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Roger Tuivasa-Sheck could return to NRL next season
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck may have at least one NRL contract on the table for next season, Sir John Kirwan reported on Sky’s The Breakdown on Sunday night.
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The former Daley M (the NRL’s MVP award) winner could elect to leave rugby union should he continue to struggle for meaningful minutes on the All Blacks‘ northern tour.
The Blues midfielder earned an All Blacks selection in his debut Super Rugby campaign but has managed to take the field just twice on the international stage, both being in short appearances off the bench.
The panel were discussing consistency in selection when Kirwan revealed the “whisper”:
“Little whisper is that there is a contract on the table for Roger Tuivasa-Sheck back at the Roosters,” Kirwin said. “If he feels at the end of the northern tour that maybe…”
The panel then speculated that there would be more than one contract on offer if NRL clubs sniffed a potential return for the star fullback.
“Well that’d be disappointing if that’s the case,” Jeff Wilson replied. “I can understand there’d be frustration around this.
“We certainly haven’t seen the best of him on a rugby field yet because he hasn’t had the opportunity.
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“But like you say, time is running out and where do those opportunities lie?”
Tuivasa-Sheck has made 12 appearances for the Blues in addition to his five recent NPC caps with Auckland.
The All Blacks will name a 36-man squad for their Northern Tour with four tests against tier one nations to be played over late October and November.
“I think the hardest thing is, we’re just running out of time, so I want to see Roger get a decent crack,” Kirwan continued.
“I understand why he didn’t get on last night… bonus point… there’s a lot going on, we’ve got to win the [Rugby Championship].
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“But the northern tour, he probably shouldn’t play against Japan, we need to see him against Scotland or Wales where it’s a big test match.
“If you picked him as your midfield right now, he’s probably the last on the bus. Anton Lienert-Brown you know, Jordie [Barret] is now playing 12, David Havili’s back…”
Tuivasa-Sheck’s place in the pecking order took another hit last week when Jordie Barrett was named to start at second five in the second Bledisloe test.
Barrett’s stellar performance could see him battle David Havili for the starting role while experienced campaigner Anton Lienert-Brown-Brwon is expected to return from injury in time to join the team for their trip to Asia and Europe.
Mils Muliaina had sympathy for the situation.
“The circumstances haven’t helped Roger,” Muliaina said. “Because ideally Fozzie would have wanted to win, to get him some time during that Irish series, the thing that he’s lacking at the moment, is time.
“Time in terms of, not having to second think where he has to go over the ball, where all our second fives are doing that, he hasn’t played rugby for a long time, those are sorts of stuff, when he has to kick.
“At the moment, his attacking game is outstanding but it’s just those little things that you don’t have to think about when you’ve been playing the game for years and years and unfortunately he needs time in the saddle and he hasn’t had that.”
The initial plan for Tuivasa-Sheck was to join Super Rugby and compete for a spot in next years’ Rugby World Cup side.
At the time of his decision, Roger didn’t have a position in mind to play in his return, that call was made by Blues coach Leon McDonald (potentially with some consultation from Ian Foster).
The landscape of midfielders in New Zealand is a rapidly evolving one.
“What I’ve noticed,” Kirwan further added. “Is that our kicking game, our short kicking game, our manipulative attacking game has now gone to the foot of 12, so he’s going to have to show us that on the northern tour as well, that kicking game, we know he can step.
“It’s a timing issue, I mean I hope he doesn’t go back to the Roosters, I hope he stays for a few more years yet.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Just what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
7 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
7 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
7 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
7 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
7 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
7 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
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