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The Next Nehe Part Three: Marino Mikaele-Tu'u
For All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen, the make-up of his 31-man squad for the sport’s global showpiece event in Japan will, for the most part, be solidified.
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Most players who have featured frequently for the national side this year should feel a degree of confidence that they will take part in the tournament in 10 months’ time, which means there should be little room for alteration in terms of personnel at this late stage of this current World Cup cycle.
However, as proven by the All Blacks in the last World Cup cycle, there is always room for a few late applications in the final few months leading into the tournament.
Nehe Milner-Skudder headlined a trio of rookies – which included Waisake Naholo and Codie Taylor – that were named in Hansen’s 2015 World Cup squad following a series of spell-binding performances for the Hurricanes throughout his debut Super Rugby season.
After identifying Chiefs rookie Etene Nanai-Seturo and Crusaders fullback Will Jordan as a pair of potential bolters earlier in the week, our final pick in the series comes from the Highlanders forward pack in the form of Number Eight Marino Mikaele-Tu’u.
A former New Zealand Schools and national under-20 representative, Marino Mikaele-Tu’u has come through the ranks to prove himself to be a tantalising prospect for the future.
Standing at 1.91m and 111kg, the 21-year-old was in outstanding form in his third season with Hawke’s Bay in 2018, constantly proving himself to be a massive ball-carrying threat due to his ruthlessness and directness in attack.
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This is portrayed in offensive statistics in the Mitre 10 Cup, which saw him beat 21 defenders (fourth-best for No. 8’s in the competition), carry for over 350 metres (fourth- best), and make at least one clean break per match (second-best) this year.
It was that hustle that saw him come into the Highlanders’ squad as injury cover in the 2018 Super Rugby campaign, and after impressing in five outings, he has deservedly been handed a full-time spot on the franchise’s 2019 roster.
In a squad that already features five All Blacks in their loose forward stocks, there is arguably no better team in the country to help foster Mikaele-Tu’u’s obvious talent, but that could just as easily hinder his chances to stake a claim for higher honours.
READ MORE
The Next Nehe: Etene Nanai-Seturo
The Next Nehe: Will Jordan
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Unfortunately. Mikaele-Tu’u may have a hard time dislodging seven-test All Black Luke Whitelock from his role as starting No. 8 at the Highlanders.
Whitelock’s defensive work rate and leadership capacity within coach Aaron Mauger’s squad is highly valued, and that alone presents a lofty hurdle for Mikaele-Tu’u to overcome.
However, as teammate and fellow loose forward Shannon Frizell proved against the Blues earlier this year, all Mikaele-Tu’u needs is one barnstorming display to catapult himself into All Blacks consideration.
Those types of performances were churned out by Mikaele-Tu’u on a regular basis for Hawke’s Bay, and if he can deliver the same sort of impact for the Highlanders, then he might well come into the national selector’s plans as the No. 8 back-up to skipper Kieran Read that they have been longing for.
Mikaele-Tu’u’s explosive offensive capability is something that Read has been lacking in recent times – look no further than the All Blacks’ loss to Ireland a fortnight ago.
Despite all the leadership and defensive prosperity that the national captain brings to the table, that match proved the All Blacks need a threatening ball-carrier from No. 8.
Neither Read – nor Whitelock, his current back-up – has shown that in 2018, and while long- term development star Akira Ioane has continually shown that he can provide that sort of ball-carrying danger that the national selectors will be craving for, there are still plenty of amendments that need to be made in other areas of his game before he can receive a promotion.
That leaves the door ajar for Mikaele-Tu’u to swoop in and claim a place in next year’s World Cup squad as an attacking No. 8 behind the comparably conservative Read.
In order for him to do that, though, he needs to overtake Whitelock in the Highlanders’ starting team.
Just one brilliant appearance could be enough to do the job, but it could just as easily be too much of an ask for Mikaele-Tu’u to conquer, leaving the 2023 World Cup a more likely possibility.
Learn more about some of the Japanese cities hosting World Cup matches next year with our exclusive city guides:
Comments on RugbyPass
Both nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
1 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to comments