Sideline Conversions 11 November (some news and information to start the week)

Tuesday morning updates: That appears to be it for rugby in Wellington for the year. The end of another mighty season. Several weeks off and it starts anew with pre-season 2025.

There are still some sevens tournaments to be played further afield, with the Central Region 7s in Palmerston North (exact venue and details to be confirmed) on Saturday 23 November. Then there is the second annual Manawatu Pasifika 7s at Bill Brown Park in Palmerston North on Saturday 7 December – see poster below.

For school rugby, the focus is on the Condor 7s in Mt Maunganui over the first week of December.

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It is understood that the Super Rugby squads are all going to be announced in full in the next few days, perhaps tomorrow.

Look out for the 2025 Wellington club rugby Swindale Shield draw to come out too.

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You know the world’s a bit askew at the moment when Facebook takes down and unpublishes your posts because you use the words ‘American’ and ‘Ambassadors’ – as happened to our preview article on Friday afternoon!

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Who would have been your Player of the Tournament on Saturday? Hard to go past Esi Komaisavai, who turned it on –  as usual. Louis Northcott for scoring a bucketload of the tries. Every time we turned when his team was playing he was scoring tries (see example below)! Plus others such as Christian Faa’vae, Marzy Karim and the experienced Johnny Teleaga, who, as far as we know, was ‘guesting’ for Paremata-Plimmerton this weekend from Norths, along with Jeremiah Avei-Collins, whose physicality was another reason why they won.

For the defeated Upper Hutt Rams a shoutout to Dan Schrijvers. Following in the footsteps of his older brother Hayden, Dan is approaching veteran status in the sevens game now (although not in years, still a young man). His work over the ball and in securing turnovers is outstanding, and we liked this try with the fend in the semi-final below:

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Speaking of veteran quips, from one to another later in the day when Bruce Kauika-Petersen shouting go old man from the sideline to Ambrose Curtis! Curtis has spent the last six years in France and is enjoying be home. He could be off overseas again soon, depending on what comes up for him. His presence would make a solid edition to the Swindale Shield next year.

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Wellington men’s and women’s teams will now be selected to head to the Central Sevens on 23 November.

Both should go well after the previous two weeks of hard club competition.

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The Petone women’s team were a cut above, over both weekends. A shout-out to their coaches, with Shannon Nightingale and the vastly experienced Belgium Tuatagaloa preparing them well. The Ponies were probably the most clinical team of all on Saturday in scoring off turnovers.

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A shoutout to Ayesha Leti-L’iga for playing in the sevens on Saturday for Oriental-Rongotai. Ories didn’t play the first weekend so couldn’t make the final. They lost twice to Petone on Saturday but beat Wainuiomata and Paremata-Plimmerton.

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We are still seeing players not wearing mouthguards though our camera lens. Apart from the fact that we thought this was mandatory, good luck with your dentist, your bank account manager, the ACC and your girlfriend if anything happens to your teeth.

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In rugby on Monday morning, the New Zealand All Blacks XV beat Georgia 31-13 in their international fixture that was played in France. Current Wellington players Caleb Delany, Du Plessis Kirifi and Riley Higgins started, while Xavier Numia came off the bench.

Fiji beat Wales 24-19. South Africa beat Scotland 32-19. So a good weekend all-round for southern hemisphere rugby.

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New Zealand cricketer Ajaz Patel has taken all 85 test wickets away from home. Which international rugby players have the best records home and away? Below is a list with the win, loss, draw record of some leading internationals over the years.

Wallaby George Gregan was 63-11-1 at home. Brian O’Driscoll 51-16-2. Ben Youngs has won 50 of 67 test matches in London. Martin Johnson was 39-6 at Twickenham.Victor Matfield won 43 of 56 tests in South Africa, Bryan Habana 38 of 51. John Eales won 66 of his 86 test matches with a 20-10 away record. Joost van der Westhuizen won a very respectable 23 of 37 tests on the road.

Ireland had won 19 games in a row in Dublin until their 23-13 defeat to the All Blacks. Ireland have only lost five times at home in the last decade.

Will Jordan has scored 37 tries 39 test matches.

Another good day for Asafo Aumua 8 tackles, 7 carries and a lineout at 89% compared to Ireland’s 70%.

Damian McKenzie kicked six penalties in the 23-13 win against Ireland which matches Andrew Mehrtens record from a 63-15 win against Ireland in Dubin in 1997. In that test, Mehrtens scored 33 points, the most he ever scored in his 70 test-career. Ireland made a memorable start with Keith ‘Ragging Potato” Wood scoring two tries. Jeff Wilson and Glenn Osborne grabbed two tries each; New Zealand scored seven in total.

Ireland have won 58 of 75 internationals at the Aviva Stadium since 2010.

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Australia beat England at Twickenham for the first time since the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Australia have only won four of their last 18 internationals against the English but an 83rd minute try to Max Jorgensen after five offloads earned a dramatic 42-37 triumph. Jorgensen scored his first try in four internationals. The 20 year old has five in 19 games for the Warathas. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii caught fire in his debut setting up a try and causing serious issues for the English defence.

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The latest Rugby News is out now – a good read with some recent reaction from the just completed NPC and Heartland Championship season highlights.

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Over the weekend, Jordie Barrett & Shaun Stevenson played their 200th first class matches, Du Plessis Kirifi his 150th.

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To the best of our knowledge, this is the first set of three NZ brothers to have played 200 first class games or more. Scott sits on 223, Beauden on 324.

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This coming weekend, Ben O’Keeffe will become NZ’s most capped first class referee, when he controls Italy v Georgia in Geno on Sunday. This will be BOK’s 231st first class appointment, and 49th test.

Congratulations to former Poneke lock Grant Nisbett on his milestone:

Grant Nisbett MNZM has been commentating iconic moments and giving us goosebumps for 40 years — tomorrow, he’ll call his 350th of 649 All Blacks matches! 🖤 pic.twitter.com/UzNmUPu4V2

— New Zealand Rugby (@NZRugby) November 8, 2024

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Fabian Holland has been riding the crest of a wave since leaving the Netherlands as a teenager to pursue an improbable rugby dream in New Zealand. The towering lock (204cm, 125kg) grew up, next door to a rugby club in Castricum, a seaside town near Amsterdam.

Further rugby research led him to YouTube, where he became besotted with the All Blacks. That fascination compelled Holland to shift to New Zealand, where he made such a big impression at Christchurch Boys’ High School that he was rushed into the 2019 New Zealand Secondary Schools team. His ascent since then has been rapid, and last weekend, he was named man of the match in the 38-24 win by the All Blacks XV against Munster at Thomond Park, Limerick. Holland made a dozen tackles, carried vigorously, and was the central target in a lineout that won 13 of 14 throws. Scarily his rugby dreams were almost dashed in the Dunedin surf when he was retrieved from a rip. Holland told Rugby Pass. “That wasn’t my finest moment. “Who told you that?” “I wasn’t familiar with the conditions and needed help to get out. I’d never come across a rip like that before. I’m grateful for the help to get out.”

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Reiko Ioane has 56 wins in 79 test matches but still trails Ireland 3-4. He has scored 37 test tries but none against Ireland.

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As announced last week, Bay of Plenty wing Fehi Fineanganofo has joined the Hurricanes for two years, meaning we could get to see him playing club rugby in Wellington soon.

The media release said: “Breakthrough Olympic Seven’s winger Fehi Fineanganofo has signed a two-year contract with the Hurricanes for 2025 and 2026.

Born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, Fineanganofo was a schoolboy star. Plucked out of prestigious rugby school, Auckland Grammar, he earned his first representative callup for the New Zealand Schools side in 2020.

Fineanganofo’s promising start to rugby was plagued by a series of injuries that sidelined him from the 2021 New Zealand Olympic Sevens team. With his rugby career in jeopardy, Fineanganofo credits one man in particular for his spectacular return.

“I did my ACL right after school, which ruled me out for about two years,” he recalls, “I got out of shape and was in a pretty dark spot when I got a call from the Head Coach of the All Black Seven’s.”

That coach was none other than Clark Laidlaw, current Head Coach of the Hurricanes.

This column and our 2024 rugby coverage is fast coming to a close for the year, as we are running out of content! If this isn’t our last column of the year, it’s close.

It is a collaborative effort, so if you have news, information or want to help in the future please get in touch.

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