Sav's Sidelines: 2023 Stag of the Year set for return
Sav's Sidelines: 2023 Stag of the Year set for return
Sav's Sidelines - the weekly column that looks at all things Southland rugby, from the grassroots to the professional game.
This week’s Sav’s Sidelines column points out that the stars may just have aligned to see All Black Ethan de Groot line up for the Stags in an NPC game after a four-year gap since his last.
On top of that, a key Stag is also set to return from injury, while this column also highlights another encouraging showing from Southland’s crop of under-19 players and celebrates a special rugby week for Central Southland College.
Key Stag eyes return after injury layoff…
Ethan de Groot’s expected Rugby Park cameo isn’t the only likely boost for the Southland Stags come Friday night against Canterbury.
2023 Stags Player of the Year Blair Ryall is expected to be available to return from a knee injury that has seen him miss the past four games.
Ryall started in the round one victory over Otago before an injury in training in the lead-up to the Ranfurly Shield challenge against Hawke’s Bay sidelined him.
There is no doubt the Stags are a better team with Ryall playing.
Ryall’s return will spark some welcomed headaches for the Stags coaching group given Leroy Ferguson and Hayden Michaels have both also returned from injury in the past fortnight.
The Stags have six quality loose forwards with four spots in the 23 up for grabs.
One option could be opting for a six-forward, two-back split on the bench to tap into that loose forward strength.
Although that won’t probably happen.
Second five-eighth Faletoi Peni has been a find in attack this season for the Stags but at this point in time isn’t physically ready to go 80 minutes at NPC level.
That probably puts the thought of operating with just two backs on the bench to bed.
Ethan de Groot likely to line up at Rugby Park…
Stags coach Matt Saunders has confirmed All Black prop Ethan de Groot is likely to line up for the Southland Stags at Rugby Park against Canterbury in Invercargill on Friday night.
He said official confirmation is expected to come tomorrow [Monday].
de Groot’s inclusion in the Southland No 1 jersey wouldn’t just be a boost in the Stags’ quest to knock over Canterbury, the occasion would be bigger than than that.
It would be a special night given it provides Southland the chance to celebrate one of its success stories.
Southlanders are naturally proud of what the lad from Gore has done given he has progressed to become an established All Black with 26 tests to his name since 2021.
Interestingly those 26 tests are more than the 17 NPC games de Groot has got to play for Southland.
de Groot has never forgotten his roots taking any opportunity to champion Southland when speaking on the national and global stage.
On Saturday he joined the Southland Under-16 Spikers team in Dunedin running the kicking tee for them and offer up some advice.
There was a feeling, given where de Groot has found himself in his career, we might never have seen the 26-year-old play for Southland at the NPC level again.
Although the stars might have just aligned for a Friday night cameo.
de Groot missed the trip to South Africa as he nursed a reported neck injury, and the All Blacks now have a bye week before the next assignment against Australia on September 21.
A bit of game time before the trip to Australia makes sense.
If de Groot does play it would be his first NPC game for Southland since November 13, 2020 when the Stags lost 25-17 to Counties Manukau.
The then 22-year-old started at loosehead prop that day before being subbed at halftime for Joe Walsh.
Walsh is one of just four players who played in that 2020 game that remain part of the Stags squad in 2024. The others are Isaac Te Tamaki, Rory van Vugt, and Liam Howley.
It should be pointed out that while November 13, 2020 was de Groot’s last NPC outing for the Stags, he did play in a preseason game against Otago on July 22, 2022 - the day of his 24th birthday.
The Stags team the last time de Groot played in an NPC fixture: Rory van Vugt, Amanaki Nicole, Isaac Te Tamaki, Ray Nu’u, Tevita Latu, Scott Eade, Logan Crowley, Tony Lamborn, Matt James, Charles Alaimalo, Mike McKee, Manaaki Selby-Rickit, Siate Tokolahi, Greg Pleasants-Tate, Ethan de Groot. Reserves: Talemaitonga Tuapati, Joe Walsh, Chris Apoua, Ray Tatafu, Jacob Coghlan, Liam Howley, Greg Dyer, Jaye Thompson-Te Muunu.
A lot to like about U19 group…
Don’t be fooled by the final scoreline.
At first glance, you might look at Canterbury Under-19s 46-24 victory over Southland Under-19 on Friday and suggest there’s a big gulf between the two provinces at that level.
But it’s worth digging a little deeper, because there’s something encouraging brewing in terms of Southland’s potential future Stags.
Southland found itself down 21-12 in the game played in Christchurch before putting Canterbury under plenty of pressure. They reduced the scoreline to 21-19 and with 12 minutes to play was still within striking distance at 31-24.
Unfortunately, Canterbury scored two late tries and a penalty to push the final scoreline out to 46-24. But there was enough to suggest they can compete against what is traditionally a powerhouse when it comes to New Zealand rugby’s production line.
Southland has previously felt the wrath of Canterbury at the Un19 age-group.
The likes of Tayne Harvey, Shaun Kempton, and Gregor Rutledge again firmed as rising stars of Southland rugby with their performance against Canterbury on Friday.
Wing Rico Fisher and No 8 Justin Shaw were other strong performers, amongst plenty of strong individual outings.
South Island champions…
It was a special week for Southland schools at the South Island under-15 co-ed schools rugby tournament in Christchurch.
Twenty-four schools from throughout the South Island took part and impressively Southland schools made their presence felt.
It was all headlined by the outstanding Central Southland College team which won the Division One title beating Lincoln High School 26-7 in the final.
Hunter Newell and Jake McDowell-Kitto both were included in the tournament team.
It came just 24 hours after the Central Southland College also won the South Island Girls 10’s competition beating Rangiora 24-17 in the final.
It made for a special week on the rugby front for Central Southland College.
It was also a Southland school that was victorious in section two of boys Division One with James Hargest College beating yet another Southland school Verdon College in the final.
James Hargest College won 40-35 in a high-scoring thriller.
The Verdon College story was Mighty Ducks like given they travelled with 14 players from Verdon College and Aurora College before picking up for players from Rangiora and found a kid wandering around the tournament from Wanaka with no team.
They slapped the group together and progressed to the Division One section 2 final.
On top of that Maruawai College and St Peters College, both of Gore, contested the Division two final.
Blast from the Past…
We’ve mentioned the last time Etha de Groot lined up in an NPC game for the Stags was November 2020 so lets take a look back at the highlights from that game against Counties Manukau in Pukekohe.