Exodus

@bovidae said in Exodus 2019:

Crockett, Messam and Sivivatu were considered the 3 unlucky players to miss out.

Them arriving back at the airport from SA while the rest of the squad went to Brisbane was not Henry's and NZR's finest hour.

Timing wasn't NZR's or Henry's choice.

Confirmed. Milner-Skudder has signed a 3 year contract with Toulon.

@stargazer assume he must have seen he was very unlikely to be in the RWC plans given he is off after Super rugby.

@booboo said in Exodus 2019:

@bovidae said in Exodus 2019:

Crockett, Messam and Sivivatu were considered the 3 unlucky players to miss out.

Them arriving back at the airport from SA while the rest of the squad went to Brisbane was not Henry's and NZR's finest hour.

Timing wasn't NZR's or Henry's choice.

Yeah, they didn't exactly want to name the squad for a home RWC in a hastily organized hotel conference room in Brisbane FFS. I think Zac had booked the front bar solid that week.

@taniwharugby Yeah, he was already behind Smith/Jordie/Dmac at fullback and behind Smith/Naholo on the right wing. Possibly behind Bridge, too, now.

NMS, played a valuable part in earning his 2015 RWC cup winner's medal, integral member of the squad that won the Canes' one and only Super Rugby cup. Good on ya mate, time to go pick Mourad Boudjellal's pockets, you did good

@machpants Another bullshit Rugby Pass rumour mongering Article, Their souces are pulled out of their Arse

@sparky Great news, ABs average height up by 2.5cm!

@sparky Surely we now go with Ardie 7 Cane 6 for the RWC? None of the Highlanders WTG have made the cut at blindside..

@sparky Assuming Luatua saw the light as well, he was never serious (really?) about committing to NZR / Blues / coming back to NZ for RWC. At least he has made his choice now.

Chris Boyd is trying to sign Ryan Crotty and Matt Proctor for Northampton:

Not really Exodus, but Malakai Fekitoa is set to join his mate Lima Sopoaga at Wasps:

It's out of thread but I'd like to inform that Luke Braid is leaving Bordeaux and is coming back to NZ for personal reasons.

So Crotty maybe not to Northampton, Read not off to France...the pre-RWC rumour mill in full swing

Also

The All Blacks have traditionally lost senior players after Rugby World Cup campaigns, but the moves to Japan represent a new trend.

Not sure it is so much a new trend, just another option now.

So he wants to be a 'trailblazer' to ruin what got him there in the first place?

Been a few articles with Pitutau & Sopoaga all but promoting leaving NZ for the $$$...almost like they are trying to justify it to someone?

To some, the black jersey doesnt mean as much to others, good for them if it doesnt, but it gave them a big step up in salary.

@taniwharugby I'm really starting to dislike Piutau. He shattered his own RWC dream to take the money and that's his choice, no need to try and convince others to do the same and as you rightly say being an 'AB' has certainly helped him earn the big bucks in Europe.

@taniwharugby wow, he said you could earn more money overseas.
That'll be a new and interesting fact for all rugby players in NZ!

@Siam not just rugby I expect!

The articles wrong anyway. It says

Not selected for RWC => headed overseas

When in fact

Said heading overseas => not selected for RWC

Yeah, nah.

So if Piatau pledges his undying loyalty to NZ Rugby in 2015 and reups he gets picked for the World Cup squad? Ask Jane and Dagg who did just that, were in the frame and missed out.

The selectors were so locked in on Naholo that they picked him with a broken leg with perfectly good, experienced options available. I don't think there is anyway we can say Piatau would have been picked when they had such a hard on for Waisake that year.

Even if picked there is no guarantee they would have seen him as a winger which would mean his "world cup dream" would have been keeping Malakai Fekitoa and Colin Slade company in the stands and having a hit out against Namibia.

Piutau definitely makes the World Cup squad if he had signed on past the RWC. The way they justified Naholo was basically saying "if we are choosing between two players who are close and one is staying and one is going then we select the one who is staying". If Piutau was staying they would have picked him - NZRU made him a multi year offer and iirc he made every AB squad from his debut in 2013 up until the RWC squad in 2015. He also provided more versatility than Naholo with the ability to cover fullback - not to mention he'd played 17 tests vs what 1 test Naholo had prior to RWC 2015?

I'm intrigued as to how he's making his name. I never hear anything about him. Interesting how he's a trailblazer...doing pretty much exactly what Evans did - except Evans was much more successful and popular.

@Bones Well I think he's got one of the highest contracts in the entire league, so he's certainly doing something right!

I think the reason behind this entire article is in the entire article. Quote - "He's well on his way to that and he's determined not to waste his fortune. "We have agents and financial planners and good people around us," Piutau, now 27, said."

He's more or less a business now, and this interview is clearly a setup to help promote the business, it contains all the key points required. He's either very shrewd, or one of his many good people around him is sorting it out. And lets not forgot that the English rugby public loves anything which can show NZ rugby in a poor light.

@Bones said in Exodus 2019:

I'm intrigued as to how he's making his name. I never hear anything about him. Interesting how he's a trailblazer...doing pretty much exactly what Evans did - except Evans was much more successful and popular.

This. I don't get the hype for Piutau at all. Wasps fans loved him for the bonus year they got when he was left without a SR contract. It was Ulster who signed him to move North in the first instance - and in my view - got the least value from him. They're raving about him at Bristol Bears where Lam has set up an overseas NZ community.

@Derm-McCrum yeah I think as pointed out by MR he's probably most popular to those that are reliant on his income.

Matt Proctor signs for Northampton Saints, linking up with former Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd:

Saints sign New Zealand centre Matt Proctor

Friday, January 11 2019.
Northampton Saints can today announce that Kiwi centre Matt Proctor will join the Club from Super Rugby franchise Hurricanes. The 26-year-old New Zealand international is director of rugby Chris Boyd’s first new signing for next season, with a raft of current Saints already penning deals to remain at Franklin’s Gardens.

While comfortable both on the wing and at fullback, Proctor has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the Southern Hemisphere in recent seasons.

And after committing to make the switch across the world to the Gallagher Premiership, Proctor is already relishing the prospect of a new challenge on English soil with Northampton.

“I am excited to have signed for such a prestigious club in Northampton Saints,” said Proctor.

“For a long time now, I have had the ambition of testing myself in the Northern Hemisphere and for so many reasons Northampton is a great fit for me.

“Not only will I have the opportunity to be coached again by Chris Boyd – the person I have worked with the most as a professional player – but I will also have the honour of joining a Club that is steeped in tradition and boasts a rich history of success.

“The Club and I share the same goals in wanting to achieve as much success as possible on the pitch, while also contributing to the wider rugby community off the field; so overall I am thrilled to be heading to Franklin’s Gardens.”

After making his Super Rugby debut in 2013, Wellington-born Proctor was part of the Hurricanes side that – under Boyd – secured the title three years later.

He celebrated his 50th appearance for the franchise in 2018, while also being named captain for Wellington Lions’ Mitre 10 Cup campaign.

In the same season Proctor then made his All Blacks Test debut against Japan in November, with his representative career also including the Maori All Blacks, New Zealand Under-20s and New Zealand Schools.

Boyd said: “Matt is exactly the calibre of player that we want to be bringing to Northampton – he’s a world-class talent.

“I obviously know first-hand what he can do having worked with him back in New Zealand, and I am confident he can slot into our back-line next year alongside the quality players we already have at Saints.

“At 26, Matt is entering the peak years of his career and he had the desire for a new challenge on this side of the world. We feel that he can really fill his vast potential here in Northampton.”

@sparky that really sucks

I have to say I really don’t share the love of some on this forum for proctor. Ive always found him average. It’s a loss for the canes but not really nz imo.

@sparky said in Exodus 2019:

Matt Proctor signs for Northampton Saints, linking up with former Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd:

View embedded content

Saints sign New Zealand centre Matt Proctor

Friday, January 11 2019.
Northampton Saints can today announce that Kiwi centre Matt Proctor will join the Club from Super Rugby franchise Hurricanes. The 26-year-old New Zealand international is director of rugby Chris Boyd’s first new signing for next season, with a raft of current Saints already penning deals to remain at Franklin’s Gardens.

While comfortable both on the wing and at fullback, Proctor has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the Southern Hemisphere in recent seasons.

And after committing to make the switch across the world to the Gallagher Premiership, Proctor is already relishing the prospect of a new challenge on English soil with Northampton.

“I am excited to have signed for such a prestigious club in Northampton Saints,” said Proctor.

“For a long time now, I have had the ambition of testing myself in the Northern Hemisphere and for so many reasons Northampton is a great fit for me.

“Not only will I have the opportunity to be coached again by Chris Boyd – the person I have worked with the most as a professional player – but I will also have the honour of joining a Club that is steeped in tradition and boasts a rich history of success.

“The Club and I share the same goals in wanting to achieve as much success as possible on the pitch, while also contributing to the wider rugby community off the field; so overall I am thrilled to be heading to Franklin’s Gardens.”

After making his Super Rugby debut in 2013, Wellington-born Proctor was part of the Hurricanes side that – under Boyd – secured the title three years later.

He celebrated his 50th appearance for the franchise in 2018, while also being named captain for Wellington Lions’ Mitre 10 Cup campaign.

In the same season Proctor then made his All Blacks Test debut against Japan in November, with his representative career also including the Maori All Blacks, New Zealand Under-20s and New Zealand Schools.

Boyd said: “Matt is exactly the calibre of player that we want to be bringing to Northampton – he’s a world-class talent.

“I obviously know first-hand what he can do having worked with him back in New Zealand, and I am confident he can slot into our back-line next year alongside the quality players we already have at Saints.

“At 26, Matt is entering the peak years of his career and he had the desire for a new challenge on this side of the world. We feel that he can really fill his vast potential here in Northampton.”

Man, these quotes by players and coaches are just so scripted by the PR people is it almost laughable. Look at this one for example of something that in my forty years or so of involvement in rugby have never, even remotely, heard a rugby player express themselves in this manner.

“The Club and I share the same goals in wanting to achieve as much success as possible on the pitch, while also contributing to the wider rugby community off the field; so overall I am thrilled to be heading to Franklin’s Gardens.”

@KiwiMurph said in Exodus 2019:

Piutau definitely makes the World Cup squad if he had signed on past the RWC. The way they justified Naholo was basically saying "if we are choosing between two players who are close and one is staying and one is going then we select the one who is staying".

Yeah I'll take what Hansen said with a grain of salt. Of course he would take the opportunity to say that. At one of his earlier June squad selections he volunteered that two guys would have been new caps except they signed overseas but were overlooked - and the fern couldn't even come to a general consensus who one of them would be.

He says stuff like that, just like you can't lose your spot in the starting squad to injury (until you do) or you can't be picked playing overseas (until you can).

If Piutau was staying they would have picked him - NZRU made him a multi year offer and iirc he made every AB squad from his debut in 2013 up until the RWC squad in 2015.

At the time Piatau signed the contract Dagg and Jane had made every squad (aside from injury) for a longer time than that, and played key roles in the 2011 campaign. Both were committed until 2017. Both provided versatility. Both did not make it.

He also provided more versatility than Naholo with the ability to cover fullback - not to mention he'd played 17 tests vs what 1 test Naholo had prior to RWC 2015?

Two good arguments for his inclusion - ignoring the best argument which was that he had a broken leg. I would have selected Piatau, I just don't think it's a slam dunk Hansen would have.

It's a moot point though given he signed in March. If committed perhaps he gets the opportunities given to NMS in the Bledisloe and takes them with both hands. But Hansen very obviously saw Naholo as a difference maker after Super Rugby and was so weirdly committed to him that despite a mixed debut and a broken leg he took him with the idea of playing him into enough fitness to make the first XV during the pool rounds.

Hansen didn't see him as a difference maker and even if he did get the last back three spot he almost certainly would have been outside the match day 23.

This all of course forgets the irony that Waisake Naholo signed overseas before Piatau that year but was able to get out of the deal.

@rotated I'm not really sure what Jane and Dagg have to do with anything. Jane was 32 by 2015 and Dagg came back from injury late in 2015 and was clearly way short of his best when he played 2015 NPC - the RWC came around too soon for him in his comeback.

@Nepia Piatau coming across like a jumped up prick who seems have forgotten it was the NZ rugby system that has made him the player he is today..
Did not get his way from World rugby in terms of eligibility when looking to represent Tonga at this year’s World Cup..
Sounding very much like a person despite the million dollar salaries has got a very big chip on his shoulder.

@Bones said in Exodus 2019:

I'm intrigued as to how he's making his name. I never hear anything about him. Interesting how he's a trailblazer...doing pretty much exactly what Evans did - except Evans was much more successful and popular.

Evans is white.
Piutau is Pasifika. He's reaching out to the Pasifika players.

@mimic said in Exodus 2019:

@Bones said in Exodus 2019:

I'm intrigued as to how he's making his name. I never hear anything about him. Interesting how he's a trailblazer...doing pretty much exactly what Evans did - except Evans was much more successful and popular.

Evans is white.
Piutau is Pasifika. He's reaching out to the Pasifika players.

Hmmm... I can't really say I'm convinced he's a pioneer for Pasifika players. Player with Pacific Island heritage heads north and earns good money? Unheard of right!