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Why Sevu Reece may never play for Fiji

Sevu Reece. Photo / Getty Images.

Head coach coach John McKee believes Crusaders winger Sevu Reece wants to play for Fiji at the World Cup but admits the chance to secure his professional future in Super Rugby and bid for an All Blacks call-up could rule him out.

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Reece is dual qualified and is set to receive a New Zealand passport having been hailed as a rising talent in Crusaders colours after leading the try-scoring charts in the 2018 Mite 10 Cup.

Reece moved to New Zealand in 2014 to attend Hamilton Boys High School and made his provincial debut for Waikato in 2016 and is now on the All Blacks radar thanks to his outstanding form.

McKee acknowledges there are real pressures on players like Reece to make decisions for not only their own playing futures but the good of the families.

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McKee, the Fiji head coach, told Radio New Zealand: “It’s not a cut and dried situation for Pacific Islanders playing professional rugby. They have a lot of pressures around their lifestyle – often they’re living away from home, some of them are even living away from their families.

“They do provide a lot of income to their families and villages back home and there’s a lot of pressure around that – balancing being the best professional player they can and pursuing professional contracts with the commitments of the international game can be difficult.

“I fully understand that and respect player’s decisions but certainly I think Rugby World Cup is the pinnacle of the game and for Fiji in particular, with the talented group of players we’ve got currently and with the experience and blend of young players in our squad, we can achieve something special this year. That’s one of the frustrating things coaching teams in the Pacific – when players go particularly to New Zealand they get very good opportunities around their education and also as professional rugby players.

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“But when players are unavailable for Fiji that can be frustrating for us because realistically to perform as best we can in the World Cup we need to have our best players available for us and our best players on the field.”

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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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TRENDING Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss
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