Hoskins Sotutu: Has Scott Robertson called the All Blacks Flanker?

There's a battle to be Auckland's premier Super Rugby team ahead of next week's derby against Moana Pasifika at Eden Park.

The defending champions have just two wins to their name this season, while Moana have claimed back-to-back wins over the Crusaders and Waratahs, scoring 90 points over two games.

Hoskins Sotutu joined D'Arcy Waldegrave to preview the match, and talk about his off field options. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from news Talk zed be Christy asking if it's time
and guess gudness who as it is? He kicks it
over the touch and the Blues hang on by one grove.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
It was a win.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
It was the points, right, it's the main thing. And
I suppose even though it wasn't the most you didn't
celebrate when you watch that game. Is that a nice
way to put it? But from a Blues fan, there
was tension right from Rugravy and there was tension. You're
not always going to have a wide open, crazy display

(00:49):
of flinging the ball out wide a. You're going to
have tension when it's close. Say yeah, we'll take that. Yeah,
that's not so bad. They're playing more one PACIFICA this weekend.
Huge Hoskins Statutu joins us now to talk about what
happened over the weekend and what may or may not

(01:09):
happen coming up on Saturday night. Hoskins, gooda, are you well?
Are you recovered from the weekend?

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Man?

Speaker 3 (01:18):
You put a power work and didn't you for that
victory over the Hurricanes? That was hard yards?

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yeah, yeap, just about recovered for the for the game,
so you're looking forward to it.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
Attitude of yourself and the rest of the pack. You
knew exactly what you wanted to do. How happy with
you with the execution of what you got up to?

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, I think it's a bit of a building a
building block, and we want to go. I think over
the other couple of weeks, we and I sort of
fell a bit short, and we're quite accurate. So get
the results in the end.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
What does vern say to you about what he needs
you to do? Because what you've you come back a
couple of weeks ago, you had to buy then you
got this, so you're fully back into the swing of it.
What does he want now?

Speaker 2 (02:02):
He just wants me to get busy. He wants me
he was on the ball, and yeah, I think the
mics and I set myself in the game then it
will help help us.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
You're playing up against the Majana team that are telling
the bounce. Now they'll be feeling full of confidence, Sould suggest.
With the team like that, full of confidence is probably
quite scary, isn't Hoskins?

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, we're seeing everyone's seen how good they've been going
the past couple of weeks. Yeah, we know. I'm they're
dangerous when they get the tails up there, so we
need to make sure we look after that.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah, but you're back to the wall when it comes
to results. You've got to keep on winning. Does that
add extra to the team. It's almost like this is
the the fumes, the gas that you need to really
propel you forward. Now you're under all of us pressure.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah. Yeah, obviously we didn't make it easy for ourselves
fifty games. So yeah, like these last couple of these
last eight games or so, we need to make sure
we give as much points as we can to personal
bits spot at the end of the season.

Speaker 3 (03:04):
You're probably sick of this question, but I'll do it
anyway because with the bloody media, any conversations with Scott
robertson around possibility of getting back into the All Blacks again.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
I haven't in the conversations with him.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
You teended to ring him up. I've got his number.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
I think I think he's got my number as well.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
So not only you be looking at you know, your
work around the park, your defensive side, I expect is
probably quite apparent after what happened. Is that still a
big thing for you?

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Well, I always just try to be solid on both
sides of the ball, and after last year, I just
want to make sure that I am still working on
that and I'm not taking any backwards steps and on
either side. So yeah, I think I just want to.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Can't I read the other day you were just fully
focused on the Blues? Do you anything beyond that's out
of your controls? All of this gossip around, hey are
you going overseas? Are you leaving New Zealand? But for
you one job.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
Right, Yeah, yeah, exactly that I'm just well, yeah, focused
on hair A Blues right now. We need to get
some wins to win the comps, so yeah, it's my
full focus.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
At the rest of the team, how have they been
dealing with the fact that it's been a slow old
season for some games that you probably should have won
but you didn't. That's super Rugby Pacific this year, she's
very tight. How are they dealing with this progress?

Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah? I think the whole team. The whole team is
learning as as we're going on, Like it's a bit
of a different sort of take them on this year,
like the results but adversity by Yeah, it's going to
make us better in the long run.

Speaker 3 (04:40):
What's changed dramatically from last year? Because you had that
outrageous run. He ended up with the title happy Days.
You've got to pack that away now because it's that
was yesterday. But well, what's changed as far as the
team is concerned? What's not quite clicked for your askins?

Speaker 2 (04:54):
I think we could sort of put it down to
our own We're giving away way too many penalties, which
is leading teams into into our half and yeah, able
to convert the points. So when you look after that,
ourselves and then when we get opportunities, were just on
the skill execution to drop balls and mispasses and stuff
like that. So yeah, just it's actually just down to

(05:15):
the individual and we're working on that.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
How sorry, Hoskins, how do you train to not get penalized?
Ser process?

Speaker 1 (05:24):
There?

Speaker 2 (05:26):
No, Well, the paeries that we're giving away, like just
the off sides, like just simple things like that. It's
just taking an extra step. So yeah, it's just individual era.
So we're really hopping on about every week, so hopefully
we can make a change.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
It's personal discipline. So if you apply that, you keep
behind and your mind, your p's and queues, everything should
right itself. So good to hear that everybody's on the
same wavelength.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah yeah, so we need and the Boys, the Boys
leadership groupers are driving it.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
So yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
You can turn into a few few dubs on our own.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
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