Reece’s rethink after trying too hard
Barely used by a new ABs coach last year, Sevu Reece tells Robert van Royen he knew he had to go back to the drawing board.
Sevu Reece knew he had to go back to the drawing board at the end of last year.
Barely utilised by new All Blacks coach Ian Foster in the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations, the 24-year-old returned to Christchurch and started plotting for a resurgent 2021.
It’s not that Reece was bad last year. But he certainly didn’t reach the lofty heights of the previous year, when he took an injury-replacement contract with the Crusaders with both hands and lit up Super Rugby.
So, what happened in an otherwise memorable year, one he became a father to daughter Mila Talei Reece during?
‘‘It’s a tricky question that one. Coming out of 2019 and heading into 2020, Super Rugby Aotearoa, coming into that comp last year everyone knows the way you start to play, all your strengths and those kind of things and teams start coming at us,’’ Reece said. Practically everything he touched turned to gold in his rookie year, scoring a competition-high 15 tries in 14 games (13 starts), some of them via scarcely believable finishes.
If he wasn’t skinning defenders on the outside, or stepping inside them with his explosive right-foot step, he was burning teams with chip kicks, or simply running defenders over – as loose forward Kwagga Smith found out when the Lions played in Christchurch.
Named Crusaders rookie of the year, his remarkable season propelled him into the All Blacks, and he quickly became Steve Hansen’s first-choice No 14 at the World Cup in Japan.
‘‘Last year, I can’t remember how many times I’d get a ball in a game when people are already up right in front of you trying to take away your space and time,’’ Reece said. ‘‘Given that you sort of can’t do anything without ball in hand, you sort of have to just defend, or you end up working too much and that’s when you start to do silly mistakes and try and push things too much.
‘‘Come the end of last year, I had to go back into my box and put a really good plan into place for what this year could turn out for me.’’
Reece still touched down eight times in 13 games (11 starts) across Super Rugby and Super Rugby Aotearoa last year, but it was evident he was at times guilty of trying too hard.
The magical chip kicks weren’t coming off for him, mistakes started creeping into his game and, with it, frustration.
Reece, contracted to New Zealand Rugby and the Crusaders through 2022, still made the All Blacks but was scarcely used by Foster, who preferred to use Jordie Barrett on the right-wing.
‘‘It’s been a big off-season for him. He did a lot of reflecting on
last year, and he knows the competition that is in the outside backs in NZ Rugby,’’ Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said of the eight-test All Black.
‘‘If you want to be an All Black, you have to be right on, and for the whole season, and take your opportunities. And he’s done that straight away in round one.’’
Robertson was referring to Reece’s performance against the Highlanders in Dunedin last Friday, when the electric wing lit the Highlanders up with the type of plays his 2019 highlights reel is littered with.
He notched 89 metres on 10 carries, setup halfback Bryn Hall’s first half try with a fine centre-kick, and then there was his second half try – a remarkable finish inside the right-hand flag with halfback Aaron Smith and prop Siate Tokolahi draped all over him.
‘‘I had Aaron and [Tokolahi] in front of me. I saw the try line, and
I was going to step back, but I saw Aaron Smith on the inside. So, I thought I might just have to try a little [goose step] to slow him down,’’ Reece said.
‘‘I just had to dive for that corner flag and I went for it. Afterwards, I was looking at the replay and I was like ‘oh, that’s a close one, that’s a tough one.’ It was 50-50 for me.’’
Fiji-born Reece, a track and field star in his homeland, has been making eye-catching plays
since moving to New Zealand and attending Hamilton Boys’ High School. He went to another level when he earned a contract with Waikato, particularly in 2018 when he led all scorers with 14 tries in 11 NPC matches.
Indeed, try-scoring has never been an issue for Reece, but the Tasman Mako flyer knows he needs to keep digging into his box of tricks with a plethora of quality outside backs in the country.
‘‘Over the summer, preseason,
I put all my goals and everything in place. I wanted to start this year on a high and that [first game] could set my season on a very high standard. Now, every week it’s having to play to that standard, or lifting it even more.
‘‘Especially as an outside back, it’s just those little things that could separate myself from the other outside backs. Work rate, hanging around the likes of Richie [Mo’unga] and Jack [Goodhue] could open up opportunities for you.
‘‘It’s just having to work harder, leaving your side and moving to come around the centre of the park and come look for work when needed.’’
Reece will mark former All Black wing Julian Savea at Orangetheory Stadium today, when the Crusaders host the Hurricanes in their round two match. Savea, back in New Zealand after a couple of years in France, is someone Reece grew up watching and admiring.
He’s also got about 20kgs on Reece. ‘‘It’s all upper-body [work] this week,’’ Reece quipped.
‘‘Oh, man, he’s tall and he’s big and he’s strong. It’s everything you need and it’s just coming up with a way to try and stop it or slow him down. ‘‘I’ve got a few tricks in my head that could help, fingers crossed.’’
‘‘I had to go back into my box and put a really good plan into place for what this year could turn out for me.’’ Sevu Reece