Highlanders announce signing of young Wallabies prop Jermaine Ainsley
New Zealand-born Wallabies prop Jermaine Ainsley will return to his homeland after signing a two-season deal with the Highlanders that is set to commence next season.
The 24-year-old was born in the Central Otago town of Clyde before and schooled at the famed rugby nursery Otago Boys’ High School in Dunedin before moving to Western Australia to kickstart his professional career in the NRC with the Perth Spirit five years ago.
A Super Rugby call-up with the Western Force came the following year, but after 17 appearances, Ainsley shifted to the Melbourne Rebels with 11 teammates and head coach Dave Wessels in the wake of the Perth franchise’s axing from the competition in 2017.
It’s at AAMI Park where the son of former All Blacks prop Joe McDonnell has since remained, but his three-season tenure at the Victorian club will come to an end this year as he embarks on a homecoming of sorts with the Highlanders.
“I’m very excited to be coming home and be surrounded by family,” Ainsley, who made his Wallabies debut against the All Blacks in 2018, said. “Can’t wait to play Super Rugby in New Zealand it’s a dream come true.”
Highlanders head coach Aaron Mauger said he was excited by the prospect of welcoming a young front rower with international experience into his squad.
“Even though Jermaine is only 24, he already has a wealth of experience with over 50 games Super Rugby games and also some exposure at test level,” he said. “The fact that he has a strong link with our region and club history makes it all the better.”
By moving from the Rebels to the Highlanders, Ainsley follows in the footsteps of ex-Highlanders and one-test All Blacks prop Tyrel Lomax, who shifted from Melbourne to Dunedin two years ago before moving to the Hurricanes this season.
The trans-Tasman move also makes the tighthead prop ineligible for Wallabies selection, as, under the Giteau Law, he doesn’t meet the 60-cap threshold required for offshore-based Australian players.
Still only in his mid-20s, however, there is plenty of time for Ainsley to move back to Australia and further his international career – especially with his Highlanders contract expiring in 2022, a year out from the 2023 World Cup in France.
The acquisition of Ainsley is the fifth piece of business the Highlanders have made since the coronavirus outbreak.
The franchise had already signed former All Blacks wing Nehe Milner-Skudder, inexperienced Canterbury wing Sam Gilbert and young Taranaki loose forward Tom Florence as injury cover for the likes of Tevita Nabura, Connor Garden-Bachop, Thomas Umaga-Jensen and Sione Misiloi.
Despite having signed a three-year contract that was set to commence next year, All Blacks Sevens star Vilimoni Koroi also joined the squad last month as a result of the year-long postponement of the Tokyo Olympics.
Koroi and Gilbert made their debuts for the Highlanders on Saturday in the club’s last-gasp 28-27 defeat of the Chiefs in the opening match of Super Rugby Aotearoa at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
Comments on RugbyPass
Je 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!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 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.
25 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.
25 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 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.
11 Go to comments