Mitch Hunt's bounce back: 'Ian Foster gave me a call and said at the start of last year I wasn't on the radar'
When Mitch Hunt called time on his career with the Crusaders and packed his bags to head further south, his recruitment was rightly hailed as an excellent pick-up for the Highlanders.
At the time, no player at the franchise has truly nailed down the starting No 10 role and Hunt had proven himself a handy operator for the Crusaders in his four years with the club.
It was also a sensible move for the 25-year-old. He’d shown promise as a young first five but with Richie Mo’unga well and truly entrenched as the Crusaders’ first-choice pivot, opportunities were few and far between with the champion side.
Instead, Hunt found himself jostling with Josh Ioane at the Highlanders.
They weren’t always competing to be the only playmaker on the park, however – sometimes they were simply battling to see who would wear No 10, and would be consigned to a different spot in the backline.
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Since his move south, Hunt has just as often played at fullback as he has first five-eighth. Ioane, meanwhile, has been shuffled between the 10, 12 and 15 jerseys. It’s hard to know where the two are going to pop up next – but you get the feeling that coach Tony Brown is quite happy keeping his opposition guessing.
Regardless of where they’re positioned on the field, however, Hunt is confident that the Highlanders prosper when both players are on the park at the same time – and that his time with his new side has been successful to date, despite the opinions of some on social media.
“I might not be the flashiest player in terms of X-factor and scoring all the tries but I’d like to think that I have a positive impact on the team around game management, game driving and consistency,” Hunt told Stuff ahead of Sunday’s match with the Blues, where Hunt has been named on the bench.
“People are questioning me at the moment at No 10, they’re not rating it. But I’m still getting picked there. It’s the stuff that people don’t see, maybe around the team leadership, or game management, or an extra set of eyes when you get myself and Josh out there.
“That’s a huge help when you are out there. Obviously, the backing of Tony is huge for the confidence, it’s massive.”
"I think we all accept that refs have to make split second decisions that aren't always correct. But the TMO has the luxury of having many looks at many angles so [it's] really not acceptable."
This was a clanger 😬 #SuperRugbyAotearoa #CRUvCHIhttps://t.co/xk7tAmWuL2
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 13, 2021
It’s not just his own head coach that has backed Hunt, however, with the All Blacks selectors also praising Hunt’s improvement throughout 2020 – despite not always playing at No 10.
Ahead of last year’s North v South match, Hunt was named in the North Island squad (which raised a few eyebrows, given the limited amount of time that he had spent living on said island), indicating the respect that the national selectors had for the utility back.
“Ian Foster gave me a call and said at the start of last year I wasn’t on the radar,” Hunt said. “But because of the season that I had in 2020, I was rewarded with that North v South game and a position on that radar.
“The feedback was to keep going and build on what I had been doing. It didn’t go much deeper than that because I’m not directly in that All Blacks frame, but to be rewarded like that is great for the confidence.”
Hunt admitted he was “pretty nervous” making the shift from the Crusaders to the Highlanders, but quickly realised he had little to worry about – and given the massive strides he’s taken over the past year, it appears that the 25-year-old is fitting right in with his new teammates.
Hunt will wear jersey No 22 in Sunday’s match with the Blues at Eden Park. The game kicks off at 3:35pm NZT and will be broadcast on RugbyPass for subscribers who hold a Super Rugby Aotearoa season pass.
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments