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Why Liam Squire has made the decision to return to New Zealand
Liam Squire is back in New Zealand and, all going well, could be lining up for a Super Rugby club next year.
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The former All Black left NZ to link up with the NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes in Japan following last year’s successful Mitre 10 Cup with the Premiership-winning Tasman Mako.
The Top League season was called off after just six rounds, however, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Squire managed three appearances for the Osaka-based Red Hurricanes before he was struck down by a knee injury. While Squire has well and truly recovered from that speed bump, the extended break brought about due to the global pandemic has now given the loose forward the opportunity to deal with some other lingering problems.
“I actually injured my knee early on in the season but once COVID hit, it was decided I’d return to get it fixed in NZ,” Squire told RugbyPass.
“That was nothing major but during that break, we decided I would also get my hip cleaned out. That’s an ongoing injury I’ve been dealing with and managing for a number of years now so for me, it’s a massive relief to finally be able to get my body back to 100%. The downside is that it’s come at a cost in that I won’t be able to return to Japan.”
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Squire’s career in New Zealand was besotted by injuries.
Having broken into the All Blacks on the back of an excellent 2016 with the Highlanders, a broken thumb sustained partway through the 2017 Super Rugby season prevented Squire from playing against the British and Irish Lions.
In 2018, Squire struggled to string together two matches in a row for the Highlanders due to frequent small niggles but was still selected for the national side. A hand injury suffered in the Rugby Championship again sidelined the powerful blindside flanker for a number of tests before he returned late on the All Blacks’ European tour. In what turned out to be his last match for the New Zealand national team, Squire left the field late in the first half against Ireland due to injury.
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Squire had a late start to the 2019 season – his last in New Zealand – due to the troublesome hip that he’s finally set to deal with.
Despite Squire’s obvious potential and high-quality performances for Tasman, the Highlanders and the All Blacks, injuries effectively kept the loose forward from ever establishing himself as a long-term permanent selection at the highest level.
The extended pandemic-enforced break has finally granted time for Squire to conquer the chronic injury that’s caused problems over the years.
“My goal now is just to get my body feeling 100% and fit again, which is really exciting and motivating for me because I’ve had these tidy up surgeries on injuries that I feel have held me back in the past,” Squire said.
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“Getting back playing my best rugby is naturally a massive goal. I hope to play here in New Zealand again, all going well, but I can only control what I do and that’s working hard to get back to full fitness and hopefully get the chance to play again.”
The New Zealand provincial competition has already benefitted this year from a raft of players coming home from overseas and the experience that someone like 29-year-old Squire could bring to any team would be invaluable. While a return may not be on the cards in 2020, next season could be a different story.
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments