Sav's Sidelines: Will Marist soon lay claim to another All Black?
The newly named Sav’s Sidelines column will now cover a wider Southland rugby offering from the grassroots to Super Rugby and beyond.
With the club rugby season now also well and truly underway we’ve expanded Logan Savory’s previous weekly maroon-tinged Super Rugby column.
The newly named Sav’s Sidelines column will now cover a wider Southland rugby offering from the grassroots to Super Rugby and beyond.
In this week’s Sav’s Sidelines, he takes a look at Pasilio Tosi’s rise from Marist No 8 to All Black propping contender, outlines how the Southland-Toyota Verblitz relationship continues to flourish with Ben McHugh now also in Japan, and there is a lesson in taking your opportunities as a former Woodlands players eyes a big French deal. Plus plenty more.
Potential ABs bolter with Southland connection…
It appears former Southland Stag Pasilo Tosi is well and truly on the All Blacks radar.
The All Blacks decision-makers are at least very interested. It might be worth explaining again how Southland played its hand in sending him towards this current All Blacks chatter.
Tosi made the move to Invercargill from Rotorua in 2017 to link with the Rugby Southland academy system.
At that time the big former New Zealand Secondary Schools representative was a No 8.
By 2018 the powerful teenager led Marist to a Galbraith Shield title and later that year made his Stags debut as a loose forward.
But a then Stags assistant coach, Dale MacLeod, had other ideas. MacLeod says Tosi was a powerful ball carrier and was very strong, but his fitness level wasn’t where it needed to be.
MacLeod decided Tosi would make for a good “project”. It was decided to transform Tosi into a prop with Rugby Southland academy manager David Hall also playing a hand in that.
MacLeod tried to get the Highlanders on board with that project as well, but he says they didn’t see what he did in terms of the possible end result.
Tosi began his propping apprenticeship playing for Marist in Southland’s club competition.
He took his tentative steps as a prop at provincial level with the Stags in 2020.
However, with family in Bay of Plenty - including his son - in 2021 Tosi signed with Bay of Plenty.
After a blockbuster NPC performance that year against Wellington it sparked some interest from the Hurricanes.
He’s now a regular impact player off the bench for the Hurricanes and on the All Blacks’ radar.
Toyota Verblitz-Southland friendship grows…
Earlier this month Stags coaches Matt Saunders and James Wilson spent a week in Japan at Toyota Verblitz learning from its director of rugby Sir Steve Hansen.
Now Ben McHugh - who has coached Southland B and is a current Pirates-Old Boys assistant coach - has also made the trip to Japan to visit Toyota Verblitz as part of his own personal development as a coach.
He arrived on Wednesday and on Saturday watched Toyota Verblitz beat Canon Eagles in the last play of the game. The game was also prop Shunsuke Asaoka’s 50th.
Asaoka spent some time in Southland last year where he won a Galbraith Shield title alongside McHugh at Pirates-Old Boys, and also spent some time training with the Stags.
McHugh watched the Toyota Verblitz’s second-string team in action on Sunday which included three Japanese players who will soon head to Invercargill and line up in Southland’s premier club competition.
On Tuesday he will then get the chance to sit in on the Toyota Verblitz team review alongside Hansen and good mate Jason Price.
Price - who is also from Winton - is Toyota Verblitz’s head of athletic performance. It was Price and McHugh who initially sparked the now flourishing Southland-Toyota Verblitz relationship.
If that’s not enough, McHugh will then head to Fukuoka to watch his nephew Presley play for the Southland Boys’ High School first XV in the Sanix World Rugby Youth Tournament.
From Woodlands to France…
Life’s about taking your opportunities - just ask Josh Moorby.
It was after the now-defunct national provincial sevens tournament one year when Southland showed some interest in Moorby.
Moorby was playing sevens for Waikato and his intentions was to also crack the NPC comp with is home province Waikato, but there wasn’t a lot of interest.
Moorby, at 21-years-old, decided he just might take up Southland’s offer.
In 2019 he made the shift to Invercargill and lined up for Woodlands in Southland’s premier club competition. That year he got the taste of NPC rugby and was named the Stags Rookie of the Year.
That move south has set off a chain of events that firstly booked him a Hurricanes Super Rugby contract and has now led to an expected significant two-year deal with French Top 14 club Montpellier.
It’s the sort of opportunity that will probably set him up for life and it started by making the move to Southland and playing for Woodlands.
Southern Charity Hospital’s big night at rugby…
The Highlanders are a tough watch at the moment. It’s a young, inexperienced group that isn’t showing a great deal of improvement, even off the back of a 7-6 win over the Force on Saturday night.
But there was still something pretty special to come from Saturday night in Dunedin that is worth highlighting.
The collection buckets were out in force at the Highlanders-Force game for the Invercargill-based Southern Charity Hospital.
And on top of that, the Southern Charity Hospital was provided a significant boost when Chemist Wharehouse handed over a cheque for $65,000.
Well done to the Highlanders, Chemist Warehouse, and everyone else who chipped in to help the Southern Charity Hospital.
Celebrating birthdays in style…
It was job done for both the Riverton and Central Pirates rugby clubs on Saturday as they celebrated their respective birthdays in style.
Riverton Rugby Club marked its 150th milestone with a 27-7 victory over Waiau Star in a Division Two contest that also doubled as a Western Banner showdown.
While at Wilsons Crossing Central Pirates banked a 20-5 win over Ohai-Nightcaps-Otautau in what also was a Division Two competition fixture.
It’s over to you now Waikiwi.
The Invercargill-based club will celebrate its 125th later this month which will include its senior team playing Mossburn on May 18.