Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has rare opportunity to showcase his accelerated development
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is set to make his second appearance for the All Blacks this season, having been named on the bench for their Bledisloe Cup clash with the Wallabies.
Should the converted rugby league star take the field at Eden Park, the match will mark just his 17th professional game of union.
The 29-year-old spent a decade representing the Roosters and the Warriors before making the call last year to focus on the 15-man code and linking up with Auckland ahead of the NPC. Covid curtailed his reintroduction to the game, however, and it was only earlier this season that Tuivasa-Sheck finally ran out for his first competitive match of rugby union since starring for the Blues Under 18 side back in 2014.
11 appearances for the Blues later and Tuivasa-Sheck found himself rubbing shoulders with rugby royalty as part of the first All Blacks squad of the season.
One appearance of the bench during July has been Tuivasa-Sheck’s only taste of Test rugby action in the days since, however, with coach Ian Foster sending the work-in-progress back to Auckland to clock up some minutes throughout the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship campaign.
Now, Tuivasa-Sheck is set to put all the knowledge he’s picked up over the past months to use against the Wallabies on his home turf, with injuries to David Havili and Quinn Tupaea seeing Jordie Barrett shift from fullback into the No 12 jersey, and Tuivasa-Sheck joining the side on the bench.
With Blues teammate Rieko Ioane once again donning the No 13 jersey, there’s a very real chance that the two fleet-footed backs will partner up at some stage on Saturday evening – and Ioane believes that his ‘protege’ of sorts couldn’t be more prepared.
“Roger’s been awesome,” said Ioane. “He hasn’t had so many games for the ABs this year but in and around training, he’s learning as much as he can. He just wants to play and learn.
“The midfield’s a tricky area. Him getting games under his belt for Auckland and learning off the 12s we have in here is only going to accelerate that progression. I’m excited to see him go out there on Saturday, back at the Garden, the home stadium, so it’s going to be awesome.”
While the entirety of Tuivasa-Sheck’s brief career in union has been played at inside centre, Ioane’s comments around his own transition from the outside backs to centre would likely also apply to his Blues and All Blacks teammate.
“Probably the challenge that I found was the defence side of things,” he noted. “It took a couple of games to adjust to.”
Earlier this month, coach Foster noted that support work while on the offensive and the breakdown were Tuivasa-Sheck’s biggest work-ons and are undoubtedly two areas the 29-year-old has been focussing on during his brief stint with the Auckland NPC side.
“He’s a fast learner,” Foster said of the midfielder.
“His work from the attacking side, particularly getting involved around our forwards in the middle of the park is something that he hasn’t spent a lot of time on during Super Rugby so that’s been taking a little while.
“His instincts at the breakdown are probably the number one growth point for him and again, we’re seeing some really good strides in that space.
“Those are some aspects he can go away and work on in that space. Overall, really pleased with the growth but I guess now it’s just waiting for the opportunity.”
Saturday’s rematch following the All Blacks’ narrow 39-37 win in Melbourne last week now presents Tuivasa-Sheck with an opportunity to showcase how he’s been developing away from Foster’s watchful eye.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to comments