Leicester Tigers sign New Zealander Taufua
Long-serving Crusaders loose forward, Jordan Taufua, has announced he will depart New Zealand at the conclusion of the 2019 season. The 27-year-old is set to join Premiership side Leicester Tigers, after what will be his seventh season with the Crusaders.
Taufua said he felt it was important to make the announcement ahead of the start of the Investec Super Rugby competition, so that he could focus solely on making the most of his final season.
“The New Zealand rugby environment isn’t easy to leave, and the support I’ve had from team mates, management and fans over the years made this a difficult decision.
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to wear both the Crusaders and Mako jerseys over a long period of time, but for me this is the next step in my rugby career. It’s an opportunity to experience the game over the other side of the world, and tackle a new challenge which is exciting for both myself and my family.”
“I am very excited to be joining the Leicester Tigers after the Rugby World Cup this year. I have taken time to learn about the history of the club and it will be an honour to be a part of such a storied rugby programme.
“I see a lot of similarities between the Tigers and the Crusaders, and I am fully bought-in to the vision that Geordan Murphy and his staff have for the team. I am looking forward to playing in front of the club’s amazing fans at Welford Road later this year.”
Tigers head coach Geordan Murphy added: “Jordan is a very physical and powerful player schooled in the best traditions of back-row play in New Zealand. He has extensive experience in Super Rugby with the Crusaders and we look forward to welcoming him to Welford Road in the new season.”
Last year, Taufua was rewarded for his loyalty and consistency with selection in the All Blacks squad for the Steinlager Series. However, injuries meant he never got the chance to play for the national side in 2018.
“It was a dream come true to be named in the All Blacks for the first time and, while it was disappointing not to take the field, I still have aspirations to pull on the black jersey this year. Between that goal, and the opportunity to win another Super Rugby title with the Crusaders, I’m looking forward to throwing all of my energy into 2019,” Taufua said.
Taufua represented New Zealand Under 17s, Samoa in the 2011 Junior World Championship, and then New Zealand Under 20 the following year. He made his provincial debut for Tasman in 2012, and returned to the Mako in 2017 after time with both Canterbury and Counties Manukau.
The powerful loose forward currently has 81 Super Rugby caps to his name, and 83 Crusaders games, since making his debut against the Stormers in 2013. The former Lincoln University representative earned his 50th Super Rugby cap during the 2016 season, and missed just one game during the side’s successful 2017 campaign. He earned 14 Super Rugby caps during 2018, before missing the Final in Christchurch through injury.
BNZ Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge said: “Jordan represents what it means to be a Crusader – he is hard-working, dedicated, and his loyalty is endearing to fans throughout our region.
“Jordan has been an integral part of many a Super Rugby campaign for us and while we wish him and his family all the best, we look forward to one final Crusade with him in 2019,” Mansbridge said.
Head Coach Scott Robertson said: “Jordan brings energy to our Crusaders group like no other – he’s a beast on the field and a great man off it.
“We know he’s a special rugby player, but it’s his community work and unique connection to our fans that makes him a special person as well. While we’ll certainly miss having him around in 2020 we respect his decision, and our job as a team is to put a champion Crusader on the podium one last time,” Robertson said.
New Zealand Rugby Head of Professional Rugby Chris Lendrum said: “We want to wish Jordan all the very best on his next move and we look forward to seeing him play in New Zealand this year.
“We know that players like Jordan and others will make the decision to head overseas, and we respect that, but we feel we are in a pretty good spot heading into 2020 with a number of key players re-signed and negotiations continuing with others, which is positive.”
Tasman Mako CEO Tony Lewis said: “Jordan espouses all the characteristics of a “Mako Man” – team man first; humility, trailblazer, unassailable grit and who dares wins attitude. He is a genuine leader on and off the pitch, a good person first, and his loyalty has made him popular amongTasman Mako staff and fans.
“Jordan has been a key part of Mako rugby, winning two Mako Man awards (player of the season) and we wish him all the best, but look forward to his swansong in 2019,” Lewis said.
Comments on RugbyPass
An 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments