Sav's Sidelines: Is this the Stags' Blair Ryall replacement?
Sav's Sidelines - the weekly column that looks at Southland sport, from the grassroots to the professional ranks.
In this week’s Sav’s Sidelines column, we look at a potential replacement for Blair Ryall in the Stags, we share Paddy O’Brien’s thoughts on the TMO use, and also explain how the rug has been pulled from Mika Muliaina’s New Zealand Under-18 hopes.
Is this the Stags' Blair Ryall replacement?
The Stags appear to have latched onto an Otago looseforward who might help fill the rather large gap left following Blair Ryall’s departure to Japan.
It’s understood Sam Fischli - who has racked up 34 games for Otago from 2020 through to 2024 - will join the Southland Stags.
The 27-year-old has played the majority of his rugby in the loose forwards, but he did spend quite a bit of time at lock during the 2024 NPC, when Otago’s locking depth was tested.
The versatility is valuable.
While a proven performer at the NPC level, Fischli has been unable to get an opportunity at Super Rugby level to date.
He has previously played for the New England Free Jacks in Major League Rugby in the United States.
Fischli hails from Milton, South Otago where he attended high school before moving to Dunedin where he joined the Taieri club.
He is currently playing for Taieri in Dunedin alongside fellow Southland Stags Jack Sexton and Matt Whaanga.
Fischli looks set to join the likes of Sean Withy, Semisi Tupou Taieloa, and Hayden Michaels as some of the looseforward options.
His decision to join Southland will add even further spice to the August 2 Southland-Otago Stag Day fixture in round one of the NPC season.
The Stags are expected to start publicly revealing signings for the 2025 season following a Southland XV v Otago XV game at Rugby Park in Invercargill on May 27.
The Southland XV is made up of fringe Stags players, with the fixture a chance to have a look at those players at a level above club rugby.
Paddy O’Brien on the TMO’s input…
New Zealand rugby’s first professional referee, and now World Rugby referees manager Paddy O’Brien, joined The Roar Podcast this week for an extensive chat about his career.
He also shared his personal views on the involvement of the TMO in rugby.
You can listen to the full podcast episode here: The Roar Podcast: Ft. Paddy O'Brien
Rug pulled from Mika Muliaina’s NZ U18 quest…
Southland first five-eighth Mika Muliaina had set himself the target of making the newly established New Zealand U18 team later this year to play two games against Australia U18.
But that now won’t happen.
The plan was that New Zealand Secondary Schools, Maori U18, and Barbarians teams would be selected to play against each other before a NZ U18 team would be selected to play against Australia.
That was a change from previous years when the NZ Schools team would play against Australia U18.
New Zealand Rugby’s theory was that a national U18 team would better capture younger players who had left school in the national high performance setup.
Despite leaving Southland Boys’ High School Muliaina still qualified for the U18 age-group.
“I’m hoping to make the New Zealand Under-18 team this year, that’s another one of my goals,” Muliaina told The Tribune just a fortnight ago.
However, on Friday, New Zealand Rugby revealed plans for a New Zealand U18 team have been scrapped.
Instead, they are reverting back to the New Zealand Secondary Schools team to play games against Australia U18 this year.
It followed pushback from various school rectors. They viewed it as a demotion in prestige for the traditional national schools team.
Richard Hall - rector of Otago Boys’ High School - who served as spokesman for the secondary school principals, said the decision was a “commonsense victory”.
Is it a “commonsense victory” though?
One of the arguments from the schools was that they are the best places to provide young people with all their needs. Hall said the NZSS team remained the best pathway for coaches who were heavily invested in the First XV circuit.
But I will point out, there was still going to be a New Zealand Schools team named this year to play games, and there was still a pathway for the best school players to make the NZ U18 team to play against Australia.
The rectors were worried that making the NZ U18 team the premier team in that age-group might lead to kids leaving school early.
But that argument could be flipped around. Do some kids simply stay enrolled at schools with the hope of making the NZ Schools team?
Even if school might not be for them, and it might be in their best interests to leave to pursue a trade or another job opportunity.
I’m big on tradition and the role schools play in the development of young players, but is this really the “commonsense victory” it has been made out to be?
