Michaelhouse’s Head of Rugby and Sports Medicine, James Fleming will be helping out the New Zealand Rugby once again this year, this time at the World Rugby u20 Championship.
James will not have a specific portfolio but will join the squad and be assisting the team wherever and whenever required. Widely regarded as a top rugby mind with coaching experience at pro level and as a qualified physiotherapist to boot, the Michaelhouse old boy is versatile and has a series of skills that come in very handy.
How did the relationship come about?
Going all the way back to the days of the Southern Kings Super Rugby, James forged a good working relationship with former Crusaders hooker Matt Sexton and Kings head coach in Gqeberha in 2013. Almost a decade later in his role as NZR High Performance Manager, Sexton turned to the former colleague for assistance in 2022.
In 2022, New Zealand sent a 30-man u19 team on a four-match tour of South African as part of a big picture effort to give their boys exposure with touring conditions and familiarise themselves with their settings for the 12-team u20 WRC from 24 June to 14 July 2023, an event which has not taken place since 2019 due to the pandemic.
James assisted with logistics, physio and anything else required on that 2022 tour.
The tour went very well and NZR were obviously keen to build on the winning formula.
These relationships are mutually beneficial and Michaelhouse can continue to benefit from the influence of New Zealand style of player based coaching that James introduced to their coaching structures.
Under his guidance Michaelhouse has enjoyed their best season since their unbeaten season of 2015.
New Zealand u20 WRC squad 2023:
| POS | NAME | TEAM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prop | Ben Ake | Auckland | |
| Prop | Bradley Crichton | Wellington | |
| Prop | Gabe Robinson | Waikato | |
| Prop | Malakai Hala | Manawatu | |
| Prop | Siale Lauaki | Wellington | |
| Hooker | Jack Taylor | Southland | |
| Hooker | Raymond Tuputupu | Manawatu | |
| Hooker | Vernon Bason | Manawatu | |
| Lock | Hunter Morrison | Hawke’s Bay | |
| Lock | Tahlor Cahill | Canterbury | |
| Lock | Tom Allen | Hawke’s Bay | |
| Lock / loose forward | Will Stodart | Otago | |
| Flanker | Che Clark | Auckland | |
| Flanker | Cooper Flanders | Hawke’s Bay | |
| Flanker | Sam Hainsworth-Fa’aofo | Auckland | |
| Flanker / number 8 | Malachi Wrampling-Alec | Waikato | |
| Number 8 | Peter Lakai | Wellington | |
| Halfback | Jordi Viljoen | Manawatu | * |
| Halfback | Noah Hotham | Tasman | C |
| Halfback | Riley Williams | Auckland | VC |
| First five-eighth | Ajay Faleafaga | Otago | |
| First five-eighth | Taha Kemara | Waikato | VC |
| First five-eighth / fullback | Harry Godfrey | Hawke’s Bay | |
| Midfield back | Aki Tuivailala | Waikato | |
| Midfield back | Leo Gordon | Auckland | |
| Midfield back | Xavi Taele | Auckland | |
| Wing | Caleb Tangitau | Auckland | |
| Wing | Codemeru Vai | Bay of Plenty | |
| Wing / fullback | Isaac Hutchinson | Canterbury | |
| Wing / fullback | Macca Springer | Tasman |
* Jordi Viljoen father’s is Roelof Viljoen -a Framesby old boy who played SA Schools in 1993/94 and also went on a Springbok year end tour.
Surprising to see the hiding they got from France u20
Congrats to you sir
Make the best of the opportunity and enjoy.