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Blues lure German-born Anton Segner north for Super Rugby Pacific

(Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images)

Nelson-based German-born flanker Anton Segner will venture north to join the Super Rugby ranks with the Blues.

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The 20-year-old has signed a three-year contract with the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman champions to continue his remarkable rise in the game after venturing on a school exchange to Nelson College in 2017.

Segner, a 1.92m, 108kg loose forward, captained Nelson College to an historic regional collegiate victory, captained the Crusaders under-20 and was named in the New Zealand Schools and Under-20 teams. He joined the Tasman Mako in 2020.

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Blues head coach Leon MacDonald, who came across Segner in his final year as coach of the Mako, said he has all the attributes to make a success of his rugby career.

“I was impressed with him as a schoolboy and have followed him since. Not only does he have all the physical attributes and skillset, he has an outstanding work ethic,” said MacDonald.

“Anton is a young leader on and off the field and will be an excellent addition to the group of young talent at the Blues. These young guys have played together at higher honours and will be the future of our club.”

The young loose forward from Frankfurt said he is still pinching himself with the opportunity to join the Blues.

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“You don’t get too many Germans coming here to take up rugby. I am extremely grateful for all the opportunities ahead of me but also the ones I have been blessed with so far. It has all seemed pretty surreal to me,” said Segner.

Segner said that while he calls Nelson his home away from home, he is very much at ease in bigger cities, having grown up in Frankfurt.

“I am excited with the opportunity of living back in a big city and everything that it has to offer. I am looking forward to that.”

He was attracted by the Blues development, their quality loose forwards and the overall challenge.

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“Especially over the past couple of years, I was attracted by the track record the Blues have had and obviously now they are the reigning Super Rugby Trans-Tasman champions.

“There’s a massive opportunity not just to play but to learn from other players as well. The Blues have three All Black loose forwards and I will be definitely looking to learn from them and develop off them.

“To be honest, ever since going to school, I have been in and around the Crusaders environment. When the Blues opportunity came up, I was attracted to do something different, to challenge myself in another environment, and embrace that challenge.”

He spoke to some of his fellow New Zealand age group players who moved to Auckland to play for the Blues and they endorsed the environment at the club and the city. He was also attracted to play under MacDonald’s coaching group.

“Mum, dad and both my brothers are back in Germany but I talk to them just about every day and keep them up to date with what is happening over here. They are extremely happy for me and extremely proud of me. And when Jacinda allows, they look forward to coming over to watch me play for the Blues.”

– Blues Rugby

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AM 44 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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