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Eleventh hour bid: Otago in talks with former All Black Adam Thomson over unlikely hometown return
By Alex McLeod
Two weeks after reports emerged suggesting that former All Blacks loose forward Adam Thomson was set to sign a deal with North Harbour ahead of the upcoming Mitre 10 Cup campaign, Otago have voiced their interest in pursuing the 37-year-old, three weeks out from the new season.
The 29-test World Cup winner has returned to New Zealand in recent months after stints abroad and has been spotted plying his trade for Takapuna in the North Harbour premier club competition.
A report from Stuff a fortnight ago stated that it understood that Thomson was set to ink a contract with North Harbour Rugby, which would presumably see him turn out for their Mitre 10 Cup side after a seven-year absence from the New Zealand domestic game.
However, a new report from the Otago Daily Times has revealed that Otago Rugby have been in talks with Thomson, who played 54 times for the province between 2004 and 2012, about the possibility of returning to Dunedin for this year's Mitre 10 Cup, although nothing from North Harbour or Otago has been finalised.
A return to the top flight of New Zealand domestic rugby would add to Thomson's remarkable recovery from lumbar discitis, a painful infection of the spine which left him unable to walk and kept him hospitalised in Tokyo from between December 2017 and February 2018, while he was under contract with Top League side, the Canon Eagles.
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Otago head coach Ben Herring has already named a 28-man squad for this season, but there is still room for further additions, especially with the absences of All Blacks Ben Smith, Liam Coltman and Josh Ioane throughout the Rugby Championship and World Cup.
As it stands, Dylan Nel, James Lentjes, Slade McDowall, Joketani Koroi and Sione Misiloi are the only loose forwards that have been named in the Otago squad for this season.
Thomson would add some much-needed experience to Herring's youthful squad, which was given a massive fright by Heartland Championship titleholders Thames Valley during their Ranfurly Shield challenge in Wanaka last week, with the Swamp Foxes taking an unlikely 13-7 lead into half-time following a plethora of errors from the Razorbacks.
However, the hosts - who were missing some big names such as captain and Blues fullback Michael Collins, Highlanders midfielder Sio Tomkinson and New Zealand Sevens star Vilimoni Koroi - pulled away in the second half, taking out the encounter 41-21 to hold onto the Log o' Wood, and will take on local rivals North Otago in Oamaru next Friday in the second of their two pre-season challenges.
Otago's 2019 Mitre 10 Cup campaign kicks off against Bay of Plenty in Tauranga on August 11.
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Latest Comments
Brett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
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