Sav's Sidelines: 'At least we are not Southland'
Sav's Sidelines - the weekly column that looks at Southland rugby, from the grassroots to the professional ranks.
This week’s Sav’s Sidelines column explains how the Stags landed a lock from Ireland, talks to a rookie Stag about his big week, and highlights the ongoing comments from north of the border that haven’t gone down too well with some at Rugby Southland HQ.
'At least we are not Southland'…
The verbal barbs are continuing to be flung from north of the border, and it appears ongoing comments made by the ODT’s Paul Dwyer are wearing thin on some at Rugby Southland HQ.
Dwyer’s latest in his series of jabs at Southland came on Friday when he was actually having a crack at his own province, Otago, saying all he hears about is “pathways” in rugby but all he sees is “no exits”.
Otago announced its NPC squad on Tuesday morning. The squad included players who have been brought in from elsewhere to fill some holes.
The fact that Otago has a population of about 250,000, is also a university town, and is home to a Super Rugby franchise, makes for a massive advantage over many provinces.
That quite rightly should lead to some questions around Otago Rugby’s development progress.
But what has riled at least one particular Southland rugby leader was this follow-up comment from Dwyer.
“The only upside is at least we are not Southland. They’ve named 31 players, and how many of those are genuinely out of club rugby? Not many that I can see.”
Southland actually named 36 players, but that’s not the point.
Look, that sort of shot at Southland is done to prompt a reaction, which is exactly what is happening now.
But there is a feeling amongst some in charge of Southland rugby that they are sweeping comments that are made without any context, and all it does is fuel a perception.
It prompted me to delve into the makeup of the 2025 Stags squad to assess if Dwyer has a point.
Of the 36 Stags players named on Monday, 24 of them have, at some point in time, played in Southland’s premier competition.
That’s not including Sean Withy and Mika Muliaina, who played all of their junior rugby in Southland, but are now based in Dunedin for Super Rugby and study reasons.
Some of those 24 players who have previously played club rugby in Southland have this year played for clubs in Dunedin at the request of the Highlanders.
Prop Jack Sexton was one of them. He played his club rugby for Star in Southland last year, but after picking up a wider contract with the Highlanders, he made the shift to Dunedin and played for Taieri this year.
Then there is Semisi Tupou-Ta’eiloa, who last year played for Star in Southland but headed to Auckland to join Moana Pasifika in between NPC seasons.
A couple of other players headed to the United States in the offseason for professional opportunities rather than playing club rugby in New Zealand.
Welcome to modern-day rugby.
So, by my count, of the 36 players named on Monday, four new players have been brought in who have not previously played in Southland before the 2025 squad naming.
They are prop Jone Tiko, lock Cain Hurley, looseforward Sam Fischli, and halfback Nic Shearer.
The question that is always worth asking at the start of each Stags campaign is this: Who are the players currently playing club rugby in Southland, who are up to NPC level, and have been prepared to carry out the required training workload, that should have been contracted but weren’t?
The answer to that is always subjective, but I’ll leave it to you to come up with an answer.
Rookie Stag contract to Galbraith Shield star…
Fletcher Morgan capped off a pretty special week on Saturday.
The former Thames Valley and New Zealand Heartland XV player chose to up sticks and joined the Woodlands Rugby Club in Southland this year in search of an NPC opportunity.
He got that Stags contract he was after and spent his first week in camp with Southland last week in preparation for the NPC season.
Although that was before, on Saturday, he switched the focus back to club rugby and played a key role at second five-eighth in Woodlands’ 40-30 Galbraith Shield final victory over Pirates-Old Boys.
He was particularly instrumental in defence in the second half and, for good measure, dotted down for a try and kicked five conversions in a 15-point haul in the final.
“I said during the week it was kind of nice to have that Staggies stuff during the week to take my mind off the final, so I wasn’t too nervous,” Morgan told The Tribune.
“It’s just been really busy. A lot of work has gone into the week for the Stags preparing for the season ahead.”
Morgan has enjoyed the opportunity to link with his new club in the deep south this year and help Woodlands to a club title.
“It’s been awesome, the people have really looked after me and made me feel comfortable and allowed me to get stuck in.
“We’ve got some great people at the club, a lot of big names at this club.”
Morgan quickly earned the respect of those at Woodlands, including the club’s most decorated player, Jason Rutledge.
“I think he is going to have a great season for the Stags,” Rutledge said.
“It is awesome for a guy, rather than just turning up from a different province two days before the Stags get formed, he’s decided to come down here and play his club rugby and all of a sudden people around Woodlands know him and people around Southland know him and they will be here cheering on Fletcher.
“I think it is the way it should be done, and I’m really pleased they signed him,” Rutledge said.
“[Alex] Yallop is another one who was not far away [from the Stags] last year, and he has just been a colossal for us this year and has taken his chance and got his spot.”
Woodlands’ captain Liam Howley was another to praise Morgan on his Galbraith Shield-winning performance on Saturday.
“I thought he was outstanding and that’s exactly what he has done for the whole year, which is why he got rewarded with what he got,” Howley said.
“He has been outstanding and one of the great club men who has come down here and got himself involved. I thought there were many blokes out there that probably pushed their case for higher honours today.”
How the Stags landed an Irish lock…
When new Southland co-coach Nathan White went about trying to find another lock for the Stags’ 2025 campaign, he initially found the cupboard to be relatively bare.
“Very hard,” White said about his search for NPC quality locks.
“There are not a lot around. Talking to a few people around New Zealand, there wasn’t much.”
It prompted White to cast the net wider. He contacted people he knew in both Australia and Ireland.
White, a former Irish international prop, naturally has strong connections back in Ireland, which led him to land the signature of 25-year-old Cian Hurley.
Hurley is a former Ireland schools and U20 player who has been part of the Munster setup since 2020. That was before it was announced in May that he would be finishing with the Irish club.
It happened to be the time White was in search of a lock.
“I just put the feelers out to some people I knew, in Australia and Ireland, and Cian came back through a coach I knew over there. He said, ‘have a look at this lad, he has just left Munster’,” White told The Tribune.
“I saw some footage of him and talked to a few people, and it ended up going pretty quickly in the end.
“He wanted an opportunity, and he was really keen to get down and play in New Zealand, and I guess it happened at the right time for him, and for us as well.”
What White liked about landing a player like Hurley was that he joins the Stags from a professional environment.
“Munster has traditionally been one of the premier clubs in Europe. He’s played with Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray and the likes, he’s rubbed shoulders with some pretty good internationals.
“That’s what we liked about him, he comes straight out of a professional environment, he knows how to train, he understands systems, so he’ll fit in well.”
The Stags do have history when it comes to recruiting Irish locks.
Southland signed Dave Gannon for the 2009 NPC season, with Gannon coming off the bench in the famous 9-3 Ranfurly Shield victory over Canterbury.
Stags assistant coach Scott Eade had the task of picking Hurley up from the Queenstown Airport last week, and it didn’t take long before the Irishman had settled in in Southland.
“He is a cracking lad. Irish boys are pretty easy to get along with. He’s social and loves a chat, so I think he will fit in really well,” White said.
“He arrived on Friday, and it looks like he has been here for a long time. He’s a good man, and I think he’ll add a lot to this squad.”
Hurley joins Mitch Dunshea, Woody Kirkwood, and Alex Yallop as locks in the 2025 Stags squad.
Looseforward Sam Fischli can also provide cover at lock.
Hurley himself can step into the No 6 jersey if needed and could also cover No 8 at a real pinch.
