Lienert- Brown gets chance to kick- start a quiet season
TODAY’S SPORT COVERAGE
With all the attention on one Chiefs midfielder tonight, the other will hope his season can also kick- start.
Charlie Ngatai has understandably hogged the headlines as he returns from a year- long absence to face the Reds in New Plymouth but, of all the benefits he will add to the Chiefs, perhaps his partner has the most to gain.
Anton Lienert- Brown has so far been a solid if unspectacular member of his side’s backline, playing in a succession of midfield combinations while failing to attain the heights of his breakthrough campaign.
Last year saw Lienert- Brown and Ngatai link well for the Chiefs before the latter was struck down by concussion. And, in many ways, LienertBrown was a beneficiary of his teammate’s misfortune, making the most of a spate of midfield injuries to earn an All Blacks call- up.
Once on the international stage, Lienert- Brown out- performed expectations and retained his place for the end- of- season tour. But his quiet form of late has left him a questionable starter for the Lions series.
In 643 minutes for the Chiefs this season, the 22- year- old has recorded two try assists and 10 offloads, the same numbers he managed in less than half the playing time on All Blacks duty last year.
According to Chiefs coach Dave Rennie, he has been a victim of the team’s attacking struggles. Tonight, with what Rennie called “as good a backline as we can put on the park”, would be a good time for Lienert- Brown to rediscover his spark. “I think, attack- wise, he’s battled because our attack has battled,” Rennie said. “He’s still going pretty well but, like a few others, I know he’s keen to get a bit more ball.” But the limited ball Lienert- Brown has enjoyed tells only part of the story. Of the 24 midfielders in Super Rugby who have made at least 50 carries this season, just two players have a worse average gain than Lienert- Brown’s 3.39 metres. There i s another side to his game, however. Of the 21 midfielders who have attempted at least 50 tackles, only four have a better success rate than LienertBrown’s 86 per cent. “His defensive game’s been really strong, and we know he’s got a huge defensive work rate and i s a very good tackler,” Rennie said. “He’s part of our defensive group, so he delivers a lot of stuff there.”