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Ruben Love feeling like 'a different athlete' ahead of 2024 season

Ruben Love with the ball in hand for the All Blacks XV. Photo By David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images

Ruben Love is a player of huge promise in New Zealand’s rugby scene, having earned Maori All Black and All Blacks XV caps, putting in some game-breaking performances for each before turning 22.

But before Love could build on his remarkable form in 2023’s Super Rugby Pacific, a groin injury he suffered the season prior demanded attention.

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The injury had come about during a conversion against Moana Pasifika, and while it was deemed no urgent action was needed, the pain persisted for the young fullback.

It was after the injured Love had played through the entirety of the 2022 NPC season with Wellington – a famously successful title run – and travelled to Ireland with the All Blacks XV – a thumping 47-19 win – that he sought further medical advice from Enda King, Aspetar’s Head of Elite Performance and Development in Doha.

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“I played through the NPC with this injury, but I was in so much pain,” he told RugbyPass earlier in the year.

“The groin is connected to the abs, so it basically affects every movement. Small things such as getting in and out of the car, sneezing, and laughing, especially around Xavier Numia, were really difficult.

“I often sat out practice. Too much kicking, sprinting, and stepping would put further strain on it.”

The road to recovery got underway and Love would only play eight minutes of Super Rugby Pacific in 2023, coming on late in the Hurricanes’ quarter-final against the Brumbies, only to see his side fall agonisingly short.

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Knowing what the youngster was capable of despite the extended sideline spell, Ian Foster and the All Blacks selectors named Love in the 2023 All Blacks XV squad to tour Japan. Relishing the chance to get back on the field in the black jersey, Love was electric, starting in both wins.

Now fully fit and gathering confidence in his body, Love has ventured across the Tasman for some specialist training with world-renowned sprint coach Roger Fabri.

“I feel like the month I’ve had with the Roger Fabri speed academy, I’m a different athlete and I feel like I’ve brought back a different mindset,” Love said in an Instagram post. “I’m starting to feel like myself again.”

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Fabri’s clientele includes some of the finest track, NRL and NFL athletes, meaning the young Hurricanes playmaker joins some elite company as academy alumni.

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Love lived with an old foe turned friend he made during his days with the New Zealand U20s, Australia’s stolen NRL star Joseph Sua’ali’i.

“Going to Australia for a month was eye-opening for sure,” Love told 1News.

“I sent (Fabri) a message and email to his academy, I just booked a ticket packed a bag and went over. It was amazing. I learned so much and I’ve come back a different athlete, I truly believe that.”

Love admits he started behind the eight ball in a field of world-class athletes, including NRL speedsters Jason Saab and Bronson Xerri.

“The way I could see my progress at the start was how (close) I could get to last place ? whether I could get closer to the second to last person.

“I was getting smoked by the boys like Jason Saab but I feel like, when you train with people better than you, it’s like anything – you grow quicker.”

Love is now back into Hurricanes preseason training with new head coach Clark Laidlaw, and is ready to don whichever jersey the former All Blacks Sevens coach sees him best suited for – ten or 15.

All signs suggest higher honours are only a matter of time for Love, who would reconnect with former Hurricanes coach Jason Holland and former Lions assistant Tamati Ellison if he were to find favour under Scott Robertson.

“I felt like I’ve missed out on so much. I’m doing my best to get back on the field and give it my all for the Hurricanes, and hopefully put my foot in the door for the All Blacks.”

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Jon 318 days ago

I hope it’s 10. Can’t help but feel they will give him time to grow at 15 and then ask him a few years later to become a 10, when everyone should know now that’s not the way to do it.

I feel he would be better utilized at the back but also has the ability and attitude to play 10 very well, and that is the more important position.

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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Nickers 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

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