Zebre sign former All Black U20 scrumhalf
Zebre Rugby have announced the signing of New Zealand scrum-half Joshua Renton who has joined the Parma-based franchise from the Highlanders in Super Rugby.
Renton rates as the 218th best scrumhalf in World Rugby, and will rank 52nd in the Pro14.
Born and raised in Dunedin, the 24-year-old player started playing rugby in his hometown high school, the Otago Boys High School, becoming captain of the team in his final year.
His professional career began in the local Otago team, debuting in the Mitre10 Cup in 2013, against local Southland rivals. In 2014 he took part in the World Rugby Under 20 Championship in New Zealand, representing his national team with 4 appearances.
After impressing for the local team, the Highlanders called him into the training squad for the 2015 season, making his debut in the eleventh Round against the Brumbies. During his first year in the tournament, he was able to learn from several All Blacks such as Aaron and Ben Smith, Naholo, Fekitoa, Sopoaga and the Japanese international Tanaka.
In his second year, after 3 appearances, an injury forced Renton to skip the entire season but the new coach Tony Brown confirmed him in the 2017 Super Rugby squad for the Highlanders. His last season in New Zealand ended a few weeks ago, with the defeat in the Mitre10 Championship final on October 13th in Hamilton against Wakaito.
In his career, he has 43 appearances in the Mitre10 Cup and a total of 8 in Super Rugby with the Highlanders, with whom he also played a prestigious friendly against the British & Irish Lions on tour in New Zealand in 2017.
Zebre team manager Andrea De Rossi: “The injury to Italian international Violi forced us to return to the market, and we are very happy to have found a player of the same level.
“The deal was quick and simple; Renton showed immediately a great desire to get involved in this challenge, signing up until the end of the season with the option of staying in Italy also for the 2019-20 season. He arrives from a great kiwi province like Otago and has good experience behind him; he is a dynamic player with very good skills. We are happy with this new signing, especially because he’s a player ready to play for Zebre”.
Renton, speaking a Zebre player: “First I want to thank my family and the Otago and Highlanders clubs who have allowed me to take my first opportunity in Europe.
“I’m just looking to play rugby in a different part of the world: I just want to play fast rugby and help the Zebre boys as much as I can. The Guinness PRO14 is an exciting competition, it fascinates me the idea of being able to face great teams from different countries of the world. I know some former Zebre players, including the All Blacks Leonard and Muliaina. I want to thank my new club for this opportunity and I look forward to making myself available to the team and to repay this trust”.
Player Factfile:
Joshua Renton
Born in:Dunedin (NZL)
Date of birth: May 25, 1994
Height:174 cm
Weight:82 kg
Role: Scrum-half
Honours: Junior All Blacks
Former clubs: Otago Rugby Football Union (NZL), Highlanders (NZL)
Comments on RugbyPass
Why 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 commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments