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Otago's rookie try-scoring machine excites Josh Ioane as team named for Ranfurly Shield challenge
By Alex McLeod
If Otago are to have any chance of bringing the Ranfurly Shield back to Dunedin this weekend, it would be hard to imagine the province's electric back three not playing a big role in making that happen.
Of their outside back trio, All Blacks Sevens stars Jona Nareki and Vilimoni Koroi were sensational in Otago's 36-25 win over Manawatu in Palmerston North last weekend.
Both players made life tough for the Turbos defence, with the latter bagging a brace of tries in what was a man-of-the-match performance, but it could be the efforts of their less heralded teammate that may prove to be just as valuable.
Starting in his first game at Mitre 10 Cup level, Freedom Vaha'akolo shone on the provincial stage a week after making a brief debut against his hometown side Auckland in a 38-6 thrashing at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
A relatively quiet first half was followed by an explosive second stanza, whereby the 23-year-old rookie showed touches of magic to score his first-ever Mitre 10 Cup try and set up captain Michael Collins with an intercept and an audacious flick pass.
His hulking frame and considerable power balances out athletic traits of speed and agility brought to the table by Nareki and Koroi, while his skill set is on the same level as the Highlanders pair.
It will be welcome news to Otago fans, then, that all three players have retained their places in an unchanged starting lineup to challenge Taranaki for the Ranfurly Shield in Inglewood this Sunday.
Among those eager to see what more Vaha'akolo can offer at this level is Otago first-five Josh Ioane, who also looms as an integral figure in reclaiming the Log O' Wood for the second time in as many years.
Speaking to RugbyPass earlier this week, the one-test All Black said Vaha'akolo had been training with the Highlanders throughout Super Rugby Aotearoa after lighting up the Auckland club competition, having scored 21 tries for Ponsonby last season.
“Freedom’s been training with us at the Highlanders. [I’ve] been able to see how good of a player he is, and he definitely showed that on the weekend," Ioane said of the former Auckland age-grade and sevens representative.
"He looked quite dangerous and looked like a quality football player. [I've] been working with him the past few weeks, so it’s good to see him have a crack.”
Ioane himself looked comfortable in the blue and gold No. 10 jersey against Manawatu, showing off his esteemed running game and scoring 13 points from the boot.
Despite that, he stressed there was plenty to work on if the Razorbacks are to take down a Bulls side that will be without Beauden and Jordie Barrett.
A leaky defence in the opening and closing 15 minutes of the game allowed Manawatu to score all of their points, which is something that will likely have been addressed during the week by Otago head coach Tom Donnelly.
“That last 10 [minutes] probably let us down. Manawatu were able to cross the line a couple of times," Ioane said upon reflection of the encounter.
“We reviewed our game on the weekend and there’s plenty of positives and negatives - a few work-ons, I should say - so we’re looking to fix those."
The 25-year-old is no stranger to Ranfurly Shield fever, having started in Otago's 23-19 win over Waikato in 2018 which saw the snatch the coveted silverware off the Mooloos for the second time in five years.
He also played in three of Otago's Shield defences against Manawatu, Waikato and Canterbury last year, with the then-holders fighting off the former two sides before falling short against their South Island neighbours.
With considerable big-match experience at provincial level, Ioane knows that if Otago is to cut short Taranaki's reign as Shield holders after just eight days, his side will need to play to the best of their abilities.
“It’s a big game. I’m going there thinking Taranaki’s going to bring their best, it’s not going to be an easy game," he said.
“For us at Otago, we’re just focusing on preparing well and giving ourselves the best chance [of winning].”
Otago team to play Taranaki:
1. George Bower, 2. Liam Coltman, 3. Josh Hohneck, 4. Jack Regan, 5. Will Tucker, 6. Charles Elton, 7. Slade McDowall, 8. Dylan Nel, 9. Kayne Hammington, 10. Josh Ioane, 11. Jona Nareki, 12. Aleki Morris-Lome, 13. Michael Collins (c), 14. Freedom Vaha'akolo, 15. Vilimoni Koroi.
Reserves: 16. Ricky Jackson, 17. Jonah Aiona, 18. Hisa Sasagi, 19. Josh Hill, 20. Nasi Manu, 21. James Arscott, 22. Josh Timu, 23. Mitchell Scott.
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“He won a ECL and a domestic treble at the beginning of his career.”
He won 2 ECLs at the beginning of his career (2009, 2011). Since then he’s won 1 in 15 years.
“He then won 3 leagues on the bounce later in his career”
He won 3 leagues on the bounce at the start of his career too - (2009, 2010, 2011).
If we’re judging him by champions league wins, he peaked in his late 30s, early 40s. If we’re judging him by domestic titles he’s stayed pretty consistent over his career. If we’re judging him by overall win rate he peaked at Bayern, and was better at Barcelona than at City. So no, he hasn’t gotten better by every measure.
“You mentioned coaches were older around the mid-2010’s compared to the mid-2000’s. Robson was well above the average age you’ve given for those periods even in the 90’s when in his pomp.”
Robson was 63-64 when he was at Barcelona, so he wasn’t very old. But yeah, he was slightly above the average age of 60 I gave for the top 4 premier league coaches in 2015, and quite a bit above the averages for 2005 and 2025.
“Also, comparing coaches - and their experiences, achievements - at different ages is unstable. It’s not a valid way to compare and tends to torpedo your own logic when you do compare them on equal terms. I can see why you don’t like doing it.”
Well my logic certainly hasn’t been torpedoed. Currently the most successful premier league coaches right now are younger than they were ten years ago. You can throw all the nuance at it that you want, but that fact won’t change. It’s not even clear what comparing managers “on equal terms” would even mean, or why it would be relevant to anything I’ve said.
“You still haven’t answered why Kiss could be a risker appointment?”
Because I’ve been talking to you about football managers. If you want to change the subject then great - I care a lot more about rugby than I do football.
But wrt Kiss, I don’t agree that 25 years experience is actually that useful, given what a different sport rugby was 25 years ago. Obviously in theory more experience can never be a bad thing, but I think 10 years of coaching experience is actually more than enough these days. Erasmus had been a coach for 13 years when he got the SA top job. Andy Farrell had been a coach for 9 when he got the Ireland job. I don’t think anyone would say that either of them were lacking in experience.
Now - what about coaches who do have 25+ years experience? The clearest example of that would be Eddie Jones, who started coaching 31 years ago. He did pretty well everywhere he worked until around 2021 (when he was 61), when results with England hit a sharp decline. He similarly oversaw a terrible run with Australia, and currently isn’t doing a great job with Japan.
Another example is Warren Gatland, who also started coaching full-time 31 years ago, after 5 years as a player-coach. Gatland did pretty well everywhere he went until 2020 (when he was 56), when he did a relatively poor job with the Chiefs, before doing a pretty poor job with the Lions, and then overseeing a genuine disaster with Wales. There are very few other examples, as most coaches retire or step back into lesser roles when they enter their 60s. Mick Byrne actually has 34 years experience in coaching (but only 23 years coaching in rugby) and at 66 he’s the oldest coach of a top 10 side, and he’s actually doing really well. He goes to show that you can continue to be a good coach well into your 60s, but he seems like an outlier.
So the point is - right now, Les Kiss looks like a pretty reliable option, but 5 years ago so did Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland before they went on to prove that coaches often decline as they get older. If Australia want Kiss as a short term appointment to take over after Schmidt leaves in the summer, I don’t think that would be a terrible idea - but NB wanted Kiss as a long term appointment starting in 2027! That’s a massive risk, given the chance that his aptitude will begin to decline.
Its kind of analagous to how players decline. We know (for example) that a fly-half can still be world class at 38, but we also know that most fly-halves peak in their mid-to-late 20s, so it is generally considered a risk to build your game plan around someone much older than that.
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