Super Rugby Aotearoa: the unlucky ones who ran out of contracts and the players who might be counting their lucky stars

By Tom Vinicombe of RugbyPass.com

Less than a week after the All Blacks capped off their year with a win over Argentina, heads are already looking to the future.

On Thursday morning, New Zealand’s five Super Rugby franchises unveiled their squads for the 2021 season.

As long as Covid doesn’t cause complications again, each club will play at least 13 matches next year, including eight against New Zealand teams and five against Australian teams.

As has become tradition, the five New Zealand teams are huge, and each franchise has about 40 players.

Among the nearly 200 players selected in total, there are certainly some men who will consider themselves lucky that they have been offered a contract for next year. That’s not necessarily because they haven’t played well, it may be because they haven’t played at all.

There are also several players in New Zealand who will wonder what they need to do to earn some recognition.

So which players, perhaps, have achieved beyond their means, and who are the poor idiots who will be feeling a little sad about missing out next year?

Unfortunate – Old Dogs

When Covid hit, rugby clubs around the world were thrown into chaos. Fortunately, New Zealand was able to get things relatively under control and get the game up and running fairly quickly. That attracted many former Super Rugby players back home to New Zealand and helped significantly improve the experience for some of the nation’s Miter Cup 10 teams, but they have yet to be rewarded with Super Rugby spots to. the next season.

Liam Messam, Adam Thomson, Patrick Osborne, Sona Taumalolo and Nasi Manu have won Super Rugby or World Cup titles and have added a lot of interest to this year’s provincial competition, but the momentum they brought to the field and the wisdom that They toasted outside the park. It has not been enough for any of the quintets to return to Super Rugby.

It’s a similar story for people like Jamie Mackintosh, Quentin MacDonald, Kieron Fonotia, and Baden Kerr. Bryn Evans, a former All Black of at least 36 years, has bucked the trend and earned a spot with the Highlanders.

Lucky – Young Guns

While New Zealand teams haven’t been reluctant to select young players in recent years, it is always a surprise when teenagers manage to land Super Rugby contracts.

Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens and Ruben Love represented the New Zealand high schools team in 2019, and both have earned spots on the Super Rugby teams for the upcoming season.

The former, who has already played for the All Blacks Sevens, received ample minutes for Taranaki during the Miter 10 Cup and finished the competition as the third-highest try scorer.

The chances weren’t nearly as close for Love though, but the utility running back still managed to score on his first touch of the ball for Wellington.

Ratumaitavaki-Kneepkens has been signed by the Blues, who have shown that they are not afraid to seek talent outside their catchment area, while Love will play for their local Hurricanes.

Bad luck – Lincoln McClutchie

For every school star who quickly makes the move to Super Rugby, there is another who sits in the stands wondering where they fell short.

McClutchie stood out in the top five for a formidable Hasting Boys’ High School team that included the likes of Folau Fakatava, Kini Naholo, Danny Toala and Devan Flanders. When McClutchie lost a contract last year, he headed to Japan to hone his craft under Marty Banks.

Despite Hawke’s Bay’s successful Miter Cup 10 season, McClutchie again found himself without a contract. Still only 21 years old, there is still plenty of time for McClutchie to make a splash at the Super Rugby level, but that will be little consolation to Magpie.

Luck – Laghlan McWhannell

A few months earlier, following a review of the Super Rugby season, Laghlan McWhannell would have found himself on the opposite side of this list.

The 22-year-old padlock first landed a contract with the Chiefs for 2019 after a successful season with the team during the 2018 Brisbane Tens. However, an injury during club soccer canceled the Cambridge player for the season. It was a similar story in 2020, with an injury that again prevented McWhannell from taking the field for the Chiefs, and also ruled him out of the Waikato provincial season.

Despite the fact that McWhannell hasn’t played a professional rugby match in over a year, and has never established himself at the provincial level, let alone Super Rugby, the Chiefs have seen fit to include him in the squad for next season.

Perhaps the fact that McWhannell has been named Chief Personality of the Year indicates how well the young second rower is considered.

Unfortunate – Tony Lamborn

The Southland talisman captain has been one of the biggest provincial hits of the year.

Despite the presence of Blake Gibson and Dalton Papalii in the Blues, Lamborn racked up some solid minutes for the rejuvenated Auckland team, and then the USA representative galvanized his Southland team to comfortably achieve their best result in the Miter Cup 10 in years.

After three negligible victories in four years of games, the Stags surprised fans across the country by racking up another three victories in 2020 alone. They also came within a few points of beating Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Northland.

Part of that improvement should be credited to his fearless leader, who helped his side balance well on his weight grade.

The Blues’ recruiting of Dillon Hunt meant there was no room for Lamborn in the north, while the rest of the nation’s teams are well-equipped in the loose forwards department too, especially on the open flank.

Luck – Jermaine Ainsley

Three years ago, the Highlanders signed Australian-born Tyrel Lomax from the Melbourne Rebels and were confident that the closed-headed mainstay could be a long-term mainstay in the group. After two seasons in the Deep South, Lomax turned to greener pastures.

Assuming they could do a little better this time around, the Highlanders have now added former rebel Jermaine Ainsley to their supporting actions, even though Ainsley had already played for Australia.

Ainsley was born in Cromwell and educated at Otago Boys’ High, so it’s kind of a homecoming for dummies, but the Wallaby will have to put on some superb performances in the park to convince a lot of fans that there weren’t better local talents. available. .

To add insult to injury, Ainsley’s three international appearances for Australia mean he is counted as one of three foreign players on the team, preventing someone as inspiration, former captain Nasi Manu, from being picked up.

Bad luck – Fletcher Smith

What does this man have to do to earn the respect of New Zealand Super Rugby coaches?

In 2018 and 2019, Smith was nominated for provincial player of the season thanks to some exceptional performances by Waikato during the Miter 10 Cup. Injuries haunted his season this year, but the former Highlander and Hurricane still significantly boosted Waikato’s performances when I was in the park.

His move north from Otago in late 2017 seemed to bring the 25-year-old’s career to life and there was every reason to believe he could be a genuine starting option in Super Rugby. However, that never happened, as Smith shared minutes with Jackson Garden-Bachop on the Hurricanes, and he never made much of an impression during his initial few seasons.

Looking through the new Super Rugby teams, it is difficult to determine how Smith is not one of the top 15 top five in the country, but there are rumors that the Christchurch-born center has signed to play in Japan. Whether that was because he was not picked up by a Super side is anyone’s guess.

Luck – Simon Hickey

Simon Hickey burst onto the Blues scene in 2014 and again there was genuine hope in the region that the long-suffering Aucklanders had finally found someone to pull their team out of the depths of the Super Rugby basement.

Just over a year later, Hickey had signed to play in France. A brief stint with Edinburgh followed, where the 26-year-old never looked out of reach, but did not shine in the grim conditions either.

Returning home to New Zealand earlier this year, the Hurricanes quickly took on the Aucklander, apparently as a replacement for the injured and retired James Marshall.

While no one should doubt Hickey’s abilities, they may rightly wonder how the King’s College alumnus managed to return to the Super Rugby ranks after missing a rugby pitch in New Zealand in nearly five years.

Since signing for the Hurricanes, Hickey has returned to Auckland and spent most of the season supporting Harry Plummer.

Now that Smith exceeds the requirements in the New Zealand capital, Hickey will compete with Jackson Garden-Bachop to start in the number 10 jersey for the Hurricanes.

Unlucky – Josh McKay

There’s no question that great things were expected of Josh McKay when he finished his studies at Christchurch Boys’ High School.

Between McKay and Will Jordan, the early opposition XVs were baffled about how to deal with the pace and power of the two utility backs. McKay quickly asserted himself at the Miter Cup 10 level, then the Highlanders called.

Fans thought the converted fullback could be the second coming of Israel Dagg, or even Ben Blair, in a pinch. McKay, however, never achieved a starting job with the Highlanders and is now without a full-time contract for 2021.

McKay may not be the safest defender on the field, but it’s impossible to deny his outrageous x-factor when he watches him play for Canterbury. Their performances in the second half of the season, especially in the last two weeks, played an important role in preventing the provincial giants from facing relegation.

This article first appeared on RugbyPass.com and has been republished with permission.