Hurricanes 2021
-
@Stargazer said in 2021 Hurricanes:
I remember he was to be the next quality red n black 10. And he never quite made it
-
-
@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?
-
@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).
-
@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
-
-
-
@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.
-
@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
-
@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.
-
@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.
-
@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.
TBH he never really looked like he was up to higher honours, always seemed like a guy who reached his ceiling in NZ at U20s, knew that and headed overseas early.
-
-
@Stargazer said in 2021 Hurricanes:
@Nepia Yeah, I've never seen anything else than second choice SR player in him, but limited game time may have stagnated his development. He was probably better than Cameron though.
Yeah, Cameron is just a weird AB selection all round. Blyendaal managed 21 appearances for the Crusader in 3 years before signing for Munster before his 24th birthday. That's a decent amount of matches at that age, and if he'd hung around (and been good enough) he might have had Mo'unga's career from 2016 onwards. But as you say, second choice Super player despite his early potential.
-
@Nepia said in 2021 Hurricanes:
@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.
Only 4 of the 26-man 2009 NZ U20 squad became ABs (Elliot Dixon, Tom Taylor, Aaron Cruden and Zac Guildford). NZ won the U20 WC in those 4 years (2008-2011), which highlights that excelling at age group level doesn't necessarily translate to becoming an AB, or even SR quality.
Ironic that Robinson and Anscombe ended up starring at fullback for the Chiefs in 2012 and 2013.
