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Report: Standout Mitre 10 Cup star one of three new players signed by Highlanders
After missing out on a place in the 2021 Highlanders squad last month, it appears standout Otago wing Freedom Vahaakolo has earned a reprieve from the Dunedin franchise.
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According to a report from Stuff, the 23-year-old speedster, who lit up the Mitre 10 Cup last year through his sizeable physical frame and impressive skill set, has been handed a short-term deal by the Highlanders due to the unavailability of Sam Gilbert.
Stuff reports Gilbert isn’t expected to recover from the ACL tear he sustained during last year’s Super Rugby Aotearoa clash with the Blues until April, paving the way for Vahaakolo to come into the squad on a short-term basis.
The promotion to Super Rugby is good reward for Vahaakolo, who shone in his debut Mitre 10 Cup season as he scored seven tries and was voted NZRPA Mitre 10 Young Player of the Year by his peers.
Having also trained with the Highlanders upon his move from Auckland to Dunedin last year, it was surprising, then, to see Vahaakolo’s name absent from the squad list for the upcoming Super Rugby Aotearoa and Super Rugby Trans-Tasman campaigns.
Instead, Gilbert, Solomon Alaimalo, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Jona Nareki, Vilimoni Koroi, Ngane Punivai and Connor Garden-Bachop were all named as the franchise’s outside backs.
Those players will now have to compete with Vahaakolo for playing time, and with Gilbert seemingly out of action for a further three months, and Alaimalo targeting the fullback role, there is every chance the former Auckland age-grade representative will get his chance in Super Rugby.
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The acquisition of Vahaakolo will be sure to excite some of his Highlanders teammates.
Highlanders first-five Josh Ioane told RugbyPass last year how he had been impressed with the youngster during his time at both the franchise and Otago.
“Freedom’s been training with us at the Highlanders. [I’ve] been able to see how good of a player he is, and he definitely showed that on the weekend,” Ioane said.
“He looked quite dangerous and looked like a quality football player. [I’ve] been working with him the past few weeks, so it’s good to see him have a crack.”
Vahaakolo reportedly isn’t the only new short-term addition to the Highlanders.
According to Stuff, Otago pair Sean Withy and Jack Regan have also joined the squad as cover for loose forward Kazuki Himeno and lock Pari Pari Parkinson, respectively.
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Stuff reports that Himeno, a new signing for the Highlanders who starred for Japan at the 2019 World Cup, is stuck in his homeland due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, while Parkinson isn’t expected to recover from ankle surgery until April.
Both Withy, 20, and Regan, 23, made their Mitre 10 Cup debuts for Otago in 2020, with Withy earning his opportunity after impressing at club level in just his second year out of Southland Boys’ High School.
Regan, meanwhile, has a unique background, with the Irish second-rower moving to New Zealand following stints with PRO14 outfits Ulster and Leinster.
All three of Vahaakolo, Withy and Regan could make their first appearances for the Highlanders next month when they play the Crusaders in a pre-season fixture in Temuka on February 12.
The two sides will then open the Super Rugby Aotearoa season at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin a fortnight later.
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