The left-field halves combo the Highlanders could use against Rebels
A Super Rugby Pacific star has put forward an outlandish proposition to the Highlanders as they face a shortage of first-five options this week.
The Dunedin-based franchise are without frontline first-fives Sam Gilbert and Mitch Hunt for this Sunday’s must-win Super Rugby Pacific clash against the Rebels in Melbourne.
Gilbert, in just his second Super Rugby match at No 10, was red-carded for dumping Waratahs star Michael Hooper on his head in his side’s 32-20 loss at Forsyth Barr Stadium last weekend.
He has subsequently been handed a five-week ban by the SANZAAR judicial committee, bringing an end to his campaign.
Hunt, who has been used predominately at first-five this season, is also unlikely to feature due to concussion, leaving the Highlanders short-changed on No 10 candidates.
However, Crusaders halfback Bryn Hall has offered a left-field solution to the issue as Highlanders boss Tony Brown surveys his options for this week’s match.
Speaking on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, Hall threw out the idea of using two halfbacks, captain Aaron Smith and promising youngster Folau Fakatava, as a possible halves combination for the Highlanders this weekend.
“It’s a pretty good idea having old Aaron Smith and Folau Fakatava as a 9 and 10 combo,” Hall said of the idea, which was initially floated by host Ross Karl.
“We’ve seen it [TJ Perenara has played 10 for the Hurricanes and All Blacks] and I think nobody would have thought Gilbert was going to be able to play 10, with Hunty [Mitch Hunt] being there.
“Would not be surprised if Tony Brown chucked out something, the two 9s playing 9 and 10.”
Although he believes there is merit to the idea, Hall still thinks the Highlanders will start veteran playmaker Marty Banks, who has returned for a third stint in Super Rugby and was Gilbert’s replacement against the Waratahs three days ago.
“I think they will go with Marty Banks,” Hall told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“I think they’ll start with Marty and then, if you bring Vilimoni Koroi onto the bench to be able to cover that role and if you need that kind of impact, having him coming off the bench is probably the option.”
However, former All Blacks hooker James Parsons told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod that he believes Highlanders utility back Vilimoni Koroi, who has barely featured in Super Rugby Pacific season, is the answer to his side’s first-five dilemma.
“Vilimoni Koroi, he’s playing club rugby, and if you think you want to spark a team, especially attacking-wise, he would certainly bring something to the table,” Parsons said.
“We’ve seen him at No 10 a lot for Otago at NPC level, and I tell you what, they had a punt with Gilbert, and it came off.
“They’ve still got Marty Banks there as safety, but I think if you were going to have a crack, you might as well put him out there to start, and then someone of Bank’s experience can come on and settle it down if it doesn’t go to plan.”
Banks is a consistent game driver but does have some limitations in his game, while Koroi, is an attacking livewire, although whether he has the temperament and experience to control a team at Super Rugby level remains to be seen.
The idea of Fakatava or Smith at 10 is a fascinating one as Smith’s distribution of the ball would most likely be exceptional, as would Fakatava’s running threat.
However, the differences with timing and taking the ball at first receiver, may prove too big of an obstacle to overcome.
In saying that, the Hurricanes have played halfbacks at first-five previously, as seen by the utilisation of Perenara and Piri Weepu as their chief playmakers on occasion.
Given Tony Brown’s ability to surprise in team tactics and selection, the Highlanders may choose to adopt a similar approach as a solution to their predicament.
Comments on RugbyPass
Bulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to commentsThis 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”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
4 Go to comments