Warriors new recruit Melani Nanai has ended his season with Auckland-based Blues with some eye-catching Super Rugby statistics.
Blues have missed out on a place in the quarter-finals despite the efforts of Nanai who carried the ball further than any other player in Super Rugby’s regular season. Nanai’s total of 1,240 metres was almost 200 metres more than Samisi Masirewa of the Sunwolves.
Nanai, a wing or full-back, was second in Super Rugby’s top carries table with 178 and joint third off-loader with 22.
He beat 60 defenders, the fourth highest in the competition and also made 22 clean breaks which put him joint tenth in this season’s Super Rugby. Nanai also signed off his Blues career by scoring five tries.
Nanai, who played his final match for Blues against Hurricanes last weekend, has also been voted Blues’ Players’ Player of the Year Award.
Nanai will now turn his attention to the Mitre 10 Cup, New Zealand’s premier provincial competition, before he arrives at Sixways for his first season with Warriors.
You can see Melani Nanai in action for Warriors by buying a 2019/20 Season Ticket. Full details here.