Watch: Hurricanes' exciting midfield prospect carves up the Chiefs and Highlanders at Super Rugby under-20 tournament
After last year’s under-20 World Championships were cancelled due to the pandemic, the Southern Hemispheres’ best prospects have not had the chance to show their talents for some time.
Whilst their Northern Hemisphere counterparts were able to play the Six Nations under-20 tournament in 2020 before the pandemic hit, the Southern nations haven’t played since 2019.
The inaugural Super Rugby under-20 tournament for New Zealand’s five franchises has offered up the chance to see some of the best emerging talent in New Zealand this week as they look to resume the pathway for the New Zealand under-20s.
One of the standout prospects this week has been Hurricanes’ midfielder Riley Higgins, a school leaver in 2020 from St Pats Silverstream in Wellington who still has another year of under-20s eligibility left.
Higgins earned selection in the ‘paper’ New Zealand Schoolboys side last year but was part of a group that was unable to pull on the black jumper due to the cancellation of the rep games.
This week he has formed a damaging combination with another New Zealand Schoolboys rep, first five eighth Aidan Morgan who represented the schools side in 2019 out of Kings College in Auckland before signing with the Wellington-based franchise.
Against the Chiefs on Day 1, Higgins was the shining light in a losing Hurricanes side, having a handful of starring moments to bring his side within touching distance.
With his side down 19-5, the second five fended off his opposite to explode through the Chiefs line only to be denied the try over concerns of a knock-on in the scoring process. The ball appeared to be placed just short of the line before bouncing out his hand.
Higgins protest with the touch judge fell on deaf ears as the call was upheld.
Looking to make amends for the missed-try, Higgins tried to come up with a big play going for an intercept on a long Chiefs’ pass, only to spill the ball with outstretched fingertips.
The all-or-nothing attempt led to a Chiefs’ penalty but the centre avoided being carded as it was a genuine attempt. The commentators made note of Higgins’ early misfortune, claiming that from here on out he would have a ‘flawless’ day after three misfortunes, ‘an errant pass, the unfortunate try coming up short and now that intercept’.
“He’s read it nicely but he was offside initially,” the commentator lamented as the Chiefs goal kicker extended the lead to 22-12.
It would be the second half where Higgins would make amends, getting the reward for kick pressure to notch the Hurricanes first try after the break.
Rushing out of the line, he forced the Chiefs to push the ball to the winger and a rushed kick in field gave Hurricanes’ fullback Harry Godfrey an opportunity to slice through on the kick return.
Godfrey’s scything run cut the Chiefs open before he linked up with Higgins on the final pass to stroll over and score the try.
“He won’t make a mistake with this one Riley, surely,” the commentators exhalted.
The try offered the Hurricanes much needed relief but the Chiefs were able to score next, re-establishing their 13-point lead at 32-19.
As the Hurricanes chased the growing deficit, it was Higgins sparking a nice break running a great support line off centre partner Jordan Thompson-Dunn. Finding support with an offload, the Hurricanes won a penalty two phases later.
Thinking quickly, Higgins took a quick tap and powered over for his second try of the half.
Within striking distance at 32-26, the Hurricanes’ 10 and 12 linked up nicely on a midfield scrum as Aidan Morgan laid on a beautiful short pass to a steaming Higgins into the gap.
The towering midfielder looked to link up with his outside support but the pass failed to find an accurate target.
The Chiefs ended up running away with the game to win 40-26 but two tries from Higgins in a promising performance showed what a damaging force he could be.
Higgins backed up his Day 1 performance with more key plays on Day 2 against the Highlanders. After a penalty each and the scores locked 3-all, the second five picked up a loose pass and switched play before making a key offload which resulted in a try assist.
A second try assist from Higgins on a beautiful set-piece play extending the Hurricanes lead to 17-3, and it was Morgan and Higgins combining again from a scrum to cut open the defence.
Taking on the line, a round-the-corner offload from Morgan to Higgins put the midfielder screaming through the defensive line. He summed up his options before delivering a perfect pass out wide to his winger to score in the corner.
“Morgan running to the line, just watch Riley Higgins, he knows exactly where that ball will pop up. And this is something they didn’t nail in that first game,” explained the commentator.
Much like his first try against the Chiefs, Higgins got involved on the scoresheet once again combining with elusive fullback Godfrey.
Getting the dream bounce, Godfrey scampered away down the touchine before finding Higgins back on the inside who still had work to do to outrun the final two Highlanders defenders.
“No one deserves a try more than Riley Higgins!” the commentator screamed.
The try all but sealed the Hurricanes first win of the tournament extending the lead to 36-17 before a spirited Highlanders comeback closed the gap to 36-31.
The Hurricanes finish their tournament with a final clash against the Blues on Saturday, while the Crusaders play the Highlanders and the undefeated Chiefs play the Barbarians.
Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
76 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments