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Pressure is off for returning Turbos veteran Andre Taylor
Times have certainly changed since Andre Taylor cut his teeth in New Zealand’s NPC.
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For starters, in 2006 it was the inaugural year of the Air New Zealand Cup, there was no Premiership/Championship split, and some average players were coining six figures for three months’ work as several unions used the $2m salary cap figure as a target.
What’s more, Taylor was still a Palmerston North BHS student when he was whistled up by Turbos coach Dave Rennie. In just his fourth game, he marked a certain Jonah Tali Lomu, when Manawatu faced North Harbour in Albany. The young fella did alright too, acquitting himself well.
“That was scary at the time. Luckily he wasn’t in his prime, otherwise I would have been on one of those YouTube clips, being a doormat!” says Taylor at today’s Mitre 10 Cup season launch in Auckland.
Taylor went on to play 33 games for both Manawatu (2006-09) and then Taranaki (2010-13), along with 54 often useful outings for the Hurricanes (2010-14), the Maori All Blacks and NZ Under 20s.
So where has the 31-year-old sprung from? Well, Japan has been home since 2014, playing for the Kintetsu Liners and latterly the Munakata Sanix Blues. There was even talk of him qualifying for the Brave Blossoms, but he is back to his roots, happy to settle down and offer value to Manawatu.
He is not the only old head. Lock cum loose forward Nick Crosswell played with Taylor in 2006 and is now on 93 games, so is gunning for the ton.
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“It sure has changed. I’m just wondering whether I can keep up with all these young guys, but I have followed both Manawatu and Taranaki since I’ve been in Japan,” says Taylor.
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Taylor will probably operate at fullback for Manawatu, but at full strength, there are plenty of back three options, such as Junior Laloifi, Te Rangatira Waitokia and of course Nehe Milner-Skudder, who may see some game time in October.
He cuts a relaxed figure, knowing he is not desperately searching for a full-time rugby gig anymore. Compare that with many youngsters coming through who have eyes only for Super Rugby.
“Japan was enjoyable, but things in life change. I’m just going with the flow now, really. Whatever comes, comes. If nothing comes, I’m not too worried. It’s more about my son and trying to spend more time with him when I can. I’ve also started a new business, doing property maintenance in Palmie, so once this season finishes, I can kick into that.”
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Taylor enjoyed getting back to his College Old Boys club, earning his blazer for 25 games (which took him 12 years) and kicking back after the relentless nature of full-time professionalism.
“I might have lost a bit of speed, but the knowledge of the game has grown, so my positional play is better than it used to be. I can run fast, but these days younger guys can run faster, if you know what I mean,” he says.
The new Turbos coach is the experienced Peter Russell, who was the 2007 New Zealand coach of the year for his work with Hawke’s Bay.
“He’s good and I’ve seen him develop his coaching in Japan with NEC. They were a battling side, but are now back up in that top eight and pushing for the playoffs. He brings positivity and makes sure everyone is treated the same,” says Taylor.
Manawatu looks equipped to be a Championship contender after a disappointing sixth place finish in that division last season. The Turbos kick off their Mitre 10 Cup campaign with a Championship clash against old rival Hawke’s Bay on August 11.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Big difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
29 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
29 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
29 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.
29 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.
29 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 comments