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'I think he came into his own on the weekend': The biggest movers and shakers from the opening weeks of Super Rugby Aotearoa
We’re now three weeks into the 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season and a number of talented, young footballers have likely raised the attentions of the national selectors.
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While the Chiefs and Hurricanes are yet to record wins, the Highlanders have one victory to show from their three efforts while the Crusaders and the Blues will go head to head at Eden Park on Sunday to likely decide who will top the latter after the first full round of action.
Despite the mixed fortunes of the sides, however, players from all five franchises across the country have impressed – especially some of the less experienced men doing the rounds.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, Blues centurion James Parsons and Crusaders halfback Bryn Hall gave their takes on the players that have impressed the most in the opening weeks of the competition.
“The one I went with from the Blues is Harry Plummer,” Parsons said. “I think he’s really found his place at 12 and I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from him.
“Defensively, he’s really courageous. He does the donkey work there. Attacking wise, I think he came into his own on the weekend and really added to, I suppose, the attacking flair of the Blues.
“I’ve been really impressed with him at 12. I think it’s exciting because he looks at home there. He looks really comfortable and I know he’s been around a bit but I just think he’s a young man still finding his trade at Super Rugby level and he’s made it his own.”
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Plummer has played most of his professional rugby at first five but dabbled in the midfield throughout his formative years with St Peter’s College.
While TJ Faiane has been an almost permanent fixture in the Blues midfield for the past two campaigns, a pre-season injury has seen Plummer wear No 12 for the Blues’ opening two matches of the season, partnering up with All Black Rieko Ioane.
It was a ‘Harbour Bridge’ skip pass from Plummer to Stephen Perofeta that helped set up the Blues’ third try of Sunday’s win over the Highlanders – a skill that’s straight out of the first five-eighths playbook.
Blues star Rieko Ioane is beginning to state his case to claim the All Blacks' No 13 jersey after an impressive start to Super Rugby Aotearoa. #SuperRugbyAotearoa https://t.co/qsT9Pp1mvV
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Parsons suggested that another midfielder, Dallas McLeod, has been impressive for the Crusaders in his two starts – but his opportunities might be limited moving forward, given the presence of Jack Goodhue, David Havili and, eventually, Braydon Ennor.
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Loose forward Devan Flanders was Parsons’ pick from the Hurricanes.
“Again, I know he’s been around a while but the more minutes he gets, he’s pretty exciting for where his career can go,” he said. “He’s been great for Hawke’s Bay but he’s just great with ball in hand, physical and abrasive in that breakdown area and he can hit – defensively, he’s a big solid body.”
Meanwhile, a pair of outside backs have shone the brightest for the Highlanders and Chiefs.
“I think, [for] the Highlanders, everyone’s going to say this but Connor Garden-Bachop. I didn’t really take much note of him in Miter 10 Cup when he was with Wellington, didn’t really see this coming, if I’m honest,” the former All Black admitted. “But he really played himself into it, pre-season with the Highlanders. Just from form, really. They’ve just given him a crack and he continues to impress.
“And then for me, at the Chiefs, another again that’s been around a while but is backing up his Counties form is Etene Nanai-Seturo. Another young man but he’s starting to really deliver at Super Rugby level now and looking really really comfortable and strong.”
Both Garden-Bachop and Nanai-Seturo prefer to play at fullback but have mostly found themselves on the wings for their respective Super Rugby franchises.
Garden-Bachop was named in the No 15 jersey for the Highlanders against the Blues over the weekend but he was moved to the wing after Jona Nareki was struck down by injury shortly before halftime.
Hall mirrored Parsons’ selections but added an extra player to the mix, Crusaders wing Leicester Fainga’anuku – who scored an audacious try against the Chiefs on Saturday evening.
“I think Leicester’s been fantastic,” Hall told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “It’s going to be tough, we’ve got George Bridge waiting in the wings, who’s going to be coming back from a pec injury very soon.
In another exclusive for @TheXV, man of the hour Leicester Fainga'anuku talks picking rugby union over league, his future ambitions in the game, and where he believes he can add the most value on the park. #SuperRugbyAotearoa
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“I think he’s been fantastic. A lot of people would see his scoring and his ball-in-hand but his growth around his decision-making, defensively – I think he probably missed one on the weekend. I think he’s just getting better defensively, around his reads and working in the pendulum.
“And then his skill-set around his kicking game as well, that I’ve been seeing at training around kicking off that second pivot. He’s got a left foot that he’s been working really hard on and his communication skills have really improved in the last 12 months.”
Parsons noted that Fainga’anuku had done something that few preceding him had managed: “Leicester’s the only guy I’ve ever seen stop Asafo Aumua on the wing and that was pretty impressive, I can tell you that.”
All Black Bridge isn’t due to make an appearance until the Trans-Tasman portion of this year’s Super Rugby competition, which gives Fainga’anuku plenty of time to lock down the Crusaders No 11 jersey.
Listen to the full episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod below or download it on your favourite podcast streaming platform:
Comments on RugbyPass
Who's Jarrad Hohepa?
1 Go to commentsSo let me get this straight. Say you have the dominant scrum. You are 99% sure you can go for a scrum pushover try on the line to win the game. The opposition knows it too. They give away a silly tap kick instead. You are now not allowed to scrum. This is ridiculous! *%@ing the game up as usual! The fact that the attacking teams are not allowed to scrum from a held up over the line is just as ridiculous. Really world rugby? Careful people might start a rebel league called True Rugby or Real Rugby.
70 Go to comments12 subs during a game? How has that been allowed to happen NB? I hate when the game goes in this monopolistic direction closing up shop, it just becomes non sport. Btw have you seen anything of how Liam Coltman was tracking for Lyon? He has just signed to return to Otago though we have a couple of young hookers developing here. He was a popular gentle natured character down here and I’m glad to see him back but maybe he will be a mentor primarily?
4 Go to commentsGreat breakdown and the global politics always confuses me a little. The southern hemisphere seems to be left out a bit but I wouldn’t even know where to start with fixing it. Club challenge could be a step in the right direction
4 Go to commentsSince he coached Free state, from that time onwards, I maintained he was the coach for the Boks. A nice, no nonsense guy with an excellent brain, who gets results.
11 Go to commentswell - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
32 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to commentsReally poorly written rambling piece ..
4 Go to commentsIt was so boring
2 Go to commentspersonally I’d go with : 1. France 2. NZ 3. England 4. Ireland 5. Scotland
32 Go to commentsAndy everything becomes easier with experience therefor counting etc straight after a match becomes easier when you have 100+ caps vs 17 which is the experience you speak from.
160 Go to commentsGetting rid of the Dupont Law is a good thing and ought to have been done months ago! Officially getting rid of the croc roll is a good thing. The law about no scrums from a short arm is well intended in terms of speeding the game up but it’s an overreaction to a clever yet calculated gamble that could have blow up in South Africa’s face if they conceded a penalty from the scrum that was set after Willemse took claimed the mark in the World Cup QF.
70 Go to commentsRassie The GOAT
11 Go to commentsOf their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
32 Go to commentsMy favourite line/exchanges from Chasing the Sun 2. News headline: “SA. The last hurdle in ABs World Cup glory”. Something like that. “You’re all just a hurdle. A hop, skip and a jump”. Coming from Rassie and Jacque. Basically - nobody thinks you’re going to win. You’re just a pushover team. Nobody respects you. When the camera shows the players faces, you can see the effect. You can see the rev meters (die moer metertjies) firing up. Mitchell said he felt it prior to the 19 final. He said to Eddie watching the teams warming up that it was going to be a tough day at the office. Wave a red flag in front of South African, and you can expect a reaction. This is not unique - many teams rev themselves. And Bok teams in particular. With horrific consequences (discipline, poor thinking under pressure) because that’s the drawback to using emotion right? But what this Bok team does better than many since 2007 is channel the emotion and stay on task. Despite the emotion. Why, because while Rassie might play mind games - he talks about creating a safe environment. Listen to his recent honorary doctorate acceptance speech. While he uses psychology he creates psychological safety. He’s a damn fine coach. Can’t wait for Pretoria. It’s going to be a hummer.
11 Go to commentsWhat Rassie does for SA is big. It has helped people to unite and see we can win with the right people in place.
11 Go to commentsTerrible conditions for young players to express themselves just enjoy it guys. As a saffa great to see Ausie youth looking good. Wow SA have some great talent also.
2 Go to commentsYes, another example of French tv directors ensuring that incidents like this are swiftly glossed over for the benefit of their teams…
5 Go to commentsThe prospect of the club match ups across hemispheres is surely appetising for everyone. The reality however, may prove to be slightly different. There are currently two significant driving forces that have delivered to same teams consistently to the latter champions cup stages for years now. The first of those is the yawning gap in finances, albeit delivered by different routes. In France it’s wealthy private owners operating with a higher salary cap by some distance compared to England. In Ireland it’s led by a combination of state tax relief support, private Leinster academy funding and IRFU control - the provincial budgets are not equal! This picture is not going to change anytime soon. The second factor is the EPCR competition rules. You don’t need a PhD. in advanced statistical analysis from oxbridge to see the massive advantage bestowed upon the home team through every ko round of the tournament. The SA teams will gain the opportunity for home ko ties in due course but that could actually polarise the issue even further, just look at their difficulties playing these ties in Europe and then reverse them for the opposition travelling to SA. Other than that, the picture here is unlikely to change either, with heavyweight vested interests controlling the agenda. So what does all this point to for the club world championship? Well the financial differential between the nh and sh teams is pretty clear. And the travel issues and sporting challenge for away teams are significantly exacerbated beyond those already seen in the EPCR tournaments. So while the prospect of those match ups may whet our rugby appetites, I’m very much still to be convinced the reality will live up to expectations…
4 Go to comments