Squire has his eye on No 8 spot

Liam Squire made his Super Rugby debut off the bench for the Chiefs at the weekend but it won’t be long before he gets his first start.

Squire, the 21-year-old Palmerston North-born Tasman loose forward, made a storming impact as a second-half substitute against the Highlanders, at Waikato Stadium, on Saturday night.

At 1.96m and 113kg the young Maori All Black cuts an imposing figure at No 8 and such was his pace and power around the field it seems only a matter of time before he gets a start in that jersey.

‘‘I want to play as much as I can at No 8, but if it’s six or lock, I’m more than happy to cover those positions,’’ Squire said.

‘‘I want to cement that No 8 position, or just wherever, because I want to be out there playing.

‘‘We’ve got a lot of good quality loosies so it’s going to be a tough battle but I think it’s a good thing when you’ve all got to compete like that because it brings the best out in everyone.’’ ]

Chiefs head coach Dave Rennie said Squire showed he was quick and a real handful ranging wide.

‘‘It was his big burst that gave us a bit of go-forward and gave us an opportunity on the other side of the field [for the winning try].

‘‘It’s neat for him. He made a massive impact off the bench, stole a lineout and was a good contributor,’’ Rennie said.

Squire’s debut was delayed by injury and he missed the pre-season trials, although he was on standby for the reserves bench the previous week against the Crusaders.

‘‘I had a wee fall at training and pulled my hammy and hurt my knee, which held me back for three weeks, but I’ve now had two weeks of training under my belt and was feeling really good out there,’’ Squire said.

‘‘I would have been fine to go down to Christchurch and play if I had had to.’’

He was inspired by the character shown by his team-mates against the Crusaders and wanted to produce something similar when he got on the field against the Highlanders.

‘‘I was pretty excited to be out there,’’ said Squire. ‘‘I was nervous at the same time but once I got out there with the boys it was good.

‘‘The coaches expect the reserves to make an impact when they come on so I was just hungry to get my hands on the ball, make tackles and get into the game early.’’

He felt a bit lucky to get on the field just as space started to open up in the tiring Highlanders defence, but found Super Rugby a big step up from what he was used to.

‘‘It’s a lot faster, a lot more physical, but it was quite a tough pre-season so it was good to get out on the field and put into play all that hard work we’ve been doing,’’ Squire said.