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Top young talent picks at each Super Rugby Aotearoa side
There are few things as exciting in rugby as the beginning of the Super Rugby season in New Zealand, and with Super Rugby Aotearoa set to kick off this week and streamed exclusively in the UK, Ireland, Europe, Middle East and Asia on RugbyPass, we decided to take a look at five youngsters worth a watch over the coming months.
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Few clubs integrate their exciting young talents as seamlessly into high-level senior rugby as the franchises in New Zealand, with every new season is typically good for at least four or five genuine breakout star contributors across the two islands, and the 2021 campaign looks like it will be no different.
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From all-court props with frightening physical potential to elusive and electrifying outside backs, take a look below at some of the new names – at Super Rugby level at the least – who could shine in the coming weeks and months.
Ngane Punivai, Highlanders
The versatile centre/wing began to make his breakthrough at the Highlanders last season, following an offseason move from the Crusaders. His physical gifts were clear to see during his time at Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup, although a step up to semi-regular appearances in Super Rugby showed that his ability to distribute and create space and opportunity for others around him was also very effective.
Punivai will be aiming to lock down the 13 jersey at the Highlanders this season and with clinical threats like Nehe Milner-Skudder, Jona Nareki and Vilimoni Koroi outside of him, look for Punivai to deliver both punch and precision this season to a Highlanders back line that, if given the right sort of foundation from their pack, could cause defences plenty of problems.
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Tamaiti Williams, Crusaders
The Crusaders are in the luxurious position of having a squad that does not need to rely on a raft of youngsters coming in due to an exodus of talent, and thus they have excelled in the art of introducing players as seamlessly as possible when they are ready to be exposed to this level of rugby. The big question is whether Williams is ready for that this year?
The sizeable tighthead offers an extremely high ceiling and is already a force to be reckoned with in the loose. He has a fair amount of competition to work his way through at the Crusaders, but the franchise and Scott Robertson will both know that if they can keep Williams’ development ticking along, they could have an extremely formidable anchor to their scrum moving forward.
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Ruben Love and Brayden Iose, Hurricanes
We’ve hedged our bets here with Love and Iose, coming in at full-back and back row respectively, as they have the unenviable challenge of trying to push passed players such as Jordie Barrett, Ardie Savea and Du’Plessis Kirifi. But with at least two of that trio set to be heavily involved for the All Blacks this season, opportunities should present themselves.
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Love offers a shiftier option at the back in contrast to the physical stature and control that Barrett provides, whilst Iose was a star schoolboy player and has now been given a chance to make good on that early promise and showcase what he can bring at the Super Rugby level, which is powerful carrying and the explosion to turn broken tackles into big gains.
Rivez Reihana, Chiefs
Bryn Gatland and Damian McKenzie have been the men with their hands on the reins at the Chiefs of late, with both bringing a different skill set to the position, although the same could be said of Reihana at 10 as well as at 15, particularly if the latter is vacated by McKenzie in order for him to take up the mantle at fly-half.
Finding a mainstay at 10 has been a challenge for the Chiefs since Aaron Cruden left for Europe and Reihana is clearly a player that they have their eye on as a potential long-term solution. Where he gets his game time this season will be interesting to watch, and if he sees time at multiple positions, just as McKenzie did earlier in his career, that is unlikely to be something which hurts his overall skill development.
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Zarn Sullivan, Blues
Death, taxes and New Zealand rugby producing highly impressive full-backs. Sullivan is the latest off the production line and has a lot of traits which match up with Freddie Steward, Leicester Tigers’ exciting 15 who is already beginning to garner England mentions at 20 years of age,
Like Steward, Sullivan has the prototypical frame for the position, with the height and vertical ability to dominate contested catches, as well as the long stride to eat up the ground in counter-attacking situations. The Blues are packed to the brim with talented options in the midfield and back three, although Sullivan could quickly cement himself as the go-to option at full-back, deployed alongside the likes of Caleb Clarke and Rieko Ioane.
Comments on RugbyPass
That’s really sad, hope everyone involved is ok. At least he had pants on.
1 Go to commentsTo be fair it was nowhere bear the Leinster first team (for which, btw, Leinster copped nothing like the outrage that Jake White did for sending a rotated team to the UK). But it’s fun to watch the Stormers doing their thing. They are attracting big, diverse crowds of young fans, and deservedly so. Great to see.
1 Go to commentsIt might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
4 Go to commentsCan we also show some love for Tane Edmed’s fantastic draw and pass? Put his body on the line and committed the defender before letting go of that pass. Flawless skill.
4 Go to commentsYou forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time. For Rassie, a loss is never a loss because he uses it as a chance to learn and improve. Sometimes during a game, again like the England match in last year's Semi Final.
7 Go to commentsDanny don't care. He pretends to care but he don't. He says all this stuff to justify his reasoning but no one can claim that legitimately. He knew exactly what he was doing and wondered if his old team mate would overlook it, which he did. Ref has got to be sidelined or properly trained. It's one thing for refs to move up the ranks but if it was me I would require refs to either have played in different clubs or not at all having the temptation to bias in high stakes games like this. This has got to be stamped out. But then again World Rugby is so destroying the game of rugby in an attempt to be more “safe” and “concussion free”. What they are doing is making it more infuriating for the fans and more difficult for the refs to officiate evenly and consistently. It's fast become Australian Rules football. If guys don't want concussions, they should have played chess. Stop complaining you oldies of the game. When they played the game was vastly heavier hitting than it is now but of course they can't see that.
2 Go to commentsJa, why do Bulls get flack for not bringing their best but Leinster never bring their best and it goes “unnoticed”?
3 Go to commentsIt’ll be very interesting to see how Razor’s AB’s handle the new England rush D. It’s basically the Bok recipe they copied, so if England goes well then we know most likely the Boks will go well too. If England cops a hiding then we’ll have to study and adapt.
7 Go to commentsTypical trait of an australian is to moan. Goes well with there lack of humbleness as evident by the Reds bench on the weekend.
4 Go to commentsSBW’s bro’town commentary and lazy default to hyperbole should be ignored, a technical analyst he is not. Sotutu is a good player when games get goosey loosey, high skill set that fans of Zinzan recall with starry eyes. But you need power and mongrel at no8 in the Test arena and Sotutu gets found wanting there, much like Akira Ioane. No8’s like Zinzan and Ardie have bucketloads of mongrel and power and tenacity which allow the skill sets to flourish.
11 Go to commentsAn inside pass to attacker on the angle can make a drift defence look lead footed. Relies on fleet footed forward/s to get across from the breakdown. An argument for the smaller faster 7 perhaps?
7 Go to commentsSensational tackle. The reds one was late and rightly penalised. The other two were simultaneous with the pass. If nitpicking TMOs can’t find fault there clearly isn’t any.
4 Go to commentsBrumbies fully deserved their win on the back of their physicality and desire to control the ball. Xavier Numia, Asafo Aumua and Tyrel Lomax should be the ABs starting front row when we start our test schedule. They have “come of age” and have bested all they have faced as well as been dominant with ball in hand in making the gainline. With De Groot, Tamaiti Williams and Fletcher Newell backed up by Taukei'aho and Cody Taylor there's not an international front row that can trouble us. Can't wait to face the Boks over there, won't be no one point game this time.
7 Go to commentsKinda strange that he wasn’t with a premiership team or a higher level of rugby? Start playing late or something? With that kind of size and athleticism you’d think someone would have picked him up?
2 Go to commentsShows how much attitude matters. Last week the Brumbies got done, this week they dominated the tournament leaders, who were likely thinking they could cruise to victory.
7 Go to commentsA Turtle has more pace and leg drive than Owen Franks, so it’s a good thing he only had to run 90 metres for that try.
2 Go to commentsOh Tamati Tua was in the vastly over-rated Leon MacDonalds Blues system? Well, no wonder he was wasted, much like Emoni Narawa and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens under MacDonald. now look at them. Good thing Tua isn’t eligible, the Aussies latch on to any player who isn’t tied down.
7 Go to commentsMark Telea is a lot of things, but a defensive juggernaut has never been one of them. There will be far bigger tests in that regard for the youngster.
11 Go to commentsLove and respect to Fiji but not a chance outside of 7s
4 Go to commentsGood summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
7 Go to comments