James Haskell Playing Super 15 for Highlanders

Just announced.

stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/5895590/Highlanders-score-England-No-8-James-Haskell

Good signing for the Highlanders but I'm not sure where he'll fit in. Nasi Manu is a beast

Good opportunity for 'The Brand' to spread the... er.. well... Brand.

And maybe get press for the right reasons in NZ.

Just looking at some of the comments posted after the article in Stuff and generally they seem to be quite positive from the fans.

A bit surprised about the money, he is only getting bottom end rate according to the Highlanders, which isn't much for a hell of a long distance move like that, especially when the real money is in France.

Remember that he is probably being paid a fortune in Japan, so that probably makes up for it.

Yeah he will have lined his pockets in France and now Japan so he can afford 6 months in NZ at basic rates. By the sounds of it he considers the move to the Highlanders to be a working holiday where he will gain from the travelling and NZ culture.

He's going to be exhausted by the time he gets to Wasps.

Good move - Lets hope its more beneficial than the Cipriani experiment. Haskell can learn in a new environment, hopefully get some S15 experience and come back to the UK with a greater skill set. Looks like they would still use him as a utility back-row though! I would have liked him to really focus on just one position.

Before I get anti-Danny comments - I think the move was right for him too. His 1st season at the Rebels was a bit hit n miss. I hope he too gets to re-focus and has a good season (- the press). It will be interesting if he still gets game time with O'Conner and Beale coming in, and with Julian Huxley in the utility back role.

He should do as from what I saw of Huxley he is rubbish, was never sure how he managed to keep a place in the Rebels side. Cipriani could be alright, there was an interesting interview I saw a few months back where O'Connor commented on his favourite position being 12 but not really getting a chance there. Cipriani, O'Connor, Mortlock as a midfield? Mortlock might end up doing quite a bit of covering in defence.

I thought that Haskell gained more from being shifted round the backline at Stade than if he had stayed at 6 or 8 for Wasps. He was forced to address the different weaknesses in his game and improve his impact on the rucks and mauls as well as maintain his carrying and tackling capabilities. Hopefully we'll see more development.

I've always thought O'Connor's best position would be 12.. imagine the Aussie backline if he moved there:

9) Genia
10) Cooper/Barnes
11) Ione
12) O'Connor
13) Ashley-Cooper
14) Mitchell
15) Beale

Scary stuff.

What 13's do they have coming through after AAC?

Good move for Haskell, I really hope he gets plenty of time at 8 while he's over there, can't think of a better competition in the world to learn the skills of a backrower. And another reason to watch more Srugby! When does the tournament start?

As to Cips, i'm hoping too this season pans out a little better then last. He looked good at 10 when he got a run of games there but needs to mix his game up more, oddly didn't run enough but with Beale and O'Connor around he'll have more chances to stretch his legs hopefully.

I still remember his 70m effort last season. Just like the Cips of old.