Zealand Schools, New Zealand U20, he’s been part of the Blues U20 team, he’s in the Auckland NPC team.
“He’s been training on the fringes with us. He’s shown us over the last three years, as we’ve brought him through, that he’s got the right mindset. He’s a hard worker, he’s hungry and he loves the Blues.
“It’s the perfect scenario for us to start bringing the young guys, the future, through underneath experienced players. This is what the system should look like and it is a good example of it working really well.
“He’s going full-noise with his training and showing it is a good decision by us.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 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 comments