FIVE SMART SIGNINGS
01 JIMMY TUPOU [Blues]
Obviously in Augustine Pulu and Sonny Bill Williams, the Blues made higher profile signings. But the smartest one was probably Jimmy Tupou. He’s a Counties boy, knows Tana Umaga well and will be motivated by that. He’s had a few years at the Crusaders where he only played sporadically, but when he did, he tended to impress with his attitude and workrate. He’s a utility forward most likely to be used at lock by the Blues where his abrasiveness and mobility will sit well alongside Patrick Tuipulotu.
02 KANE HAMES [Chiefs]
Bottom line is this – the All Blacks rate Kane Hames highly. They capped him last year and say he is one of the better, more explosive scrummagers in the business.
That’s not a bad thing for the Chiefs to have in their mix. It’s a long, hard season and the set piece tends to become more important in the final two months. Hames gives the Chiefs more quality, more depth and he’s also a fantastically good man.
03 JORDIE BARRETT [Hurricanes]
There was a battle between the Crusaders and Hurricanes to keep the youngest Barrett. And for good reason – everyone sees the potential.
For a start, he’s a Barrett so there is a huge reason to be excited. The All Blacks took him to Europe as an apprentice and liked what they saw. Barrett is huge – 1.95m and he uses that height cleverly to offload and challenge defences. He tackles with venom, can kick – better than his brother – and has all the vision and skills you would expect.
He is a class act already and that’s with hardly any exposure to first class rugby. Imagine him at No 12 and Beauden at No 10 – there’s a combination to scare teams.
04 SETA TAMANIVALU [Crusaders]
The Crusaders have been searching for a hard, ballcarrying, line-breaking centre since Casey Laulala left almost 10 years ago. They thought Robbie Fruean was going to be that player, but his health unfortunately prevented him from fulfilling his potential.
Tamanivalu is much the same sort of shape and size as Fruean and plays much the same way, too. He’s direct and confrontational and he’ll benefit from playing alongside Ryan Crotty.
Tamanivalu will straighten the attack, give them more threats in the middle of the park and be their get-out-of-jail card when there is not much on.
05 TEVITA LI [Highlanders]
Tevita Li has been around for a few years and yet he’s still only 21. Ridiculous really. He left the Blues not because he wasn’t wanted, but because he felt it would benefit him to get out of Auckland and experience a new way of life. It worked a treat for Malakai Fekitoa and Li, while maybe not quite in the same league, has enough ability to be the sort of player that everyone notices each time he plays.
Adds to their finishing power and gives them greater resource to shuffle around to prevent them from fading down the straight as they perhaps did last year.