2018 ARN Breakthrough Player of the Year

Similar to our Rookie award, the Breakthrough Player of the Year is given to an individual who rises from relative obscurity to prominence over the calendar year. Where it differs from the Rookie award is that these nominees might have been capped before, jumping from fringe player to test starter, or are older players who have finally cracked international sides after competing at top domestic or ‘A’ level.

In this category international performance is not the be-all end-all. Domestic form is very much taken into consideration and in some cases was a critical factor. Some made great strides in both. It could be argued that some of the Rookie nominees should also be considered here. Our top five for that award, however, all advanced methodically rather than dramatically.

One who certainly merits consideration is new Eagles prop David Ainu’u, who jumped from high school rugby to replacement appearances for Toulouse and even won his first senior caps. Older examples were Argentine back row Rodrigo Bruni, who finally earned a long-awaited Pumas call-up, while Brazil’s Jardel Vettorato enjoyed a career year with the Tupis. Mike Sheppard shot straight into Canada’s Repechage lineup and Gannon Moore impressed during his first Eagles appearances in November.

HONORABLE MENTION

Finding Colombian internationals in European rugby is not an easy task. Andrés Zafra has inspired the nation this year. The 22-year-old lock has taken the opportunity given to him by Agen with both hands. In December he became the first Colombian to score a try in the top French division. Zafra made 11 appearances for his new club by the new year including four starts, and in the process has won the admiration of the French press. Look for him to return to international colors in 2019.

An award could be given to Major League Rugby itself (hmm…) for its inaugural season. The new North American competition has given a platform for new talent to stand on, and none shot higher than Seattle’s Vili Toluta’u in 2018. Prior to the season many fans would have been completely unaware of his talent and it looked as though he was earmarked for a reserve hooker role. By the end he was an obvious Dream Team selection at openside flanker and made his Eagles debut against Canada in June.

If you had suggested at any point in 2017 that Ben LeSage would be the starting outside center for Canada in any of the World Cup qualifying matches in 2018 there would have been more than a few dodgy looks. As it was he started all five. After making his test debut against Romania in 2016 injuries have hampered his progress, but he has returned to leapfrog French pro Conor Trainor despite maintaining his amateur status at UBC. The 23-year-old now has the World Cup in his sights.

It’s a pure coincidence that there are two Agen players in our nominees list. Both are deserving. Facundo Bosch left Argentina after getting no chances to start for the Jaguares. The limitations of the system were badly exposed when he moved to France, where he has become his club’s best player. Most notably he has split his time between hooker and openside flanker, excelling at both. Mario Ledesma awarded him his first Pumas cap in the Rugby Championship and Bosch is now odds-on to travel to Japan this year.

THE WINNER

There’s an argument to be made that the rise of Paul Lasike should have been expected. After all he did play in the NFL. Whether he has exceeded those expectations is subjective. What is not is that he blasted onto the international scene, scoring in three of his first four matches. Lasike got his first start against Uruguay and has owned the USA No12 shirt since. He rampaged through the MLR season as the Utah Warriors captain and made the jump to the Premiership with Harlequins.

In every sense of the word, the 2018 ARN Breakthrough Player of the Year is Paul Lasike.