Hurricanes 2021
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@Nepia hard to argue if Evans can get back to his best form. I guess the Canes have the luxury of rotating a number of those guys and still having a very solid back row unit. We all know the coaches will select Prinsep though which is painful.
I’d just really love to see Flanders get a good trot at 8.
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@Stargazer been one of the Canes greatest players you would have to say. Never forget him playing through the pain in the 2016 final. Hopefully we have a great season and send him off in style.
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Agree with both your starting team. And unfortunately your coaches team too.
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@canefan said in 2021 Hurricanes:
@KiwiMurph said in 2021 Hurricanes:
Hickey over Garden-Bachop? Surely not.
I am no JGB fan. But he upped his game as last season went along. He'll never have a ceiling any higher than a Jimmy Gopperth type (he's not there yet!!) but he will probably be the place holder until we can unearth another
Gopperth was useless at super rugby level. was pleased to finally see him go. JGB isn't a world beater but at least he does the basics well. Including defending. He doesn't wave them through. And his line clearing is good as well (unlike Gopperth). And he has a VG partnership with Barrett.
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@Stargazer said in 2021 Hurricanes:
I remember he was to be the next quality red n black 10. And he never quite made it
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@Stargazer said in 2021 Hurricanes:
@canefan ... because he had a talented queue of All Blacks ahead of him. Dan Carter, Tom Taylor, Colin Slade. And Israel Dagg at fullback.
An embarrassment of riches. Did he ever try and move to another super franchise?
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@canefan Don't know whether he tried. He left for Munster at quite a young age (at least, at the time it was young; now it's not unusual for players to leave at the age of 25, unfortunately). He has been pretty successful there (until his neck injury).
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@Stargazer said in 2021 Hurricanes:
@canefan Don't know whether he tried. He left for Munster at quite a young age (at least, at the time it was young; now it's not unusual for players to leave at the age of 25, unfortunately). He has been pretty successful there (until his neck injury).
I recall back in the day budding canty 10s were all happy to sit behind DC rather than go elsewhere. I think Slade went to Otago eventually
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@Bovidae Tom Taylor was in the same U20s squad as Cruden. He became an All Black. Also suffered from the (Crusaders) queue.
I wouldn't say Anscombe didn't kick on. He just did better in Wales than in NZ.
Hayden Parker has done quite well for himself in Japan.
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@Stargazer said in 2021 Hurricanes:
@Bovidae Tom Taylor was in the same U20s squad as Cruden. He became an All Black. Also suffered from the (Crusaders) queue.
I wouldn't say Anscombe didn't kick on. He just did better in Wales than in NZ.
Hayden Parker has done quite well for himself in Japan.
So most of that batch were good, just not good enough for super rugby and the ABs
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@canefan I think Parker could have done well in SR, but he was stuck behind Slade and then Sopoaga at the Highlanders, and he missed all but one game of the 2015 season and the latter part of the 2016 season due to injury. He's been a bit unlucky, but if you remember his 2019 (or was it 2018?) season for the Sunwolves, most of us on the Fern thought he should get a contract in NZ again because he'd be better than some of the (then) current 10s.
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@Bovidae said in 2021 Hurricanes:
There was a run of NZ U20 1st 5s who never really kicked on (Renata, Bleyendaal and Anscombe). The exception in that 4 year period was Cruden.
You need to add Robbie Robinson to that list, certain Ferners were claiming he was the best 10 in the Cruden U20s squad.
