Hurricanes' loosie from Feilding named the best U20 player
Mosese Bason won the DJ Graham Medal as the best player in the Super Rugby Under 20 tournament in Taupo.
The strapping loose forward was outstanding for the Hurricanes in their third-placed finish.
On the opening day, Bason scored two tries in a 67-32 victory over Fijian Dura.
Bason played the entirety of a narrow semifinal loss to the Chiefs on Wednesday and ensured the Hurricanes responded strongly to the disappointment of missing the final with a powerhouse 50 minutes in the consolation 24-19 win over the Blues.
The Crusaders won the tournament defeating the Chiefs 31-17 in the final. The Hurricanes weren’t interested in hanging around to watch that so jumped into vans to go home. Heading south, Bason was intercepted by tournament officials.
“They told me I’d been nominated for an award. I didn’t even know there was an award,” Bason told RugbyPass.
“When they called my name I was blown away. All the credit goes to my family, management, and the boys
“I drove home with forwards coach Eugene Smith. I did have a couple of cold ones to celebrate afterward but it’s back to reality on Monday. I have class in the morning.”
Bason studies Design Innovation at Victoria University in Wellington. He is inspired by his grandfather John who was an architect.
One of eight siblings, Bason was born in Tonga. He arrived in New Zealand when he was two. His family settled on a lifestyle block in Marton (Manawat?) where his father Stephen and mother Eseta farm for a living.
Former All Blacks fullback and 2011 Rugby World Cup winner Israel Dagg (66 Tests, 26 tries, 60 wins) was born in Marton.
Bason was playing Under 8 rugby when he was three. His brother Vernon Bason was starting hooker for the Hurricanes 20s. His sister Taufa Bason has played in the Farah Palmer Cup for Manawat?.
Feilding High School, 20 km north of Palmerston North, has become something of a rugby nursery. In the 2023 Rugby World Cup final there were three All Blacks from Feilding, Codie Taylor, Sam Whitelock, and Aaron Smith.
Georgia Ponsonby, Sarah Hirini, Amy Cokayne (England), and Carys Dallinger (Australia) are all female internationals out of Feilding.
Bason was in the boys’ First XV from 2021 to 2023. He played 50 out of a possible 54 games as Feilding twice won the Taine Randall Cup as Central North Island competition winner. Bason changed from an outside back to a loose forward. He scored 14 tries for a side that won 35 games in three seasons.
“Feilding is the home of people who don’t stop working. The work ethic of the people there is unreal. People are pretty grounded and that’s why I think we’ve had heaps of good players,” Bason said.
“Winning our First XV competition was huge for the boys. A lot of work and travel goes in. The coaches really helped us.”
Feilding coach Justin Lock played 41 games for Whanganui and won the Meads Cup three times. Trainer Geoff Pound has worked with City Fitness for eight years and advises Manawat? Rugby.
Bason was picked for the New Zealand Secondary Schools and scored two tries in the 57-22 rout of the New Zealand Barbarians in Hamilton.
On an Australian tour, the visitors swept the hosts 2-0 achieving their largest margin of victory against Australia since 1995 in the first Test (34-3). In the second Test, New Zealand scored half-a-century (55-36) for the first time in 39 meetings against Australia stretching back to 1978.
“That tour was a real eye-opener on what it takes to get to the next level. Preparation, nutrition, and building strong combinations with the boys. There’s a lot of things that go on that you don’t think about at school,” Bason said.
Bason took those lessons with him to Taup?. He was relentlessly damaging in all three appearances for the Hurricanes reserving his best performance for the semi-final against the Chiefs.
“That was a special one because the Cory Jane, Richard Kahui cup was on the line.
“They’re two All Blacks who are legends for the Hurricanes and Chiefs. I wanted to have a big one. It was a close game but unfortunately, they pipped us at the end.”
The Hurricanes led 26-19 with three minutes remaining and possession deep inside the Chiefs half. Chiefs openside Oli Mathis (2023 New Zealand Schools captain) snaffled a turnover and charged into Hurricanes territory. The Chiefs built pressure and Brooke Mitchell scored in the corner. A sideline conversion from Fletcher Carpenter tied the scores.
Energised the Chiefs pounded away at the Hurricanes causing the referee to lose patience. In the fifth minute of additional time, Mitchell crashed over beside the posts to win the game. Mitchell was captain of the Rotorua Boys’ High School First XV in 2022 that won the Super 8 title for the first time since 2001.
Teams were permitted to use a dozen substitutes which saw drastic momentum shifts in some matches. Against the Hurricanes, the Chiefs managed to stabilise a malfunctioning lineout and add zest with calculated substitutions.
“The subs thing didn’t make a difference for the players. We were focussed on doing our jobs but for the coaches, they had more to think about with combinations and timings,” Bason said.
“It was a tough tournament. You hear all these names, but to compete with and against them is special. The margins are very tight.”
The Hurricanes defeated the Blues 24-19 in the consolation playoff. Converted tries for Will Cole, Jai Tamati, and Vernon Bason propelled the Hurricanes to a handy 21-5 advantage. The Hurricanes nearly wilted in the second half. The Blues shut the gap to 21-19 before Sam Coles kicked a crucial penalty in the 76th minute.
The Blues weren’t done. Brute centre Xavi Taele, who scored an earlier try, busted clear only to be bravely ankle-tapped by Liam O’Connor. At the ruck, Salesa Seumanufagi and Oscar Ritchie poached an inspirational turnover to terminate time.
“Big ups to Salesa and Oscar winning that turnover. The Blues were a good team, very physical,” Bason observed.
Bason is affiliated with the College Old Boys Club in Palmerston North. He will be a strong contender to represent New Zealand at the World Under 20 championship in South Africa in June and July. Every winner of the DJ Graham Medal has gone on to play senior Super Rugby with Luke Jacobson and Fletcher Newell becoming All Blacks.
An organised and efficient Crusaders outfit (they mauled a lot) won the title defeating the Highlanders (40-24), Blues (26-22), and Chiefs (31-17).
Loose forward Johnny Lee out of Christ’s College and Lincoln Club was a fine skipper. Hooker Manumaua Letiu and prop Gus Brown look like good prospects. In the backs, Ben O’Donovan (halfback) was a real standout and Cooper Roberts and Isaac Hutchinson look like solid players who can cover multiple positions.
*Josiah Maraku played 100 games for the Feidling First XV. After 25 appearances for Manawat?, he headed for France where he presently plays for Lyon in the Top 14.
Super Rugby Under 20 Winners
2021: Chiefs
2022: New Zealand Barbarians
2023: Blues
2024: Crusaders
DJ Graham Award Winners
2014: Mitch Karpik (Auckland)
2015: Charlie Gamble (Canterbury)
2016: Luke Jacobson (Waikato)
2017: Sione Havili (Auckland)
2018: Kaleb Trask (Bay of Plenty)
2019: Fletcher Newell (Canterbury)
2020: Not Awarded due to Covid
2021: Sean Withy (Highlanders)
2022: Tahlor Cahill (New Zealand Barbarians)
2023: Harry Godfrey (Hurricanes)
2024: Mosese Bason (Hurricanes)
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe 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?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 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 …
31 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
4 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!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 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.
31 Go to comments