The surprise package who has been New Zealand's best attacking midfielder this season
There are seasons in Super Rugby where a relatively unknown player seems to burst onto the scene and capture lightning in a bottle, performing at a level unseen before.
Nehe Milner-Skudder comes to mind, a player who was not highly sought after and transitioned into rugby union from a stint on the fringes of the NRL. He exploded in Super Rugby for the Hurricanes in 2015 after getting a spot on the roster and became an All Blacks star.
This year the Hurricanes have found that kind of player again in Bailyn Sullivan, who had just eight appearances with the Chiefs over four seasons since 2018 where he was tried as a winger on five occasions with limited success, and three times off the bench.
The 23-year-old has been given another chance with the Hurricanes and has found another life. Even in a crowded midfield he has become the most dangerous attacking centre in the competition, statistically speaking.
Sullivan has clocked the most running metres of any midfielder (600), while generating the most post-contact metres (281) on just 58 carries. The next best in total metres is Izaia Perese from the Waratahs with 598, which took him 70 carries, while in post-contact metres the next best is Fijian Apisalome Vota of the Drua.
His eight line breaks are second only to Will Jordan (9), yet the Crusaders fullback has taken significantly more carries with 87. Six of Sullivan’s breaks have directly led to Hurricanes tries.
In terms of bang for buck, Sullivan has been the most effective centre at creating and finishing broken field opportunities.
The Hurricanes are 6-5 on the season but in the seven times that Bailyn Sullivan has started at 13, the Hurricanes have a 6-1 win-loss record.
In the four games Sullivan hasn’t started, they have lost every match.
There has been so much chopping and changing in many positions that the selection of Sullivan cannot be the only factor, but when you look at the attacking production Sullivan has given the Hurricanes, it has made a big difference against both top teams and weaker ones.
Against the Blues in the second game of the season, Sullivan made an impression in the final moments by setting up Ardie Savea for the game-winning try by planting a big fend on the chest of league convert Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and breaking away downfield.
The pass was on the money – and it needed to be, it would have sailed over the touchline and essentially ended the game had it not hit Savea on the chest at full pace.
That assist was his second of the game after a pinpoint grubber kick laid on a try for Wes Goosen in the first half. Those two plays were a net addition of 14 points for the Hurricanes in a game decided by one point.
Against the Highlanders at home, he didn’t have any plays that influenced the scoring, but in Dunedin in the second fixture he opened the Hurricanes’ ledger by ghosting past no fewer than five Highlanders defenders cutting against the grain. The game was ultimately decided by one point.
In the loss to Moana Pasifika, Sullivan didn’t start. In the return leg he did, adding a try assist in the second half by laying one on for TJ Perenara in what was a lopsided win.
Despite an early yellow card for a dangerous tackle against the Queensland Reds, Sullivan pounced on a loose pass and galloped away over 60-metres to score the Hurricanes’ first try of the game. He scored his second try eleven minutes from time for a net impact of 12 points in a 30-17 victory.
In the Hurricanes’ huge 67-5 victory against the Drua on the weekend, Sullivan had an assist with a nice short ball for the opening try to Josh Moorby, and almost a carbon copy for Moorby’s second with another pass to the outside.
While Moana Pasifika and the Fijian Drua are at the bottom of the ladder, the Blues and Reds are top five teams with the Auckland-based franchise leading the competition. Sullivan’s biggest contributions have come in those two wins.
With five try assists and four tries in seven games, Sullivan has been a match-winning influence for the Hurricanes, which has vastly exceeded expectations on what would have been a bargain contract pick-up from the Chiefs.
This does not mean he will be an All Blacks selection, however, as on the other side of the ball his defensive effectiveness needs to improve to become a test calibre player. The Drua’s only try came right through his channel.
His defence needs to sharpen in aspects, the angles he takes, timing and execution of his tackles which has been off at times resulting in a 74 per cent completion rate and 19 misses. It’s also the non-attempts that don’t end up on a stat sheet that matter.
Overall, Sullivan has made a big difference and considering where he was 12 months ago, his season will be one to remember.
At just 23 years old, there is so much more potential to unlock to round out his game, but right now he is the most productive attacking midfielder in New Zealand.
Comments on RugbyPass
well - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
28 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to commentsReally poorly written rambling piece ..
2 Go to commentsIt was so boring
2 Go to commentspersonally I’d go with : 1. France 2. NZ 3. England 4. Ireland 5. Scotland
28 Go to commentsAndy everything becomes easier with experience therefor counting etc straight after a match becomes easier when you have 100+ caps vs 17 which is the experience you speak from.
160 Go to commentsGetting rid of the Dupont Law is a good thing and ought to have been done months ago! Officially getting rid of the croc roll is a good thing. The law about no scrums from a short arm is well intended in terms of speeding the game up but it’s an overreaction to a clever yet calculated gamble that could have blow up in South Africa’s face if they conceded a penalty from the scrum that was set after Willemse took claimed the mark in the World Cup QF.
53 Go to commentsRassie The GOAT
10 Go to commentsOf their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
28 Go to commentsMy favourite line/exchanges from Chasing the Sun 2. News headline: “SA. The last hurdle in ABs World Cup glory”. Something like that. “You’re all just a hurdle. A hop, skip and a jump”. Coming from Rassie and Jacque. Basically - nobody thinks you’re going to win. You’re just a pushover team. Nobody respects you. When the camera shows the players faces, you can see the effect. You can see the rev meters (die moer metertjies) firing up. Mitchell said he felt it prior to the 19 final. He said to Eddie watching the teams warming up that it was going to be a tough day at the office. Wave a red flag in front of South African, and you can expect a reaction. This is not unique - many teams rev themselves. And Bok teams in particular. With horrific consequences (discipline, poor thinking under pressure) because that’s the drawback to using emotion right? But what this Bok team does better than many since 2007 is channel the emotion and stay on task. Despite the emotion. Why, because while Rassie might play mind games - he talks about creating a safe environment. Listen to his recent honorary doctorate acceptance speech. While he uses psychology he creates psychological safety. He’s a damn fine coach. Can’t wait for Pretoria. It’s going to be a hummer.
10 Go to commentsWhat Rassie does for SA is big. It has helped people to unite and see we can win with the right people in place.
10 Go to commentsTerrible conditions for young players to express themselves just enjoy it guys. As a saffa great to see Ausie youth looking good. Wow SA have some great talent also.
2 Go to commentsYes, another example of French tv directors ensuring that incidents like this are swiftly glossed over for the benefit of their teams…
5 Go to commentsThe prospect of the club match ups across hemispheres is surely appetising for everyone. The reality however, may prove to be slightly different. There are currently two significant driving forces that have delivered to same teams consistently to the latter champions cup stages for years now. The first of those is the yawning gap in finances, albeit delivered by different routes. In France it’s wealthy private owners operating with a higher salary cap by some distance compared to England. In Ireland it’s led by a combination of state tax relief support, private Leinster academy funding and IRFU control - the provincial budgets are not equal! This picture is not going to change anytime soon. The second factor is the EPCR competition rules. You don’t need a PhD. in advanced statistical analysis from oxbridge to see the massive advantage bestowed upon the home team through every ko round of the tournament. The SA teams will gain the opportunity for home ko ties in due course but that could actually polarise the issue even further, just look at their difficulties playing these ties in Europe and then reverse them for the opposition travelling to SA. Other than that, the picture here is unlikely to change either, with heavyweight vested interests controlling the agenda. So what does all this point to for the club world championship? Well the financial differential between the nh and sh teams is pretty clear. And the travel issues and sporting challenge for away teams are significantly exacerbated beyond those already seen in the EPCR tournaments. So while the prospect of those match ups may whet our rugby appetites, I’m very much still to be convinced the reality will live up to expectations…
2 Go to commentsThe manipulative and cynical Erasmus….
10 Go to commentsWe see you World Rugby….we see you🤡😏
53 Go to commentsBoks are lucky to have a player of the calibre of PSDT in their ranks😍
7 Go to commentsI really like what the boks have done with bringing Vermeulen into their coaching setup. Perhaps they would have gone to france anyway, but Lawes and Farrell could at least have been offered assistant coaching roles. Lawes could probably aptly fill the brief (breakdown, contact skills, and handling) just given to Strawbridge; and Farrell could be a pretty good like for like replacement for Sinfield when he leaves. I probably wouldn’t want them in the national team set up just yet, but it would be good to see strings pulled to either get May, Youngs, Cole, & Care player-coaching roles in the premiership, or to move them into the under 20s coaching staff.
3 Go to commentsSo spiteful that the Springboks won again, they just had to change the laws so that they would stand a chance.
53 Go to comments