Exodus
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Smiler-Ah Kiong has been on the fringes of the Waikato squad in the past few seasons without ever making the main NPC squad. Played in Portugal in the off-season in 2023 as the TA Sports coach took a few of their players there. I didn't realise he was loaned to KC this year until the Sky Fans Try of the Year was announced.
Speaking of former Waikato players, I see that Tana Tuhakaraina is now with the Urayasu D-Rocks in Japan. That explains why he wasn't involved in the NPC.
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Smiler-Ah Kiong has been on the fringes of the Waikato squad in the past few seasons without ever making the main NPC squad. Played in Portugal in the off-season in 2023 as the TA Sports coach took a few of their players there. I didn't realise he was loaned to KC this year until the Sky Fans Try of the Year was announced.
Speaking of former Waikato players, I see that Tana Tuhakaraina is now with the Urayasu D-Rocks in Japan. That explains why he wasn't involved in the NPC.
He should have come home in place of a couple of our poor imports this year.
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@cgrant I saw a post on a rugby social media page (where plenty of players post thier 'CV' looking for gigs) from him a couple of weeks back looking for a gig!
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@taniwharugby said in Exodus:
@cgrant I saw a post on a rugby social media page (where plenty of players post thier 'CV' looking for gigs) from him a couple of weeks back looking for a gig!
My eyes. i before e except after c.
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@Billy-Tell meh
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Six former All Blacks eligible for new nations in 2025
The new year brings with it the potential of new chapters and fresh starts for many of international rugby's discarded or forgotten talents.
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Six former All Blacks eligible for new nations in 2025
The new year brings with it the potential of new chapters and fresh starts for many of international rugby's discarded or forgotten talents.
The Ioane eligibility keeps getting mis-stated
Now plying his trade in Japan with Hanazono Kintetsu Liners, Ioane is out of the All Blacks picture entirely and can offer his physicality to his nation of birth, Japan, or the nation his father represented, Samoa.
He clarified last year that he was not born in Japan. Somehow it got on the AllBlacks website years ago but they've fixed it now
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North Harbour Lock Mahonri Ngakuru is at Montpellier as injury cover for Paul Willemse, according to L'Equipe.
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Joshua Smith ('24 NZ U20s, Hawke's Bay), the young tighthead prop, is now apparently playing for the Western Force. I had completely missed this news so was quite surprised when I saw him suddenly appear in the Brumbies-Force game.
I can't find an official announcement either but it looks like he's an injury replacement for Atu Moli. Surprising to see such a promising young tight forward play for the Force, hopefully he finds his way back to an NZ team in the near future. Very good piece of recruiting by the Force, either way.
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Joshua Smith ('24 NZ U20s, Hawke's Bay), the young tighthead prop, is now apparently playing for the Western Force. I had completely missed this news so was quite surprised when I saw him suddenly appear in the Brumbies-Force game.
I can't find an official announcement either but it looks like he's an injury replacement for Atu Moli. Surprising to see such a promising young tight forward play for the Force, hopefully he finds his way back to an NZ team in the near future. Very good piece of recruiting by the Force, either way.
Probably not too surprising as Western Force assistant Ozich is a former HB coach.
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Probably not too surprising as Western Force assistant Ozich is a former HB coach.
I suppose I meant surprising more in the sense that I would've expected the Hurricanes to keep someone like Smith close to the top team. The Canes have good depth at tighthead (Lomax, Tosi, Mafileo, Lauaki) but I rate Smith's scrummaging ability higher than someone like Lauaki.
The Hurricanes Hunters recently had players like Gareth Ward-Allen and Peter Seeling playing at tighthead, so it's not like the depth goes much beyond those four aforementioned players.
