Waikato come up short in Super men stakes

Waikato have the second worst representation of Mitre 10 Cup players in Super Rugby.

New Zealand’s five franchises revealed their 38-man squads for 2018 last week and only the championship’s bottom province, Southland, have less than Waikato.

The Stags failed to win a match in 2017 and the Mooloos will face them next year after being relegated from the premiership having lost a record seven straight matches.

Waikato have just six Super Rugby players - including All Blacks Damian McKenzie and Anton Lienert-Brown who didn’t feature this season - when every other province bar Southland (four), Manawatu (eight) and Bay of Plenty (nine) have at least 10.

Only 20-year-old hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho earned a fulltime Super Rugby contract for the first time following Waikato’s dismal season which equalled the province’s worst since the national provincial championship began in

1976 - when they were last relegated in 1985 having won two and lost eight matches.

Taukei’aho played off the bench in the Chiefs’ first two games of

2017 after being called up as injury cover.

The chosen six of McKenzie, Lienert-Brown, Taukei’aho, Luke Jacobson, Atu Moli and Sefo Kautai are all contracted to the Chiefs.

Jacobson, who was captain of New Zealand’s world champion under-20s this year, signed a threeyear deal in August before Waikato’s season kicked off.

The back-rower from Cambridge has long been touted for a big future ahead of his potential Super Rugby debut.

Hame Faiva (Blues) and James Tucker (Chiefs) were not offered new contracts and Jordan

Manihera, who was said to be interesting the Hurricanes, was not signed up.

Neither was former All Black Zac Guildford, who missed half of Waikato’s season with a hamstring injury.

Manihera was Waikato’s only representative in the New Zealand Maori squad selected for matches against Canada and the French Barbarians this month.

A number of Mooloos have moved on with Loni Uhila, Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Pita Ahki going overseas.

Popular prop Uhila joined Clermont Auvergne when Waikato’s season ended and KerrBarlow is joining him in France, after signing a three-year deal with La Rochelle in March, at the conclusion of the All Blacks’ tour of Europe this month.

Pita Ahki joined Waikato this season after two disappointing years with the Hurricanes but has signed for Irish club Connacht, who are coached by former Chiefs assistant Kieran Keane.

So Waikato started 2017 with 10 players contracted fulltime to Super Rugby franchises, but end the year with significantly less and the Mooloos are unlikely to have the talents of McKenzie and Lienert-Brown as they’re both established All Blacks.

Moli, too, might become unavailable as his career progresses following an appearance for the Barbarians in their

31-22 defeat against the All Blacks at Twickenham on Sunday (NZ time).

One man who could pull on a Waikato jersey again is former Chiefs prop Toby Smith, who joins the Hurricanes on a two-year deal after spending three years with the Melbourne Rebels.

The former Hamilton Boys’ High School student has won six Wallabies caps and played in their

2015 World Cup semifinal victory over Argentina.