Lions key for Milner-skudder
If only all contract negotiations were as easy.
Nehe Milner-skudder wanted to remain a Hurricane and the Super Rugby champions wanted to keep him. That made closing the deal which keeps the star outside back in Wellington until the end of 2019 a mere formality.
‘‘I didn’t hear any whispers or any offers coming in for overseas,’’ Milner-skudder said yesterday.
‘‘I was pretty much looking around at the four walls round here and seeing the black and yel- low and the green and white hoops of Manawatu and that black [All Blacks] jersey is a big carrot to aim towards.’’
While fellow All Blacks outside backs such as Ben Smith and Israel Dagg are said to be entertaining offers from elsewhere, Milner-skudder is at a different point in his career. Still just 26, and having missed virtually all of the 2016 season, Milner-skudder has a lot more to prove – and achieve – at the highest level.
And provincial rugby, for that matter. He was a bit of an overnight sensation in 2015, going from doing some useful things for Manawatu the year before, to tearing up Super Rugby with the Hurricanes and scoring a try for New Zealand in their Rugby World Cup final win over Australia.
That rapid rise was reflected in the way Milner-skudder made mention of the fact he hadn’t just re-signed with the Hurricanes and New Zealand Rugby, but Manawatu as well. The pride in where he’s come from remained evident when talk turned to 2017’s main rugby attraction.
It’s 2005 since the British and Irish Lions last toured New Zealand and while Milner-skudder is determined to be in the All Blacks team to play them come June and July, his memories of that previous trip aren’t from the test matches.
‘‘I remember watching Manawatu getting a towelling, by about a hundred [points]. I was watching that at home. It was pretty unfortunate they won’t get a chance to try and redeem [themselves] this time round.’’
Milner-skudder’s own chance to prove himself will arrive on February 4. Now fully recovered from shoulder surgery, he’ll play 20 or 30 minutes of the Hurricanes’ pre-season clash with the Blues in Auckland, before appearing at the following weekend’s Brisbane Global Tens.