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'I've never seen him play': Tony Brown's surprise admission as Highlanders name side to face Crusaders

By Alex McLeod
(Photo by Dianne Manson/Getty Images)

Highlanders head coach Tony Brown has named a mix-and-match squad to take on the Crusaders in their first pre-season match of 2021.

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All in all, the Dunedin side features 10 players set to run out in Highlanders colours for the first time, including one youngster Brown admits he has never seen play before.

Wellington outside back Connor Garden-Bachop is one of two squad members, as well as No. 8 Teariki Ben-Nicholas, who will start in both halves of the Farmlands Cup encounter in Temuka.

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Brad Thorn speaks to media following Reds pre-season loss to Waratahs

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Brad Thorn speaks to media following Reds pre-season loss to Waratahs

The Highlanders have named two separate run-on sides for each half, but Garden-Bachop will start at fullback both from the kick-off and after half-time.

His inclusion in both teams will allow Brown to get a good look the 21-year-old, with the Highlanders boss admitting he has never seen Garden-Bachop in action.

“Connor, I’ve actually never seen him play,” Brown said on Wednesday.

“So I’m excited to watch him go and he’s pretty excited to get out there because I know he’s had a tough year last year, and it’s going to be good to see what he can deliver first up.”

Recruited by former Highlanders coach – and cousin – Aaron Mauger for the 2020 Super Rugby season, Garden-Bachop was robbed of a debut after a lower back injury in 2019 ruled him out of the entire campaign.

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Now fit and firing, the youngster is finally set to take to the field alongside seven other newbies, including three-test Wallabies prop Jermaine Ainsley.

Garden-Bachop and Ainsley are two of six Highlanders debutants to start the second half alongside former All Blacks lock Bryn Evans, young Otago flanker Sean Withy, Hawke’s Bay playmaker Caleb Makene and exciting wing Freedom Vahaakolo.

The first half side will feature a further four new faces in the form of former Crusaders flanker Billy Harmon, Irish lock Jack Regan, ex-Hurricanes flanker Hugh Renton and two-test Tongan international Fetuli Paea.

Eight-test All Blacks hooker Liam Coltman and first five Mitch Hunt will co-captain the first half team, while Otago skipper Michael Collins will take charge in the second half.

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Star first five Josh Ioane, returning All Blacks loose forward Liam Squire and powerful No. 8 Marino Mikaele-Tu’u are all unavailable due to injury niggles, but Brown noted the trio will be free to play in the coming fortnight.

Towering lock Pari Pari Parkinson (ankle) and young wing Sam Gilbert (knee) are the only two long-term injury concerns, with both players unavailable for the Highlanders’ season-opener against the Crusaders in Dunedin on February 26.

However, injury-riddled wing Nehe Milner-Skudder and ex-Chiefs flyer Solomon Alaimalo, who missed the backend of last year due to a dislocated shoulder, are both set to play against the Hurricanes in Alexandra next week.

For Milner-Skudder, a pre-season debut against his former side in Central Otago would be an emotional affair given his awful run of injuries that kept him sidelined for 22 months between November 2018 and September 2020.

Former Highlanders captain James Lentjes, who was the victim of a gruesome leg and ankle injury while playing against the Rebels last February, is also expected to play 20 minutes off the bench on Friday.

Furthermore, Brown confirmed Japanese import Kazuki Himeno is currently in managed isolation after arriving in New Zealand earlier this week, but hinted the Brave Blossoms loose forward may have to wait until round three at the earliest for a debut.

“I think round one’s a big ask,” Brown said of Himeno, who is scheduled to be released from quarantine on February 22, four days before the season kicks-off.

“Obviously if you have two weeks in isolation with not a lot of training, you’re probably going to have to have two weeks of good training coming out of that.

“He’s fit, he’s been training in Japan, [but] two weeks doing nothing is quite a tough ask to come back and play straight away.”

While the Highlanders will be without Himeno for the first two weeks of Super Rugby Aotearoa, there is hope the franchise’s two All Blacks, halfback Aaron Smith and loose forward Shannon Frizell, will be available from the get-go.

In years gone by, New Zealand Rugby have imposed restricted minutes and mandatory rest weeks for its top players in the first few weeks of the Super Rugby season, but Brown said there is no plan in place with the governing body this time round.

“There’s no real agreement with New Zealand Rugby. They want their players playing, we’ve just got to be smart around how we manage them,” he said.

“They’re leaving it up to us to manage the players and we’re in pretty close contact with the All Black coaches and they’ll let us know if we’re potentially draining one of their players and playing them too much.

“But, as you know, we don’t have too many All Blacks. We’ve just got the two, so not a biggie for us.”

Brown also welcomed the announcement of two new law innovations – goal line dropouts and captain’s referral – to be implemented in Super Rugby Aotearoa this season.

The changes come after golden point and 20-minute red card law variations were introduced to the competition last year.

“All the stats say there’s more ball-in-play time and potentially less five metre scrums, so it can only be good for the game,” Brown said of the goal line dropouts.

As for the captain’s referral variation, he said: “Ultimately it’s going to have some key decisions at the end of the game, making sure that they’re correct and teams that potentially are getting cost games in the last five or 10 minutes can then have a referral and challenge the referee’s call.”

Kick-off for the Highlanders’ clash against the Crusaders in Temuka is scheduled for 5:30pm on Friday.

Highlanders team to face Crusaders in Temuka

First half:

1. Daniel Lienert-Brown
2. Liam Coltman (c)
3. Siate Tokolahi
4. Josh Dickson
5. Jack Regan
6. Hugh Renton
7. Billy Harmon
8. Teariki Ben-Nicholas
9. Folau Fakatava
10. Mitch Hunt (c)
11. Jona Nareki
12. Patelesio Tomkinson
13. Fetuli Paea
14. Ngatungane Punivai
15. Connor Garden-Bachop

Second half:

1. Ethan de Groot
2. Ricky Jackson
3. Jermaine Ainsley
4. Manaaki Selby-Rickit
5. Bryn Evans
6. Sione Misiloi
7. Sean Withy
8. Teariki Ben-Nicholas
9. Kayne Hammington
10. Caleb Makene
11. Scott Gregory
12. Thomas Umaga-Jensen
13. Michael Collins (c)
14. Freedom Vahaakolo
15. Connor Garden-Bachop

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J
Jon 17 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

31 Go to comments
j
john 2 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 4 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 7 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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