Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s Rugby World Cup hopes still have a pulse — if you look hard enough — but they were badly damaged the minute big Crusaders winger Leicester Fainga’anuku owned him at Eden Park in March.
RTS is, at best, the third choice No.12 in New Zealand at present, with the All Blacks favouring Jordie Barrett and David Havili.
However, a brief spell on the wing for Auckland in the NPC last year suggested that versatility could be Tuivasa-Sheck’s trump card in his bid to make the All Blacks’ 22-man squad for France.
However, when he found himself on the right wing defending against Fainga’anuku on that night in Auckland, it turned out to be one of the defining moments of his spell in rugby.
Chasing a Richie Mo’unga crossfield kick, Fainga’anuku bullied RTS in the air and, more surprisingly, outpaced him down the left flank for a crucial try.
Fainga’anuku has pace, but he isn’t lightning quick, and Tuivasa-Sheck’s struggle to keep up with him showed how he may have lost a little bit of the magic dust that he used to sprinkle over the NRL.
Roger Tuivasa’s speed and evasive abilities lit up the NRL.Credit: Getty
Over the past few seasons, Tuivasa-Sheck has effectively tried to convert himself into a power athlete to make up for the fact that, in rugby terms, he is relatively small for a midfielder.
He has still been able to use his footwork in rugby, but No.12s in rugby either have to have an elite triple threat game — run, pass or kick — or be the beast who can run over people.
RTS — who rarely, if ever kicks the ball — doesn’t fit into that description. In fact, although he played rugby at school, he arrived in rugby as a nailed-on league player, with all the habits and attributes that made him great in the 13-man code but not so great in the 15-man game.
It’s a mark of the bloke he actually progressed as quickly as he did in rugby, especially after missing out on playing provincial rugby before his Super Rugby debut.
A heavier Roger Tuivasa-Sheck during a Blues Super Rugby training session.Credit: Getty
The Herald spoke to All Blacks coach Ian Foster on Friday, who regards Tuivasa-Sheck highly as a person and praised his “transparency” before the move back to the NRL was announced.
Foster, however, laid out his cards emphatically last year when the All Blacks moved Barrett to No.12 with Havili as his second choice. Also, with Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue trusted by the All Blacks and on the comeback from injury, Tuivasa-Sheck’s real place in the All Blacks pecking order at inside centre might be as low as No 5.
This, of course, is a cautionary tale for Rugby Australia, particularly when it comes to blokes like Souths’ Cameron Murray. Recent recruit Joseph Suaalii is in a different category: he’s so young and a place in the outside backs will ease his transition.
But asking Murray to make a successful switch in 2026 — when he will be 28 and, like RTS, a nailed-on league player — is something of a fantasy. The All Blacks would chew him up and spit him out — never mind what the Springboks loose forwards would do to him on the gain line.
Joseph Suaalii should return to rugby with ease.Credit: NRL Photos
Tuivasa-Sheck tried to bridge the gap by bulking up, but it never suited him. He has still found the defensive subtleties of rugby hard to master, and if the All Blacks want to look for an out-and-out midfield monster, a player such as the Highlanders’ 105kg Thomas Umaga-Jensen will always return more post-contact metres.
In fact, rugby subtracted the elements from RTS that make him such a joy to watch in the NRL – the speed, the evasion, and the room to move. He will go back to the NRL, likely shed five kilograms and return to the player he was. He has always been the consummate professional: there are no bad words being mouthed about him in rugby circles.
But, rugby and league are vastly different, and Tuivasa-Sheck’s return ‘home’ should put paid to the idea they are not. His spell was neither a success nor a failure, but affirmation that the two codes have grown well apart.
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