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Veteran star Adam Thomson set to bring up 100th Super Rugby appearance in Chiefs clash against Blues

By Alex McLeod
(Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images)

Former All Blacks loose forward Adam Thomson is primed to make his 100th Super Rugby appearance this weekend after being named on the bench for the Chiefs ahead of their Super Rugby Aotearoa clash with the Blues in Auckland on Sunday.

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Should the 38-year-old make it onto the field at Eden Park, it will be good reward for a player whose career looked in severe jeopardy two-and-a-half years ago.

While plying his trade in Japan with the NEC Green Rockets in the Top League, Thomson was hospitalised with lumbar discitis, a painful infection of the invertebral disc space, in late 2017.

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Jeremy Thrush and Tim Sampson speak to media

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Jeremy Thrush and Tim Sampson speak to media

For 57 days, the 29-test All Black was bed-ridden in a Tokyo hospital, learning how to walk again with his playing future in serious doubt.

That was until last year, however, when he returned to the rugby field at an amateur level for North Harbour club side Takapuna, before going on to sign a Mitre 10 Cup deal with his former province Otago for the 2019 campaign.

Thomson’s presence in the national provincial championship marked a comeback of significant proportions that only became more remarkable when he signed with the Chiefs during the Super Rugby pre-season as an injury replacement player.

Since then, the 2011 World Cup winner has made four outings for the Chiefs, making his debut for the franchise against the Sunwolves back in Tokyo five months ago.

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Now, he is on the cusp of making his 100th appearance in Super Rugby, 14 years after debuting in the competition for the Highlanders, which preceded brief stints with the Reds and Rebels in Australia.

“It’s pretty crazy, I let this dream go a while ago, so to do it at this age with a team like the Chiefs is pretty special and I am very much looking forward to it,” Thomson said.

“The extra edge is coming back from the major illness and being able to have the opportunity of coming back and starting at club level scrapping my way through Mitre 10 Cup and then returning to Super.

“I would not have believed it a couple of years back, but I am just grateful to be playing at this level.

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“Every day for me is a bonus and this is a great environment to be in and however I can contribute whether that is playing or off the field that is what I will do.”

Thomson will be hoping to mark his milestone outing with a victory, something the Chiefs haven’t yet been able to do in Super Rugby Aotearoa.

Pressure has subsequently mounted on head coach Warren Gatland, but that hasn’t forced him into making a raft of changes leading into his side’s bout with their northern rivals.

Despite blowing a two 24-point leads against the Highlanders in Hamilton last week, Gatland has made just three changes to his team, with the only alteration in the starting side coming at loosehead prop.

2018 All Blacks tourist Reuben O’Neill comes into the team for just his ninth appearance for the franchise, replacing Aidan Ross, who picked up at calf strain in the 33-31 defeat at FMG Stadium Waikato last week.

The other two changes are in the reserves, with young prop Ollie Norris vacating O’Neill’s place on the bench, while three-test All Blacks halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi makes way for Lisati Milo-Harris in the No. 21 jersey.

“Last weekend we had the opportunity to finish the job off, but as we have seen in this competition you need to deliver an 80-minute performance, or longer in some instances and we didn’t do that,” Gatland said in a team naming press release.

“This week we are looking for that consistency, starting strong once again and then continuing to stay in the game and maintain our focus on what we can control.”

Chiefs:

1. Reuben O’Neill
2. Bradley Slater
3. Nepo Laulala
4. Tupou Vaa’i
5. Mitchell Brown
6. Lachlan Boshier
7. Sam Cane ©
8. Pita Gus Sowakula
9. Brad Weber
10. Kaleb Trask
11. Solomon Alaimalo
12. Alex Nankivell
13. Anton Lienert-Brown
14. Sean Wainui
15. Damian McKenzie

Reserves:
16. Samisoni Taukei’aho
17. Ollie Norris
18. Ross Geldenhuys
19. Adam Thomson
20. Mitchell Karpik
21. Lisati Milo-Harris
22. Aaron Cruden
23. Quinn Tupaea

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This 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”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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