Shields to chase England jersey
they had to redo the whole ankle.’’
No surprise that two broken thumbs since (one each side) have been a comparative walk in the park, and also no surprise that when the Western Force approached him in 2013 about heading there, he was ‘‘pretty close’’ to crossing the ditch.
‘‘It was the only offer I had at that time, we were halfway through the ITM Cup, and they gave me a week to sign. Luckily the Chiefs (his first Super Rugby destination) got wind of it ... I probably dodged a bullet there. I don’t really like the heat too much.’’
Certainly this is a fellow with a grounded perspective. ‘‘I didn’t come through the path most young fellas come through .... I left school quite young, and was quite happy playing club footy, training Tuesday-Thursday and having a few beers with my mates after the game Saturday.
‘‘That’s helped me with the balance between footy life and outside life. The outside life is bloody important so as soon as rugby is finished you know what the real world is going to be like.’’
It’s not something Squire need worry about for a while. He says the confidence he has from becoming a regular starter, first for the Highlanders, and now the All Blacks, has him in a good place.
There’s no doubt he’s a different figure in the black jersey this year: a sense that he truly belongs at this level.
‘‘In this environment it’s important to have the confidence from the coaches to just go out and play your game, and not over- think it,’’ he says. ‘‘It took me a season to get that, and once that switch is flicked you can enjoy it and express yourself.’’
These are indeed good times. Between his main home in Dunedin (where he has three pig dogs and a growing love for his southern base), his other one in Nelson and his peripatetic All Blacks lifestyle, what’s not to enjoy?
‘‘The good thing about the Highlanders is we take our rugby seriously, but away from the field you feel like you can be yourself.’’ EDDIE Jones appears to be making advances to fringe All Blacks players with British news media reporting star Hurricanes forward Brad Shields turned down a call-up to the New Zealand side after being given sufficient encouragement by the England set-up.
Shields’ Super Rugby contract with the Hurricanes finishes in 2018 and a Telegraph report indicates the 26-year-old has told New Zealand Rugby he intends to join the London Wasps at the end of that season.
The switch at that time would give Shields the opportunity to impress in England for a possible national call-up for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Shields would qualify to play for England through ancestry and by omission from any national NZ side since he played for the Baby Blacks in 2011.
The Telegraph reported that Shields was offered a place in the All Blacks squad for the French leg of their northern tour in which they played a test in Paris on Armistice Day and in a rare midweek match with a secondstring line-up just three days later.
It was possible Shields was in All Blacks coach Steve Hansen’s thinking for the French matches with the NZ loose forward playing stocks put to the test by the threeday separation of the matches.
In the test, captain Kieran Read was accompanied on the back row by Sam Cane and Vaea Fifita. In the midweek match, late call-up Luke Whitelock was named captain and featured in the loosies along with Ardie Savea and a marginally fit Liam Squire. Jerome Kaino was out injured.
Those line-ups appeared to put the squeeze on the All Blacks’ loose forward stocks though it’s understood Shields would not have been considered because he was poised to leave for England. No contract with an English club has been publicly announced.
In August there was speculation in British media that Shields was being offered deals worth about NZ$620,000. Shields is on record saying he will honour his commitments to the Hurricanes before making any new deal.
‘‘Everyone knows my situation, so we’ll see what happens after that,’’ Shields said in August.