Blues centre: Super
The Blues’ English import Joe Marchant has raved about Super Rugby being ‘‘on another planet’’ and claims the competition is ‘‘so quick’’ after coming from England’s Premiership.
Marchant is on a six-month sabbatical with the Blues from English club Harlequins and has helped Leon MacDonald’s team win five of its first seven games in the now-suspended Sanzaar series.
The 23-year-old centre, who has three England caps, told The Daily Telegraph ‘‘it feels like the rugby is so quick’’ in New Zealand.
He realised he was ‘‘on a different planet’’ when he came up against Chiefs flanker Sam Cane and Hurricanes midfielder Ngani Laumape in pre-season games, and then watched Aaron Cruden inspire the Chiefs to a comeback victory over the Blues in the first round.
‘‘To be able to play out here, you have to be able to live with the speed of it,’’ Marchant said.
‘‘Coming over, I thought that defence was a strong part of my game and that maybe I could put a marker down. You hear about how defence over here is not as good as it is in the Premiership.
‘‘I realised pretty quickly that wasn’t the case at all. The play is so quick that, often, defences cannot get set. There will be three or four offloads in a row and you can’t even get into position.’’
Marchant said ‘‘just trying to pick out who you are defending, especially in that 13 channel is crazy’’.
He said he was enjoying testing himself against the best midfielders in the southern hemisphere.
‘‘I’ve played against [Anton] Lienert-Brown, [Jack] Goodhue and Laumape – those are three amazing international centres in the New Zealand conference alone. I’m there trying to compete and to do as much as I can.’’
Marchant said he hoped he could use his Blues stint as a springboard into the England team and to help Harlequins.
‘‘I really do hope that this will be a point of difference,’’ Marchant said.
‘‘When I come back, I can use this experience and combine it with everything that I have done back home. And then kick on.’’
Just as the Canterbury Rugby Football Union delivers good news, coronavirus casts an ugly shadow over the future of the Mitre 10 Cup.
The provincial union has done well to convert a $128,541 loss in 2018 into a $16,203 profit for last season.
Coronavirus could erase that excellent work but, right now, the CRFU should be pleased with what it has managed to achieve in terms of posting a profit after a tough couple of seasons.
It has also retained its status as the second biggest provincial union