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North vs South: Highlanders prop called into South Island squad in place of Blues standout

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

Highlanders prop Daniel Lienert-Brown has been called into the South Island squad a week out from the highly-anticipated North vs South clash in Wellington.

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Lienert-Brown comes into the squad in place of standout Blues prop Alex Hodgman, who has left on family leave, New Zealand Rugby confirmed on Friday.

The 27-year-old’s call-up presents stiff competition to back-up All Blacks loosehead Joe Moody on the bench, with impressive Crusaders front rower George Bower also in contention for a place in the match day 23.

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A Canterbury representative since 2014, Lienert-Brown’s inclusion in the South squad also adds an extra storyline to a clash that has already thrown up plenty of intriguing match-ups.

Should he be named in the match day side to run out at Sky Stadium next Saturday, the 2015 Super Rugby champion will likely face off against younger brother and All Blacks star Anton Lienert-Brown, who has been included in the North squad.

While the duo were both born and raised in Christchurch, Anton made his provincial debut for Waikato as a teenager in 2014, thus tying his allegiance to the North Island.

The Lienert-Brown brothers aren’t the only pair of siblings set to square off in the New Zealand capital next weekend, with North Island first-five Beauden Barrett expected to face young brother and South Island fullback Jordie.

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Similarly to the Lienert-Brown’s, both the Barrett brothers hail from the same region in Taranaki, with Beauden debuting for the province in 2010.

However, although Jordie is now also signed with Taranaki at Mitre 10 Cup level, the 23-year-old made his first-class debut for Canterbury in 2016, making him eligible for the South Island.

The loss of Hodgman, who is eligible for the South after making his debut for Canterbury six years ago, is a considerable blow for the All Blacks selectors given his career-best form for the Blues during Super Rugby Aotearoa.

The former New Zealand and Fiji U20 representative caught the eye throughout the competition with his defensive work rate and strong scrummaging as he filled the starting loosehead prop role for all but one match in the absence of the injured Karl Tu’inukuafe.

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That hot run of form led to a New Zealand Herald report which revealed that he was among a slew of Super Rugby Aotearoa players – including Bower, Hoskins Sotutu, Pita Gus Sowakula and Manasa Mataele – that Fiji head coach Vern Cotter was interested in.

“There’s guys that have shown really good form,” Cotter told the Herald last month. “Alex Hodgman from the Blues has gone really well.”

The North vs South match is scheduled to kick-off at 7:10pm on Saturday, September 5 at Sky Stadium in Wellington.

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Jon 8 hours 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”?

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john 11 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.

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