Rugby: former All Black Nehe Milner-Skudder joins Highlanders

Former All Blacks wing Nehe Milner-Skudder has been linked to an immediate return to Super Rugby.

The 29-year-old World Cup winner signed a lucrative three-year contract with Toulon in late 2018, but has not yet played a match for the French club due to a shoulder injury.

With the rest of the French Top 14 about to drop out due to the coronavirus pandemic, One News reports that Milner-Skudder will join the Highlanders for the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition scheduled to start on June 13.

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The Highlanders are planning to open that competition in Dunedin against the Chiefs.

Milner-Skudder burst onto the scene with Manawatu and the Hurricanes and starred in the All Blacks at the 2015 World Cup. Frequent injury problems have hampered his progress since then, prompting him to commit to his future abroad.

As the door opens for a local comeback instead of joining the Hurricanes, whose external stocks are full, it looks like Milner-Skudder will make its debut for the southern franchise in the 10-week derby competition.

Milner-Skudder’s return would follow that of Sam Whitelock to the Crusaders after the veteran All Blacks lock returned home early from Japan after the spread of the coronavirus halted the Superior League season there.