Calls mount for Hoskins Sotutu allegiance switch with 3 possibilities

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - APRIL 20: Hoskins Sotutu of the Blues looks on ahead of the round nine Super Rugby Pacific match between Blues and ACT Brumbies at Eden Park, on April 20, 2024, in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

No sooner had Blues No8 Hoskins Sotutu failed to make Scott Robertson’s first All Blacks squad on Monday than calls were rising for the 25-year-old to make an allegiance switch.

The Blues forward was the headline omission from Robertson’s 32-player squad, with Chiefs No8 Wallace Sititi getting the nod instead.

Sotutu put forward a convincing case to earn a recall this season for the Blues, not only winning the Super Rugby Pacific title, but by scoring twelve tries in the process (joint-top with Sevu Reece).

Though he does of course have the option of fighting for a place in the All Blacks squad, he does have alternative routes back to the Test stage.

The 14-cap All Black qualifies for Fiji through his father and England through his mother and, having earned his last cap in 2022, qualifies for both next year after a three-year stand-down period.

Eddie Jones did indeed pursue the No8 in 2020 before he was capped by Ian Foster, and he may turn some RFU heads again with this latest squad announcement.

With England in New Zealand for their two-Test series with the All Blacks, Steve Borthwick might even use this as an opportunity to strike up a dialogue with the spurned All Black.

The No8 position has been the cause of contention in England as well, with the likes of Alfie Barbeary and Zach Mercer failing to make Steve Borthwick’s squad with a burgeoning list of players at the back of the scrum at his disposal. Mercer, coincidentally, is now eligible to play for New Zealand through his father, a former New Zealand rugby league international, and having last played for England in 2018.

Former Fiji head coach Simon Raiwalui has already called for Sotutu to make an international switch as well, taking to X soon after the All Blacks squad was announced to write: “Congratulations to Wallace Sititi, but seriously no Hoskins Sotutu….come and play for Fiji!”

Whatever Sotutu chooses next year, there is little doubt that he will be an asset to any Test side.

Congratulations to Wallace Sititi, but seriously no Hoskins Sotutu….come and play for Fiji!

— Simon Raiwalui (@SimonRaiwalui) June 24, 2024