Four Southland-related Super Rugby talking points
It’s hard not to think that the Highlanders have probably missed out on one who was sitting right under their nose in Semisi Tupou Taeiloa.
Tribune editor Logan Savory dishes up four Southland-related Super Rugby talking points for you to mull over.
Did the Highlanders miss one from under their nose?…
If things had panned out as expected Semisi Tupou Taeiloa would at this point in time be a couple of weeks out from his second season with Star in Southland club rugby.
As much as Star would have enjoyed his services, no one thought that was right. In simple terms, Tupou Taeiloa is now too good for club rugby.
But as we’ve covered at nauseam in The Tribune he was initially unwanted at Super Rugby level despite the 21-year-old’s massive NPC campaign with the Stags.
By all accounts his height as a looseforwared prompted some concerns. It’s worth pointing out he’s 3cm shorter than Ardie Savea, hardly the sort of margins worth putting a line through someone’s career, I would have thought.
There may have also been some unease from some in Dunedin from Tupou Taeiloa’s earlier days playing in Dunedin as a youngster, around his fitness and workrate.
But people can and do change in that department.
It’s hard not to think that the Highlanders have probably missed out on a player who was sitting right under their nose in Tupou Taeiloa.
The Highlanders are pretty well resourced in the looseforward stocks, but even a wider contract at that time would have had him in the Highlanders mixer rather than playing elsewhere.
As it has turned out, the Highlanders’ lack of interest has been a perfect result for Tupou Taeiloa.
Rugby Southland helped arrange for him to spend some time training with Moana Pasifika during the Super Rugby preseason as a development opportunity, with the thought he would return to Southland for club rugby.
But Moana Pasifika liked what they saw, and despite not originally being part of their official squad, Tupou Taeiloa has played in all four of Moana Pasifika’s 2025 Super Rugby Pasifika games to date. He’s started in the No 8 jersey in the past three games.
Heading into round four of the competition, Tupou Taeiloa had made the most carries out of any player in the entire Super Rugby competition.
His 56 carries during the first three rounds put him ahead of Quinn Tupaea (45) and Damian McKenzie (41).
To add it all, the Stags No 8 dished up an 80-minute effort in Moana Pasifika’s thrilling 40-31 victory over the Hurricanes on Saturday night.
Yes, I’m selfish, but let’s talk about the workload…
I’m at risk of being accused of never being happy with this particular take I’m about to make, but here goes.
I’ve been writing for the best part of a decade about Southland’s desperate need to have more players playing at Super Rugby level to improve the Stags’ NPC prospects.
But there are some potential side effects worth pointing out.
In this instant I’m probably mainly focused on Mitchell Dunshea, Sean Withy, and Semisi Tupou Taeiloa.
All three have had big starts to their 2025 Super Rugby campaigns playing big minutes, and they look set to continue to do so for the remainder of the season.
What sort of state will they all be in when they return to the Stags setup in July, on the back of that workload?
Only time will tell, I guess.
Dunshea might be the most important one out of the lot given lock is an area the Stags appear to lack any real depth in. The Highlanders lock, all going to plan, will have to carry much of the load for the Stags.
Another Stags Super Rugby debutant…
Southland hooker Nick Souchon made a long-awaited Super Rugby debut on Saturday night when he came off the bench for the Hurricanes against Moana Pasifika.
The 27-year-old missed out on a Super Rugby contract after the 2024 NPC season but has spent some time with the Hurricanes as injury cover with Asofa Aumua nursing a foot injury.
Souchon has been a bit of a New Zealand rugby journeyman playing for Otago, and Bay of Plenty before joining Southland in 2023.
He will return for a third season with the Stags later this year and may well feature in Southland club rugby if his time in the Super Rugby setup isn’t extended.
He’s likely to again join fellow Super Rugby hooker Jack Taylor as the Stags’ first choice hookers in 2025.
A Southland dominated forward pack…
The Highlanders U20s had their final warmup game on Saturday ahead of the Super Rugby U20s tournament in Taupo starting next Saturday.
They played the Crusaders in Timaru and were beaten 38-24. Although it appears the coaching staff are happy with what they saw in the hit out.
The Crusaders led 17-12 at halftime before pushing out to the 38-24 victory. It included scoring two tries with the Highlanders down to 14 players on the back of a yellow card.
Now if you are a Southland rugby enthusiast this Highlanders U20s team is one you should be following closely.
There were nine Southland-aligned players in the Highlanders’ starting 15 in Timaru on Saturday. Six of the starting forward pack were Southland players.
It again included an all Pirates-Old Boys frontrow in JJ Fisher, Shaun Kempton, and Thomas Jennings. There was also an all Southland looseforward trio in Gregor Rutledge, Justin Shaw, and Louis Lepionka.
The Highlanders will open their U20s tournament against the Blues on Saturday.