Tongia signs for Stags
Former Highlanders and Hawke’s Bay winger Ryan Tongia will play for the Southland Stags in the national provincial rugby championship.
The 27-year-old will bolster the outside back stocks with his two seasons of Super Rugby level play likely to add some much needed experience to the Stags backline for their 2017 Mitre 10 Cup campaign.
Tongia returns to rugby in New Zealand after a season with French club Bayonne in the Top 14. The former Papua New Guinea rugby league player is excited about his shift south to don the maroon and gold colours.
‘‘I would like to thank the whole Southland organisation for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the 2017 squad,’’ he said. ’’Southland has an exciting balance of talent, youth and experience in the current squad.’’
Tongia played for the Highlanders in 2015 and 2016, where he scored four tries from five appearances, while the electric winger also spent three seasons with the Hawke’s Bay Magpies before he left in October 2016 for France.
‘‘I will be aiming to bring my infectious enthusiasm, competitive nature and passion for rugby,’’ he said.
‘‘I also look forward to meeting the staunch Stags supporters and fans of the game down south.’’
Southland Stags coach Hoani MacDonald is pleased to have the elusive try-scorer at his disposal, as the Stags try to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
All things going to plan, Tongia will make his national provincial championship Southland debut against his old team Hawke’s Bay in Napier on August 19.
‘‘He adds experience having played at Super level, and will help develop the young talent in our outside division with the knowledge he has gained throughout his career thus far,’’ MacDonald said.
‘‘He is very professional in his approach to the game and we are looking forward to him pushing for a spot to play against Hawkes Bay.’’
Rugby Southland general manager Andrew Moreton sees Tongia as a ‘‘quality finisher’’ as the Stags look to improve on their poor attacking form from 2016, which saw them finish the season as the worst attacking team in the competition.
‘‘It’s great to have someone of the calibre of Ryan [Tongia] joining the Stags,’’ Moreton said.
‘‘Last season we put ourselves into positions to finish off games and we lacked that final execution.’’
While Tongia has come from outside the province, Moreton is enthusiastic about the high number of Southland club rugby players confirmed for the cam- paign.
‘‘We are excited about the makeup of this year’s team and it is a pleasing a strong number of our contracted players have come through the Rugby Southland Academy,’’ he said.
‘‘We placed particular emphasis on our players forcing their way into the squad through strong club rugby performances in Southland.’’
‘‘This year’s team has strong local representation with 21 of the squad having been part of the Southland set-up or have been played club footy down here for three or more years.’’
With the national provincial championship to kick off in August, Moreton isn’t ruling out the potential for more local players to be called in as cover.
‘‘We have a big season ahead including a possible shield challenge and we will be sourcing any injury replacements locally from those that have played club rugby this year in the province,’’ he said.