Former All Black Sir John Kirwan says an immediate return of Blues player Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to the Warriors would be a “win-win”.
Speaking on Sky’s Breakdown show last night after Tuivasa-Sheck was left out of Leon MacDonald’s squad to play the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday, Sir John said Tuivasa-Sheck, who will officially join the Warriors next season, should go immediately.
The Blues lost to the Crusaders 15-3 - a feature of their game was their lack of attacking penetration.
League star Tuivasa-Sheck made a high-profile move to rugby in 2022 and has played three Tests but has struggled to make a consistent impact and while he still hopes to make the All Blacks’ World Cup squad, the recent Blues’ snub suggests the writing is on the wall. Last month he announced he would re-join the Warriors.
Harry Plummer was preferred at second-five alongside centre Rieko Ioane for the Blues against the Crusaders, with Bryce Heem the midfield cover on the reserves bench.
“I lived through this with Benji Marshall,” said Sir John, who attracted Kiwis league star Marshall to rugby in 2014 during his time as Blues coach.
“It was one of the hardest conversations I ever had as a coach. It just wasn’t working with the Blues and me and Benji and we sat down and … it was a horrible conversation but he said ‘JK, I’m not going to drop down to the second side, I’m going to go back to rugby league’.
I said ‘go’, and it was done in a week and he went back.
“If Roger feels he’s not going to get an opportunity with the All Blacks and he wants to go back to the Warriors, I think it’s a win-win for everyone. It’s not failure - it just didn’t work.
“He’s still an All Black and he can take that and he’s had a lot of bad luck, but if he was playing for the Warriors next week… it’s just a win-win.”
Former All Blacks fullback Mils Muliaina, sitting alongside Kirwan on the Breakdown, concurred. “It’s sad, isn’t it, in some ways because he’s such a great player,” Muliaina said.
An immediate return to the Warriors is unlikely given the likely salary cap issues it would present, along with the current team dynamic, with fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad playing well and determined to stay there even when Tuivasa-Sheck returns in 2024.
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson, who was on last night’s show, did not rule it out, however.
“I haven’t heard anything - I’ve been away… I’m sure our team would be open to having a conversation,” he said.
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