{"id":192655,"date":"2025-10-11T11:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T11:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/192655\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T11:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T11:19:07","slug":"leicester-faingaanukus-best-all-blacks-bet-remains-on-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/192655\/","title":{"rendered":"Leicester Fainga’anuku’s best All Blacks bet remains on wing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Leicester<\/a> Fainga\u2019anuku made a rampaging return to international rugby in Perth last weekend, but it was a return that raised questions as well as answered them.<\/p>\n

While the All Blacks<\/a> started their 2025 season lacking some punch out wide, selection changes have brought players like Fainga\u2019anuku, Caleb Clarke<\/a>, and Leroy Carter<\/a> into the fold, injecting some in-form X-factor into the backline.<\/p>\n

Fainga\u2019anuku\u2019s selection on the left edge in Perth was rewarded with perhaps the most destructive ball-running performance of any Kiwi back in the season to date. Winning centrefield contests with Joseph Suaalii raised some eyebrows, with some questioning whether his game is best suited ot the midfield.<\/p>\n

The Tongan-born bruiser was used almost exclusively in the midfield during his stint at Top 14<\/a> heavyweights Toulon, and emerged as one of the most effective carriers in club rugby.<\/p>\n

Fainga\u2019anuku had the eighth-most carries into contact out of any player in the Top 14, Gallagher Prem, URC, or Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> last season, and no one in the top 10 got near his dominant carry rate of 53.8 per cent.<\/p>\n

But for the Kiwi pundits on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, Fainga\u2019anuku\u2019s crash-and-bash prowess is better suited to the wing.<\/p>\n

While the 25-year-old offers something different to Jordie Barrett<\/a>, his former Crusaders<\/a> teammate, Bryn Hall<\/a>, said the No.12 jersey required a triple-threat skillset of kicking, passing, and carrying. That notion was affirmed by his co-panellist, James Parsons.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need that ability in the midfield to do all things,\u201d Parsons said. \u201cYou can manufacture him in there; it is quite versatile. I think you can manufacture him in the systems wearing 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he did a great job on the left wing. We\u2019ve said for the last few years, there\u2019s not a like-for-like style player like a Caleb Clarke, when he\u2019s not available. So, now having Fainga\u2019anuku available and winning those collisions and drawing so much attention, it just created a little bit more space for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall reflected on his time with Fainga\u2019anuku in the Crusaders camp and was sure that whatever jersey number was on his back, Fainga\u2019anuku would make his presence felt.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always busy; he always likes to be around the ball on both wings,\u201d Hall said. \u201cHe\u2019ll go from one side of the field to the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis confrontation, which, I think, is his biggest asset, his ability to get over the advantage line, whether it\u2019s through a pick-and-go or one-on-one, those things can help out an attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t get to see a whole lot of him aerially, which Caleb Clarke<\/a> is really good at. But having spent time with him, the aerial game is an advantage and something that he does really well.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, whether they want to continue with Caleb Clarke when he does get back, or Leicester gets another opportunity, I feel like those two will be the ones on the Northern Tour getting selected.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku made a rampaging return to international rugby in Perth last weekend, but it was a return…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-192655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}