Canes pair join Chiefs for 2021 At a glance
The Chiefs have snared the signatures of Hurricanes pair Jonah Lowe and Chase Tiatia for their 2021 Super Rugby season.
As they look to put their horrors of this year behind them, which saw them go winless in Super Rugby Aotearoa, the Chiefs have bolstered their backline with the addition of two players were in fine touch in the Mitre 10 Cup, while they have also injected youth in their pack, notably with the signings of Taranaki youngsters Josh Lord and Kaylum Boshier.
Lowe was part of the championship-winning Hawke’s Bay side, scoring two tries in last weekend’s final, and has spent the last three years as a fringe winger at the Canes, while Tiatia will return to the Chiefs side he played one game for in 2017, having proved his versatility in playing second five-eighth for Bay of Plenty this season.
That duo join three other new backs for next year’s squad – halfback Xavier Roe, and first fiveeighths Bryn Gatland and Rivez Reihana.
Up front, there are six new additions to the pack.
Tighthead prop Sione Mafileo, who was so impressive in a powerful North Harbour pack this year, makes his way south from the Blues, in what is essentially a direct swap for All Black Nepo Laulala.
Joining him in the front row stocks is Waikato loosehead Ollie Norris, with the 20-year-old landing a first Super Rugby contract after being an injury replacement in the squad last year.
Lock Tupou Vaa’i recently signed with the franchise through till 2023, and will be part of a very youthful locking quartet, with his 19-year-old 2.02m Taranaki teammate Lord getting a first-time deal, with Michael Allardice and Tyler Ardron having departed.
Former NZ U20 rep Simon Parker got one game for the Chiefs this year, and the Waikato flanker has earned himself a call-up in a loose forward group that also includes 21-year-old Boshier (younger brother of fellow loosie Lachlan), who has previously captained the New Zealand Under19 cricket team.
In news from other squad announcements:
■ Tony Brown has pulled off what could be a significant Super Rugby coup by luring Liam Squire back to Dunedin – and the All Blacks ‘‘dream’’ is still well and truly alive in the bruising loose forward.
Brown has unveiled Squire, 29, in a 39-man squad with utility back Vilimoni Koroi also included but set to spend the majority of the year with the NZ Sevens team in their bid for Olympic gold in Tokyo.
‘‘I’ve got high standards of where I want to go to coming back, and that’s quite exciting for me.
‘‘That All Blacks dream is definitely not over. It does burn in the back of my mind.’’
■ Braydon Ennor will miss the Crusaders’ entire 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign, while fellow All Black George Bridge will miss half the season.
Coach Scott Robertson confirmed the statuses of the injured pair when he announced his
38-man squad, which includes four rookies – Tamaiti Williams, Isaiah Punvai, Chay Fihaki and Fletcher Newell – for a tilt at a fifth straight title.
■ The Hurricanes searched up and down the country to find a replacement for departed star TJ Perenara before settling on a halfback who originally left Wellington to further his professional rugby career.
Luke Campbell, one of only five newcomers in the Hurricanes squad for the 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season, will return to the capital after impressing for Mitre
10 Cup semifinalists Bay of Plenty.