Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Will Genia hints his Super Rugby career is over

Will Genia has played his last match for the Rebels and has hinted his career in Super Rugby is over (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

It appears Will Genia has played his final game of Super Rugby after his side, the Melbourne Rebels, succumbed to a heavy home defeat to the Chiefs on Friday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Rebels went into the game knowing that a win would secure a play-off berth. However, the Chiefs, who also needed a win, brushed them aside 59-8.

It was a disappointing end to a season that started with a lot of promise for the Rebels. They deteriorated as the weeks passed by and lost their last two games on an aggregate score of 125-8.

After the game, the Rebels’ scrum-half Will Genia took to Instagram to leave a message that reveals a lot about where his future lies.

The 31-year-old uploaded two pictures, each of the different teams he has played for, the Reds and the Rebels, with the caption “What a ride Super Rugby”.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

What a ride @superrugby ??

A post shared by @ willgenia on

Genia’s contract with the Rebels is set to expire, and a move to Japan after the World Cup has been expected for the 100-cap veteran.

ADVERTISEMENT

He would not be the only Wallaby who will be departing, as Samu Kerevi and David Pocock are just a couple of the names that will not be in Super Rugby next season.

Under the Giteau Law, Genia will still be able to represent Australia (because he has over 60 caps). But his Super Rugby career looks to be over judging by this post, as it seems very unlikely that he would return to Australian shores to play anything other than international rugby.

A Super Rugby winner in 2011 with the Reds, Genia returned in 2018 to the competition with the Rebels after a two-year hiatus with Stade Francais.

Genia’s first season with the Melbourne club was much like this season – the Rebels made a brilliant start to their campaign, but fell off the pace.

ADVERTISEMENT

After winning five of their first seven games in 2019, the Rebels looked on track to reach the play-offs for the first time, but they slipped up once again and it looks as though Genia’s time in Super Rugby has come to an end.

WATCH: Episode four of Rugby Explorer, the RugbyPass series hosted by Jim Hamilton, takes a trek through Italy

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

F
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?

4 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss
Search