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Chiefs passing on the multi-dimensional Sevu Reece a big mistake

Waikato winger Sevu Reece has been a dynamic addition for the back-to-back Super Rugby champions. (Photos/Gettys Images)

With each passing week, Sevu Reece’s blinding form is making a mockery of the Chiefs decision to overlook him purely on rugby-related grounds.

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Against the Lions on Friday night, Reece dispatched Lions number 8 Kwagga Smith with superhero-like force, propelling him through the air before scrambling through five more defenders to score a mesmerizing try in close quarters. Later in the second half, a grubber down a tight corridor finished up in Reece’s hands for his second of the night.

The Chiefs will be well aware of the finishing prowess of Reece as the Waikato-wing notched 14-tries in last year’s Mitre 10 Cup, and was arguably the form player of the competition.

Ex-Chiefs wing and Waikato assistant coach Roger Randle knew exactly what was waiting in the wings, having directly coached him all year as part of the Championship-winning Waikato backline.

“Guys like Sevu Reece have been outstanding and I think everybody should be looking at him in Super [Rugby],” Roger Randle told RugbyPass during last season’s Mitre 10 campaign.

“I don’t care what excuse people have got at Super-land.”

He has certainly been proven right. Had Randle been in the Chiefs setup earlier, perhaps his word would hold more weight. Right now, the spiraling Chiefs can only watch their local product help the Crusaders rack-up 40 on every team in the competition on their quest for three straight titles.

The puzzling aspect to the omission of Reece was that it had nothing to do with off-field troubles, with Colin Cooper insisting the early signing of Japanese wing Ataata Moeakiola blocked the way for Reece to join the squad.

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“We committed to him [Moeakiola] early and obviously with Sevu Reece’s contract not coming through with Connacht, it was unlucky for Sevu,” said Cooper.

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Even with Manasa Mataele, Will Jordan, Ngane Punivai, Leicester Faingaanuku, Braydon Ennor and Israel Dagg on the books, the Crusaders were prepared to take a punt on Reece and offer him a trialing opportunity and then a train-on contract.

With an injury to Mataele and the retirement of Dagg, he has asserted himself as a number one wing option for the Crusaders and dazzled since ripping the Chiefs for 153-metres on five line breaks on his Super Rugby debut in round four.

Reece has offered the Crusaders energy in all facets of the game, whether it be a gunner on restarts, pressure in kick-chase or carrying down the 10-channel off set-piece, cleaning at the breakdown, he has brought a lot to the table outside of scoring highlight-reel tries, even showing his playmaking ability.

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Early against the Lions, on a ‘skinny’ play using 9, 12, and 14, Reece took a short pass out the back from Drummond playing at 10 and opened up the Lions midfield with a deft basketball pass over the top to centre Braydon Ennor. The pump fake before drawing the contact was ball-playing out of the top draw.

The scoot down the blind side against the Highlanders last week from a backpedaling ruck turned a pressure situation into a line break, before freeing up Drummond with an anticipatory no-look offload in a two-man tackle to find the supporting halfback and finish with seven points.

Reece as a playmaker is almost as dangerous as Reece the ball carrier, and this edge brings a multi-dimensional asset to the Crusaders.

Compared to the Chiefs’ wingers, he is a more balanced player yet more productive than all of them this season.

Although Reece has a higher usage rate (17.86 possessions per 80 minutes) than Etene Nanai-Seturo (12.26), Sean Wainui (11.87) and Ataata Moeakiola (12.58), he is a far more balanced player, with the highest pass rate, 40.26%, of all of them.

The man who seemingly took Reece’s squad position, Moeakiola, passes the ball just 13.11% of the time, while Nanai-Seturo is better at 23.73% and Wainui, who has spent some time at centre, has the highest at 34.57%.

Although Reece gets more touches, he is moving the ball far more frequently than the others. When you add in his impact as a runner, it’s no contest.

His 12 line breaks are double that of the next best Chiefs wing Nanai-Seturo, while his line break rate of 26.7%, every 1 in 4 runs, dwarfs that of Ataata Moeakiola (10.64%) and Sean Wainui (9.62%). He has the most tries, try assists as well as the most broken tackles.

Maybe the most telling stat is his tackle success at 80%, is a cut above Nanai-Seturo (72%), Wainui (71%) and Moeakiola (69%).

There is no doubt that Reece’s production is also a product of the system he is in, with an All Black-laden pack laying the platform as well as being on the end of classy backline. While it is true that the Chiefs aren’t creating much space for their wingers, Reece is often creating his own space.

Coaching and scheme is also a major factor, Reece has a license to roam in parts of the field to get involved and the more skills he shows the more likely he is to be used as the coaching staff dream up ways to get him the ball.

While Reece might not have the same impact if he was in fact on the end of the Chiefs backline, his ability at Super Rugby level is now undisputable and even talk of an All Black call up is now brewing.

Passing on Reece for moral-related reasons is understandable, passing on Reece from purely a rugby-standpoint could be one of the worst decisions in Super Rugby this decade. While Nanai-Seturo is a blue-chip prospect and still developing at 19-years-old, it is hard to see how Reece couldn’t be seen as a player who could compete and surpass Wainui and Moeakiola in the pecking order, especially after his dominant Mitre 10 Cup form.

If the Crusaders could open their doors with an already-stacked roster, surely the Chiefs could have too.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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