In the footsteps of a Springbok great
If rugby lineage counts for anything it would be hard to surpass the pedigree of first-season Manawatu¯ Turbos halfback Brynwilson.
The diminutive 20-year-old, weighing 74 kilograms, had a decent debut off the bench in the Turbos’ 50-12 loss to Auckland at Eden Park last weekend.
Wilson is on the bench again for this afternoon’s match against Counties Manukau as the Turbos chase their first win in Pukekohe since 1980, when Manawatu¯ won the NPC.
Wilson is following into rep rugby his grandfather Lionel Wilson, a Springbok great of the 1960s who played 27 tests and toured New Zealand in 1965.
Lionel was also a halfback until he was called into the South African test squad in 1960, when he debuted against the All Blacks at fullback and then made the No 15 jersey his own for the first half of that decade.
Lionel died in 2017, aged 84, but his grandson said the pair talked rugby and Lionel watched him play when he was younger.
‘‘It is pretty special that my granddad was a Springbok back in the day. I’m pretty passionate about it.
‘‘Since he died we’ve studied heaps and learnt way more that we probably should have [known] when he was still here.’’
Wilson wasn’t nervous heading into Sunday’s match.
‘‘It was a pretty tough day at the office with the boys, but I just tried to do my best and just move on to the next game.’’
Wilson had a strong season for Varsity, who finished runners-up to Feilding Yellows in club rugby, for which he credited the club’s forwards for giving the backs good ball during the competition.
His game has also benefited from four months in Japan last year with NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes in Osaka, where Kiwi Marty Banks was in the squad and former All Black Jon Preston on the coaching staff.
He had a couple of starts, but the sojourn was mostly about learning, something he’s done plenty of this season with captain Jamie Booth and, for the first couple of Mitre 10 Cup rounds, All Black Aaron Smith around.
‘‘It’s awesome learning off those two, definitely [Smith], as well as [Booth], his running game and his quickness around the rucks.’’
‘‘[Smith], the way he passes. You can learn so much off him in five minutes. I was rapt when he came.’’
For the rest of the season Wilson has vowed to train hard as he looks to pick up a Super Rugby contract.
Summer could see more rep action for Wilson, a batsman and medium pace power, who has been named in the Manawatu¯ men’s cricket team’s wider training squad.
Turbos coach Peter Russell said
Wilson had grown through his experience in Japan and his time at under-19 level.
‘‘He’s always got a rugby ball in his hands and is training the house down, and has been rewarded for his efforts. He’s got a great skill set. Then it’s just the experience of growing into that position.’’
Among the changes this week, the in-form Brayden Iose is out with a knee injury, so the impressive Tyler Laubscher switches to No 8 from flanker.
‘‘He’s all fire and brimstone, but he’s very diligent about his work. [He] does a lot of good things off the field too so he’s very methodical and fastidious in his work flows.’’
Russell rated lock Liam Mitchell a 50-50 chance to play. And flanker TK Howden gets his first start.
It’s a must-win match for the Turbos, but through their history they’ve proven themselves capable of winning when they’re up against it.
‘‘We’ve just got to keep going.
That Auckland side was full of Super Rugby players and people have to remember that, and the other thing with that is they got soundly beaten the week before by Wellington and they had to get their campaign back on track
‘‘We took it all with a grain of salt. There were a lot of things that we did wrong, but there were some good things in there as well. We’re working on those good things this week.’’
Manawatu¯: 15 Nehe MilnerSkudder, 14, Te Rangatira Waitokia, 13 Josiah Maraku, 12 James Tofa, 11 Ben Werthmuller, 10 Ben Wyness, 9 Jamie Booth (captain); 8 Tyler Laubscher, 7 Shamus HurleyLangton, 6 TK Howden, 5 Micaiah Torrance-read, 4 Liam Mitchell, 3 Mike Alaalatoa, 2 Sam Stewart, 1 Chris Eves. Reserves: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Tietie Tuimauga, 18 Kyle Stewart, 19 Filo Paulo, 20 Johnny Galloway, 21 Bryn Wilson, 22 Stewart Cruden, 23 Drew Wild.