Aumua off the pace for Canes
Young hooker sensation Asafo Aumua has been left at home by the Hurricanes for the start of Super Rugby, with a clear message that he needs to work on his fitness.
The 20-year-old, who played his way on to the end-of-year touring All Blacks squad on the back of a sensational 2017 season with the New Zealand under-20s and Wellington Lions, was a shock omission from the Canes squad of 27 that flew out of Auckland yesterday, bound first for Sydney, and then on to South Africa for next weekend’s season opener against the Bulls in Pretoria.
Hurricanes assistant coach Jason Holland initially told Stuff from Auckland airport that the young hooker’s absence from the touring party, who will go on to meet the Jaguares in Buenos Aires in week two, was down to an injury niggle.
But pressed on the youngster’s off-season conditioning, he admitted that the front-rower had come up short in this area.
He appeared to be carrying some extra weight in photos posted by the Hurricanes during their pre-season preparations.
Aumua, who is considered among the brightest prospects in the New Zealand game, and has already been earmarked as a test hooker of the not-too-distant future, could seemingly do no wrong in his breakthrough 2017 season.
But he has been sent a fairly emphatic message around what is required at the Super Rugby level from a franchise not afraid to call players out on their shortcomings in conditioning.
‘‘He’s had a couple of little niggles and he’s not quite ready to go yet, so we decided the best thing for Asafo was to have a couple of weeks at home,get a bit of footy under his belt and he’ll be flying in a couple of weeks,’’ Holland said.
‘‘It’s a bit of a long-term thought process really.’’
Holland said a minor rib injury had played its part in the decision, with Ricky Riccitelli and Wellington’s James O’Reilly named as the travelling hookers.
‘‘It’s something that probably could have come right, but we just want to be a bit cautious with him,’’ Holland added.
‘‘He’s a young man and we want to make sure he’s good to go for the season and not necessarily rush him back.’’
Then Holland made the concession that Aumua had not presented in quite the shape they had expected for the new season.
‘‘He’s learned a few little lessons. He’s got to be a little bit better around some parts of his conditioning,’’ he said.
‘‘He was really close to going and we’re just taking it really carefully with him.’’
Stuff writers look at five talking points ahead of this weekend’s round in the national league.