1
‘Too much responsibility’: All Blacks greats weigh in on Ruben Love debate
Legendary All Blacks Jeff Wilson, Mils Muliaina and Sir John Kirwan have unanimously agreed that one of New Zealand’s brightest rugby prospects, Ruben Love, is better off at fullback.
ADVERTISEMENT
Love, now 22, debuted for the Hurricanes off the bench in Super Rugby Aotearoa a few years ago before going on to play six matches as the team’s starting No. 10 in 2020.
While the playmaker impressed as one of the Hurricanes’ options at flyhalf, Love slowly began to shift into a new role as he started three matches at fullback the following year.
Injuries aside, Love has played plenty of rugby out the back, including the All Blacks XV’s win over Ireland A in Dublin a couple of years ago and the Hurricanes’ Super Rugby Pacific season-opener in Perth last Friday night.
Love stood out as the Hurricanes ran away with a commanding 44-14 win over the Western Force at HBF Park. But the New Zealander did that at fullback, not at flyhalf.
“I really enjoyed what he’s doing,” former All Black Jeff Wilson said on Sky Sport NZ’s The Breakdown.
“(Last week) I talked about whether he’d play 10 or 15 but at the moment it’s in the 15 jersey for me.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I just want him to stay healthy, I said that last week. I really like the skillset, I like his intent, he’s a competitor, you know that… he’s got great feet.
“I’m just really impressed. It was just nice to see him get a good start to the season.”
Match Summary 
0
Penalty Goals
2
2
Tries
6
2
Conversions
4
0
Drop Goals
0
96
Carries
112
5
Line Breaks
8
12
Turnovers Lost
14
6
Turnovers Won
6
Love showed some masterful skill to lay the foundations for Jordi Viljoen’s try on debut for the Hurricanes. But that was just one highlight.
The fullback finished the night with an impressive knock on the stat sheet, with Love running the ball seven times for 88 metres and making two line breaks.
ADVERTISEMENT
Echoing the sentiment of Wilson’s comments, Rugby World Cup-winning All Black Mils Muliaina said the Hurricanes would be giving Love “too much responsibility” if they chose to move him.
“I think he’s best suited at 15. He’s got that sort of ability,” Muliaina said.
“His flair, and he’s been out for a while, so putting him in at 10 I think just gives him too much responsibility initially but I think his position is fullback.
“The way he attacks, his mindset is to attack first.”
Prompted to add to the discussion by Muliaina, another Rugby World Cup winner agreed that Love is a fullback and that shouldn’t change for now.
“One or the other for me,” Kirwan added.
“I think Barrett can do it, (play) 10 and 15, maybe (Stephen) Perofeta can, but I actually don’t think that everyone can.
“For me, Love needs to stay at fullback if he’s going to have a crack or they need to put him at 10 and he needs to stay there.
“When you’re a mature 10 you can go back, possibly, but I just think he’s got a lot of ability and I like him at 15.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to comments