Tuivasa-Sheck shaping well at Auckland

Blues boss Leon MacDonald has been very encouraged by the efforts of new recruit Roger Tuivasa-Sheck – Auckland's new, hot-stepping recruit from rugby league. 

Tuivasa-Sheck last played rugby union in his schoolboy days and has been a major hit on the league scene for a number of years with his sublime footwork. He is set to make his Auckland debut soon. 

“With Roger, it’s how do we make him successful from the start? We don’t want him to come in and struggle,” MacDonald told Ian Smith on the SENZ Mornings radio show. 

“He’s already played 1600 minutes for the Warriors so he’s already had a fair chunk of rugby under his belt, so just managing that as well. 

“He goes 100 miles an hour, he wants to train a lot which is great. It’s harnessing that energy and the skillset stuff. He’s taken to it like a duck to water really, his catch-pass is great, he’s working hard on his kicking game. 

“He’s spent a lot of time on that breakdown area and it doesn’t look like he’s actually been away from the game a lot, so that’s really exciting for him.” 

MacDonald, however, is not letting any excitement get the better of him and is aware of the possibility that RTS might require a period of adjustment in the 15-man code. 

“There’s a difference between the training pitch and a real game so he’ll be looking forward to taking that first leap out onto the grass and getting a couple of games under his belt,” he said.