From France to Southland
Blues have been boosted in their quest for a Southland premier club semifinal spot with a new recruit.
Former New South Wales wider-training squad member and French Top 14 player Henry Clunies-Ross is scheduled to play his first game for the south Invercargill club today against the Eastern-Northern Barbarians.
The 22-year-old was born and raised in Sydney and attended Trinity Grammar School where he captained the first XV.
Playing for Sydney University, in 2014 he was named in the Sydney club rugby team of the year after a standout season when he was also named the competition’s rookie of the year.
The pacey outside back scored 14 tries that season and as a result was selected in the Sydney Stars National Rugby Championship team. In his second season with the Sydney Stars last season he was sidelined by a broken ankle.
He has just completed a season playing in France for Lyon alongside former long-serving Stags lock Josh Bekhuis.
Former Stags centre Kendrick Lynn is also part of the Lyon setup in a coaching capacity.
After a couple of weeks back in Australia, Clunies-Ross made the move to Southland where he will attempt to take his next step in his career.
He is regarded a winger or a fullback, and it is understood fullback is his preferred position.
As of yesterday afternoon Blues were still awaiting the paperwork from France for a clearance to ensure he could line up today.
However coach Mark Crosbie said the hope was for Clunies-Ross to make his debut at fullback against the Barbarians at Blues.
While he is an unknown to Southland rugby followers, Clunies-Ross could well provide the spark Blues need to help them towards a playoff spot.
Blues have been more than competitive up front this season but to date have probably lacked the attacking qualities to put teams away.
They currently sit in fifth place, five points behind Star, who are fourth with three round-robin games.
At the very least Blues will need to win one of their remaining three games and pick up bonus points in the other games to overhaul Star.
Clunies-Ross should provide Blues with a timely boost and the Stags coaching team will also have an eye on what he can produce.
Earlier in the season coach Hoani Macdonald indicated outside back was a position where they didn’t have as much depth as other positions.
New Zealand sevens representative Lewis Ormond has also made the move to Southland and has joined the Woodlands club.