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Naholo, Vahaakolo still on radar as Highlanders search for wingers
They may be about to suit up for the Crusaders against their former side, but Waisake Naholo and Freedom Vahaakolo could still yet return to the Highlanders this season.
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That is the verdict from Highlanders head coach Tony Brown, who told media that both players are still on the franchise’s radar despite being picked up by their South Island rivals as injury cover.
The Highlanders and Crusaders will square off against each other in Oamaru on Friday to kick-off their pre-season schedules, two weeks ahead of their respective Super Rugby Pacific season-openers against the Chiefs and Hurricanes on February 19.
Both sides have grabbed headlines after announcing their lineups for the fixture, with Los Pumas star Pablo Matera set to make his debut for the Crusaders after having joined the Christchurch-based franchise from French club Stade Francais.
The Highlanders, meanwhile, have named highly-promising stars Folau Fakatava, Thomas Umaga-Jensen, Fetuli Paea and Jermaine Ainsley after all four players endured lengthy injury lay-offs.
Perhaps the other biggest sticking point from the team announcements was the inclusions of Naholo and Vahaakolo in the Crusaders squad to face the Highlanders.
Both players are former Highlanders wings, with Naholo the Dunedin-based outfit’s all-time leading try-scorer, but have been training with the Crusaders on a temporary basis over the course of the current pre-season.
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As such, both players have been named to play against their old team this weekend, but Brown isn’t worried about the prospect of facing off against his former squad members.
In fact, Brown said on Thursday that the fixture could be an opportunity for both Naholo and Vahaakolo to push for permanent places in the Highlanders squad for the season ahead.
“Not really. It’s just footy,” Brown said when asked if it would be strange coming up against his two former speedsters.
“We’re actually looking for a winger, so if they play well, they might find themselves in a Highlanders jersey.”
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It isn’t the first instance that Brown has spoken about bringing Naholo back to the Highlanders for the first time since 2019.
Last September, he floated the idea of recruiting Naholo, and younger brother Kini, but now both players are at the Crusaders, as is Vahaakolo, who has become a fan favourite in Dunedin through his NPC performances for Otago.
Vacancies have emerged in the Highlanders squad for a variety of reasons, with the most pertinent positions that needs filling being in the outside backs.
Brown revealed that outside back Solomon Alaimalo is out indefinitely due to personal reasons, with no timeframe established around his return to play.
Young wing Connor Garden-Bachop, voted Super Rugby Aoteroa Rookie of the Year last season, is also under an injury cloud, although Brown said he is expected to be available from round two of Super Rugby Pacific.
Prior to the unavailability of those two players, the Highlanders had already been dealt a significant injury blow in the outside backs when star wing Jona Nareki was ruled was ruled out for most of the season with a serious knee injury in August.
Brown moved to fill the void left by Nareki by signing exciting Taranaki speedster Vereniki Tikoisolomone, who impressed in last year’s NPC and will make his first appearance for the Highlanders against the Crusaders.
Tikoisolomone will be joined by fellow Fijian wing Mosese Dawai, a new recruit from Waikato after having previously served as an apprentice at the Highlanders, and Brown suggested there was plenty to be excited about the duo.
“They’re both going to get an opportunity this week to show what they’ve got. They’ve been pretty impressive at training,” he said.
“Vereniki’s got some amazing footwork. Probably haven’t seen that since Buxton Popoali’i played the game, so he’s pretty exciting, and then Mosese Dawaii’s just got skill and x-factor that all good Fijian wingers have.
“It’s going to be exciting to see them go. We’ll see which one performs the best.”
Likewise, Brown was full of praise for youngster Scott Gregory, who bounced back from a shocking debut Super Rugby season in 2020 to star for the Highlanders as a second-five last year and has been named to start on the left wing against the Crusaders.
“He’s got quite a lot of strengths as a rugby player. For us, he’s a bit like Richard Buckman. He’s a guy who can play multiple positions,” Brown said of Gregory.
“Anything around the collision area, the contact area, he is really physical and he owns that space, so we just feel as though that we need him on the field so we’re trying to find him a spot. He’s played a lot of left wing, so it’s not a concern of being out of position.
“He did play really well for us at 12 last year, so I suppose with Thomas and Fetuli getting the first opportunity, it’s up to them to claim those spots, otherwise we know that we can move Scott Gregory in there.”
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 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
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!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 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.
27 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.
27 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 comments