1
All Black prop eligible for Wallabies switch after signing deal with Reds
By Kim Ekin
The Queensland Reds have secured not one but two All Black props for next season one two-year deals.
Former Blues prop Alex Hodgman, 27, and ex-Hurricane Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 32, will head to Ballymore in 2024 and for Hodgman the possibility exists of wearing green and gold in the very near future.
Hodgman's father was born in Australia, making him eligible, and he will become an Australian-based player once he joins the Reds.
In November his international stand down period will end after being last capped by the All Blacks in 2020 in a Bledisloe Cup clash against the Wallabies.
The prospect of wearing the Wallabies jersey is one Hodgman said he'd 'love to take' if the opportunity arose.
“I don’t want to talk about it too much,” Hodgman told Stuff.co.nz.
“I’m always pushing to be the best that I can be, so if things fall in place and there’s an opportunity to play, I’d definitely love to take it.
“[For now] It’s just how do I get to the Reds, how do I do my best there, how do I grow, how do I get the most out of that environment, that’s it.
“One step at a time for me”.
After losing key front depth with Wallabies star Taniela Tupou moving to Melbourne to join the Reds, the pair of ex-All Blacks helps bolster the tight five for incoming coach Les Kiss.
Kiss said in a statement: “We’re pleased to welcome two props of the calibre of Alex and Jeffery to our squad.
“Both bring experience at the highest level and will strengthen our tight five on-and-off the field.
“There’s been a strong culture of care and connection built at Ballymore over the past few years. After talking to both Alex and Jeff, they both have a team-first mentality and will only bolster these values over the next two seasons.
"In addition, having a player of Alex’s ability qualifying for Wallaby selection in 2024 is great for Australian Rugby."
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Zebre put up for sale by Italian Rugby Federation
3
Stuart Lancaster 'wants out' of Racing 92 and eyeing Euro giants job
4
Henry Arundell lined up for early England homecoming
5
Latest Comments
"Right, so even if they were the 4 worst teams in Champions Cup, you'd still have them back by default?"
I think (i) this would literally never happen, (ii) it technically couldn't quite happen, given at least 1 team would qualify via the challenge cup, so if the actual worst team in the CC qualified it would have to be because they did really well after being knocked down to the challenge cup.
But the 13th-15th teams could qualify and to be fair I didn't think about this as a possibility. I don't think a team should be able to qualify via the Champions Cup if they finish last in their group.
Overall though I like my idea best because my thinking is, each league should get a few qualification spots, and then the rest of the spots should go to the next best teams who have proven an ability to be competitive in the champions cup. The elite French clubs generally make up the bulk of the semi-final spots, but that doesn't (necessarily) mean that the 5th-8th best French clubs would be competitive in a slimmed down champions cup. The CC is always going to be really great competition from the semis onwards, but the issue is that there are some pretty poor showings in the earlier rounds. Reducing the number of teams would help a little bit, but we could improve things further by (i) ensuring that the on-paper "worst" teams in the competition have a track record of performing well in the CC, and (ii) by incentivising teams to prioritise the competition. Teams that have a chance to win the whole thing will always be incentivised to do that, but my system would incentivise teams with no chance of making the final to at least try to win a few group stage matches.
"I'm afraid to say"
Its christmas time; there's no need to be afraid!
Go to commentsYou are a very horrible man Ojohn. Brain injury perhaps?
Go to comments