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The 6ft 8 lock who just won the MLR title the Highlanders have brought back home

By Adam Julian
Will Tucker #5 of Rugby New York exits the locker room prior to the Major League Rugby match against the Seattle Seawolves at JFK Stadium. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images for Rugby New York)

The Highlanders only won four out of 15 matches in 2022 but if Will Tucker has his way the southerners won’t be easy beats in 2023.

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The 6ft 8, 111 kg, lock is familiar with winning. In his final year of college, he helped St Bede’s College win the Canterbury championship. In 2020 he was part of the Otago team that beat Taranaki 30-19 in Inglewood to capture the Ranfurly Shield.

Last season he was a member of New York Rugby who won Major League Rugby in the USA. In the 30-15 victory over the Seattle Seawolves in the final, Tucker scored a try.

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“America felt like a home away from home. We had so many Kiwis on our roster that it was almost ridiculous. I don’t want to name them all just in case I forget one,” Tucker told RugbyPass.

“The opportunity to play in America came from Rick Saletzo and Andy Ellis, two Kiwis running the joint. Rick was the manager of the All Blacks and is a really interesting guy.

“The level of rugby wasn’t too different from the NPC but the limit on the number of scrum resets per incident made a bit of a difference. After two resets a penalty or free kick was guaranteed to happen.

“Our season really gained momentum when Nehe Milner-Skudder arrived. He’s all class on the field and the professionalism, detail, and culture he helped develop was huge. What a legend.”

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Nic Mayhew, Antonio Kiri Kiri, Brendon O’Connor, Kara Pryor, Jack Heighton, Jason Emery, Fa’asui Fuatai and Waisake Naholo were other Kiwis on the New York roster. New York is based in Hoboken, New Jersey, the birthplace of Frank Sinatra.

The Tucker household is the birthplace of three first-class players. In 2019 former Waikato loose forward Brad Tucker was Major League Player of the Year with Seattle. James Tucker captained Waikato to NPC Premiership glory in 2021 and was instrumental in the Blues charge to the 2022 Super Rugby final. Will has made 25 appearances for Otago after a brief stint with Canterbury. All three brothers are renowned for their uncompromising approach.

“It was pretty niggly in the backyard. Brad is a redhead so they’re always fiery while James has always played on the edge.

“What can I bring to the Highlanders? I think my height in the lineout will be an asset and I like to get stuck in physically.

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“I was approached by the Highlanders midway through the Otago season. I was surprised but chuffed at the same time. It’s an opportunity I’ve been waiting a long time for.”

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Will was a standout for St Bede’s College when they won the 2015 Canterbury championship. Remarkably a British Lion, World Cup captains of Uruguay and Japan and an All Black are among the impressive cohort of flankers or second-row forwards playing professional rugby out of the gates of the all-boys Catholic school on Main North Road, Papanui.

Josh Navidi, Michael Letich, Charlie Gamble, Billy Harmon, James Lentjes, Elliot Dixon, Dominic Gardner, Alejandro Martin Nieto Serra (71 tests for Uruguay), and Sione Lavemai, are all ‘Bedians.’

“Everyone looks up to Christchurch Boys’ High School as the factory. They’re the favourites every year because of their size and tradition. At St Bede’s I guess we play with a bit of a chip on our shoulder. That battler, underdog thing. Taking down Christchurch Boys’ is always a motivating priority.

“In 2014 we didn’t have the best season. It forced us back to the drawing board and we developed an awesome culture and game plan.”

Tucker was in the Canterbury Academy but stuck behind a backlog of promising prospects ventured further south to Dunedin. He now rolls the ‘R’ and is close to completing a sports marketing degree.

“I made New Zealand U20s in 2018 but I was kind of stuck at Canterbury, so I went to Otago. Winning the Ranfurly Shield in 2020 was huge. It meant the whole family have won it which is pretty cool. In 2021 we beat Canterbury 22-20 that was awesome too.”

With Tucker, Pari Pari Parkinson, and Fabian Holland the Highlanders won’t lack for height in the lineout. Marino Mikaele Tu’u, James Lentjes and All Black Shannon Frizell should bring plenty of bustle in the back row.

“The boys are fit and healthy and working hard. We know we’ve got the talent to succeed. We’ll give it a decent crack for sure,” Tucker warned.

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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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j
john 10 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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