'I'm afraid Fiji will miss out' - Blues rookie Hoskins Sotutu predicted for fast track into All Blacks squad
Blues rookie Hoskins Sotutu had caught many eyes with his early season performances for the Auckland franchise before the season was abruptly stalled.
With the resumption of Super Rugby Aotearoa, Sotutu’s stock has skyrocketed following back-to-back five star performances against two Kiwi rivals as the Blues registered five away wins in a row and snapped a 9-year losing streak in Hamilton.
Sotutu was impressive against the Hurricanes, with dominant ball carrying powering his side to a home win. Against the Chiefs in Hamilton, Sotutu took it up a notch with a disruptive display at the line out and some incredible skill to put winger Mark Telea over in the corner.
Fijian international Nemani Nadolo led the praise on Twitter proclaiming the young loose forward will be an All Black, a view shared by many others.
Hoskin Sotutu.. future All black.. I’m afraid Fiji will miss out… He is a freak of a player and only 21 😱😱.
— nemzy (@nemani_nadolo) June 20, 2020
Hoskins #Sotutu is looking like some player! @AllBlacks get that man in the team #SuperRugbyAotearoa #CHIvBLU #Rugby #RugbyUnion #AllBlacks
— Eddie McAteer (@eddie_mcateer) June 20, 2020
Hoskins Sotutu will be an All Black. #CHIvBLU
— Roland Rutihinda (@RoroRuti) June 20, 2020
Just as we think there’ll be no life after Keiran Reid for NZ…
Hoskins S: “hold my beer!” 🍻 #CHIvBLU #SuperRugbyAotearoa #SSRugby
— Gysbert van Zyl (@GysssaGys) June 20, 2020
Hoskins Sotutu is going to be an absolute star for the All Blacks for years to come. #CHIvBLU #SuperRugbyAotearoa
— Stefan (@StefanRautnbach) June 20, 2020
Hoskins Sotutu reeks of All Blacks material #CHIvBLU
— Stephen Foote (@Stephen_Foote_) June 20, 2020
Good win for the Blues. Tuipolutu and Hoskins with big performances. Barrett delivering in the crucial period after half-time. #CHIvBLU
— Jon Cardinelli (@jon_cardinelli) June 20, 2020
Hoskins Sotutu has to get man of the match. Exceptional performance #CHIvBLU #SuperRugbyAotearoa
— Ross Barnett (@rbarnett08) June 20, 2020
Hoskins Sotutu is still only 21… #CHIvBLU
— Jonathan Bradley (@J_Bradley88) June 20, 2020
The Number 8 opened the scoring with a barge over try from close range in the first half as the Chiefs and Blues traded a number of penalties in the difficult conditions.
With the Blues nursing a short lead, Sotutu again came up with a big play, firing a expertly placed cutout pass into the arms of Mark Telea, who scored in the corner to seal the match.
Sotutu’s rise in 2020 has been rather out of the blue, having surprisingly taken over Akira Ioane’s starting spot who had been an established Super Rugby star.
His form has been so convincing the Blues have doubled-down on a power back row by including both in the starting lineup in Hamilton.
Earlier in the year, the 21-year-old explained to RugbyPass that his lack of game time last season may have come from his naturally relaxed persona which didn’t convince the coaches he was fully committed.
“Last year I was basically just training the whole time, I didn’t get much game time,” Sotutu told RugbyPass during New Zealand’s coronavirus lockdown period.
“As a person, I’m quite relaxed. At training, sometimes I might not look engaged,” said Sotutu.
“The coaches just said that if I’m not playing, they’ve gotta pick me off the way I train and if I don’t look engaged and it doesn’t seem like I’m working hard, they won’t pick me.
“This year, I tried to change it.”
Sotutu’s small change has definitely paid off and higher honours are looking more and more likely as each week goes by.
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 …
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
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!😭😭😭 !!!
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 comments