Highlanders confirm Nehe Milner-Skudder signing, All Blacks Sevens star to also join squad
The Highlanders have confirmed the signing of former All Blacks wing Nehe Milner-Skudder on a two-year deal.
A 1 News report on Tuesday stated that the electric 13-test wing would link up with the 2015 Super Rugby champions for the upcoming Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign, and the Dunedin franchise solidified the news on Wednesday evening.
“I’ve heard some unreal things about the club and the culture at the Highlanders,” Milner-Skudder said in a statement.
“I’m really looking forward to the move to Dunedin and embracing everything it has to offer. I’m excited for this new opportunity and can’t wait to get into some mahi with the boys and lace up the boots for the Highlanders.”
The 29-year-old was an integral member of New Zealand’s success at the 2015 World Cup, scoring eight tries in his first eight tests – including one in the tournament final against Australia – in a year where he was crowned World Rugby breakthrough player of the year.
A five-season veteran and 2016 Super Rugby champion with the Hurricanes, Milner-Skudder’s progress was curtailed by a string of injuries in the ensuing four years, restricting him to just five tests over that period.
As a result, he opted to cash in his talents by signing a deal with French club Toulon ahead of the 2019-20 season, but the ongoing rehabilitation of a problematic shoulder prevented him from linking up with the Top 14 outfit.
The Highlanders have been dealt a series of injuries in the outside backs themselves, with lengthy sideline stints to the likes of Tevita Nabura and Connor Garden-Bachop making a southern switch possible for Milner-Skudder.
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“This was a great opportunity to include a player with his experience into our squad,” Highlanders head coach Aaron Mauger said.
“His style of play suits the way the Highlanders play the game, especially under the roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium, and we look forward to welcoming him into the team.”
Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark added: “We are excited to welcome Nehe and Hanna [Milner-Skudder’s wife] to the Highlanders family. A player of Nehe’s calibre and his level of professionalism is going to add great value to the team.”
It was revealed earlier on Wednesday that Milner-Skudder rejected the opportunity to rejoin the Hurricanes in favour of the Highlanders.
“We had a contract offer in front of him, but he decided he wanted to go to the Highlanders,” Hurricanes head coach Jason Holland told Newstalk ZB.
“He had a look at all the plusses and minuses of both sides and he decided it was best for Nehe Milner-Skudder to be at the Highlanders.
“That was Skudz’s call and he had to do what was best for him.”
Milner-Skudder isn’t the only new addition to the Highlanders for the 2020 domestic season, with All Blacks Sevens star Vilimoni Koroi also joining the squad to fill the void left by the franchise’s injured players.
The Otago playmaker – who can cover fullback, wing and first-five – last year signed a three-year deal with the Highlanders that was due to commence in 2021 to allow him to pursue his Tokyo Olympics ambitions.
However, the year-long postponement of the Games and cancellation of the remainder of the 2019-20 World Sevens Series due to the coronavirus pandemic means the 22-year-old will assemble with the squad, alongside Milner-Skudder, on Monday.
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments