Time Taranaki talent stepped up
Worrying times ahead for coach Canes get a switch Blade win
The 13 days from July 26 to August 7 are shaping up as massive for Taranaki rugby coach Colin Cooper. During that period he is going to have to get a heck of a lot of players into form before Taranaki face Counties Manukau in their first national provincial championship match.
At the moment, a lot of his potential starters are sitting on the sidelines or running around playing club rugby. That’s hardly ideal given the step up to first class rugby.
There are exceptions, but not many.
Heading the list of men impressing the most is Hurricanes lock Blade Thomson, who was simply outstanding at the weekend, showing again why he should have been afforded more game time for the franchise.
Thomson aside, the number of Taranaki men getting consistent Super Rugby is thin.
Taranaki captain Kane Barrett has barely been sighted in a Blues jersey in 2014, nor has halfback Jamison Gibson-Park, while Angus Ta’avao has had to come off the bench in all his matches.
Things are not much brighter for the Taranaki lads at the Hurricanes, apart from Beauden Barrett, who is as much a chance of playing in the amber and blacks as Luis Suarez has of being offered a job in Italy.
Andre Taylor is injured but is not coming back to these parts, preferring instead to chase the Japanese yen, James Broadhurst’s form has dipped and he has been benched, James Marshall has seen little game time, just like Chris Smylie.
Further up the road, hooker Rhys Marshall has fallen out of favour with the Chiefs, while Charlie Ngatai has had no significant run of matches as he has battled injury and a revolving selection policy.
Further south, Kurt Baker spent a significant period being suspended and is now chasing a Commonwealth Games spot in the New Zealand sevens squad, while Jarrad Hoeata is off to Wales to link up with Cardiff.
Worrying times? Well, you could look at it with optimism if you believe the players will be fresh, although one of Cooper’s major gripes from a woeful 2013 season was a significant number of players arrived at Taranaki Rugby HQ under done.
Unfortunately, that is the nature of the beast for Taranaki given so many of their Super Rugby players can only be described as fringe Super Rugby men.
There are also some worrying signs on the club front.
Openside flanker Doug Tietjens has been sidelined with a serious neck injury, while a number of perceived frontline players have been managed through the club season on restrictive programmes because they have been put in cotton wool at the first sign of a potential injury.
If Taranaki had not had such a wretched season last year, you would look at the playing roster and think the players could come together and be confident in each other’s ability, but there must be some who are wondering if history is going to repeat.
Cooper has faced bigger problems than having a host of players under done but given the NPC is such a compact competition, there will be doubts in many a fan’s mind.
The good news for Cooper is the premier club competition has provided a real tough test for a lot of guys trying to win selection, with a lot of players having to battle hard week in and week out to try to get their team into the playoffs. By the time Blade Thomson had finished, it was hard to know if he was a lock, loose forward or wing.
What wasn’t in doubt after the Hurricanes’ 16-9 win over the Crusaders, was the Taranaki 23-year-old had played a blinder after scoring two match-deciding tries.
‘‘Bro, I don’t care. As long as I’m on the field and contributing to the team I’m happy,’’ was Thomson’s response when quizzed on his favoured position.
‘‘It was awesome to dot down but it was the boys who played well. We showed belief and pride in the swirl and we got it done. I’m just stoked right now.’’
Thomson has been stoked all season and in front of his partner and nine-month-old son Zachariah he showed why the Hurricanes would do well to finalise a new contract to keep him in the capital next season.
The former New Zealand under20 representative started Saturday’s match at lock before moving to No 8 when Brad Shields subbed off with 20 minutes to play.
Five minutes from fulltime, Thomson still had enough in the tank to spring past Crusaders wing Nafi Tuitavake, regather a Cory Jane grubber, and fly 50 metres to the try line.
‘‘Particularly, when you think a guy like that had to worked his butt off at set piece time at lock,’’ Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett said of the match-sealing try.
‘‘Obviously, the Crusaders scrum [was very strong] and they were starting to maul and he was in the engine room and then had to be moved to No 8. To score that try, he’s quite a special athlete.
‘‘He’s developed over time and people are just seeing what a good football player he is now.’’
Earlier Thomson had stepped inside Crusaders wing Johnny McNicholl and swerved outside a diving Jordan Taufua to score the Hurricanes’ first try.
The Gisborne Boys’ High School old boy has been strong all season. He was among the best of a struggling bunch when he started the opening four matches at No 8. Although he’s spent much of the year beefing up from about 105kg to nearly 110kg, at 1.98m Thomson has shown he’s equally capable of playing in the loose forwards.