Highlanders co-captain Nasi Manu signed recently for Scottish side Edinburgh, and will join them at the conclusion of the Super Rugby season in July. To go with the signing, we've pulled out this massive hit he made when just a schoolboy years back in New Zealand.
The imposing number 8 debuted for the Crusaders in 2008 at the age of 19 and played off the bench in their grand final victory that year. Manu switched over to the Highlanders in 2010 and has since become one of the franchises most consistent performers, while also amassing 71 caps for Canterbury in the ITM cup.
Injury wrote him off most of 2010 and 2013, and the Highlanders on-field performances suffered without him, 2013 in particular ending with an embarrassing 3 wins from 16 starts.
The emergence of Kieran Reed has cruelly blocked Manu from higher honours, with many considering him another victim of New Zealand's incredible breeding ground for talent.
Scottish fans will want to cool their jets though; unlike Sean Maitland, Manu does not qualify for the national side and in the past has signalled a preference to play for Tonga.
Manu's departure will leave a massive hole at the highlanders - he regularly leads the team for ball carries and tackles and captains from the front with intimidating physicality.
These are traits that have always been apparent, as this clip of Manu playing for Christchurch Boys High School in 2006 makes abundantly clear. Counter attacking from their own half Marlbrough spin the ball wide to their poor unsuspecting winger, who moments later gets absolutely crunched by a flying 17-year-old Manu.
Fri 10 Apr 2015 | 11:14
Massive schoolboy hit from new Edinburgh signing Nasi Manu in 2006
16 Comments
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rugbydump3:26 PM 15/04/2015
Haha, not sure why everyone else is so shy. Keep on keepin on.
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stroudos8:25 AM 14/04/2015
I think I'm addicted to posting comments on here mate. I'm actually trying to wean myself off the habit as it's taking up way too much of my time. Somehow I just can't resist sharing my ill-informed opinions with the rugby universe...
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stroudos8:20 AM 14/04/2015
It's just you're so contrarian I can't believe you're not just playing a caricature of yourself to bait everyone.
Most rugby fans enjoy the physical, violent side of the game. I'd definitely include myself in that. To quote Martin Castrogiovanni, I just don't like c**ts, whereas you seem to want to celebrate them.
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larry2:57 PM 13/04/2015
I agree with Hugh. The tackle was a bit high and there didn't seem to be an effort to wrap. I looked twice at the video, and it seemed the arm was aimed right at the winger's head. Now when I played I got high tackled at times, because I'm 5'8" (was, now I'm about an inch shorter). I don't recall a lot of penalties called for it, and I never complained. As a ref now I try to be careful making a call for a high tackle. I just did a game Saturday (women's match) and there were some tackles made around just below collar-bone high that I let go. A few inches higher, as in an arm aimed above the base of the neck, and I'm blowing up for a penalty or giving advantage to play on, unless there's an obvious injury.
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3:12 AM 13/04/2015
More than once I might add!
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jimmy234:18 PM 12/04/2015
"I can say for certain DrG, you wouldn't last 5 mins in NZ"
"Maybe we take our rugby a lot more serious than you Northerners"
Oh goodie, a Kiwi with the classic Facebook/Youtube superiority complex!
The thing is this, I'm not against big guys smashing little guys, hell I was one of the people who defended Courtney Lawes when his hit on Plisson was posted. It's part of the game and as a 5'9, 70KG bloke I've been on the receiving end of a few of those.
However, a guy rubbing it in to a guy half his size after he's smashed him achieves nothing. It's nothing to do with being tough, he did it because he knew he could wipe the floor with the little guy if he retaliated. I'd love to have seen what would have happened if the guy was of a similar size.
However, he was a teenager at the time. As Stroudos says, put it down to a bit of exuberance. He seems to have gotten rid of that need to rub it in now that he's playing against professional rugby players. -
breakaway1:49 AM 12/04/2015
I played fifteen seasons of rugby in central Auckland and the Waikato and I've seen plenty of tough footballers. I agree with stroudos and DrG. The tackle was tough but the followup was just trying to look tough, and failing. I've had a few coaches who might've had a quiet word: "The tackle was great son, but don't be a dickhead about it".
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drg5:44 PM 11/04/2015
"I can say for certain DrG , you wouldn't last 5 minutes in NZ playing rugby no matter how big you are."
I guess a big chapter of my life never happened then... -
drg10:48 AM 11/04/2015
I grow quite weary of your constant drivel, on one hand in other threads you start to come across as a fairly normal person....
Of course I can see the toughness of the winger, that is why I give him credit.. it's also what makes that silly idiot of an 8 look like more of a pathetic moron.. He put in a brilliant hit, then for some unknown reason he thought it was wise to shove the winger?? Then not only did the winger NOT react, he also got up as if nothing happened... thus making the 8 look like a weak minded fool.
It's not a case of don't rub someones face in the dirt (which didn't happen here by the way), because we all get involved in niggly shit time to time, it's a case of someone having an overblown reaction for no reason...
Again, POC parading around after winning a "who's taller?" competition against Peter Stringer... -
drg10:50 PM 10/04/2015
Mate, what is pathetic is a number 8 that's probably 3 times the weight of a small winger thinking he's putting on some sort of show....
Had the 8 weighed the same as a bag of sugar I could understand him mouthing off.
I've never felt it particularly necessary to make myself look like a cock after smashing a little guy... Now if a little guy smashed me like this and acted like this, I'd get up and have a disagreement, but I'd still give the guy secret credits for putting in a big hit on a big guy (if I say so myself)...
It's like O'Connell dancing around like a rooster because he's just won a height competition against Peter Stringer...
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stroudos7:29 PM 10/04/2015
Mate, we're going to have to find a rickety wooden bridge for you to hide under if you going to carry on trolling away like this.
If it was a trysaver I'd maybe understand, but this tackle, OK it's quite spectacular but it's actually pretty average, number 8 on a wing who was basically a sitting duck - in his own half.
Happy to let it go for a teenager, but any adult doing that is a total dick.
*This* is how you celebrate a massive try-saving tackle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9r2gKV_v30
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rich_w4:59 PM 10/04/2015
He is only 17 so I think you can excuse the 'afters'.
That excused, great hit, and the 11 took it like a trooper. -
4:52 PM 10/04/2015
Good for Hugh ;) ....ok, bad joke out of the way, thank fuck you're not a ref
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stroudos3:24 PM 10/04/2015
Not only that but a winger with absolutely nowhere to go, as his inside path is blocked by headguardman and he's only got a foot between himself and the touchline.
For some reason I've never heard of the bloke, but hopefully he grew out of that sort of nonsense and we can put it down to teenage exuberance. -
drg3:12 PM 10/04/2015
Interesting actually. I thought the tackle was brilliant, 'imposed himself' on the player during play, but that 'afters' was a bit pathetic... It's what you expect to happen when two players have been desperately disagreeing, they're also normally fairly evenly matched.
Doesn't look good to see a big 8 doing that to a stringy winger.. especially considering the winger didn't seem to even notice the hit... -
mattmon101:35 PM 10/04/2015
He took that well!