Fly-half for the All Blacks Harry Plummer, who recently signed a contract with Clermont Auvergne in France, has disclosed the reason behind his abrupt departure.
The playmaker, who assumed leadership of the Blues at 10 and led them to the Super Rugby Pacific championship, has had a fantastic year.
After being chosen for the New Zealand team, Plummer made his debut during the last three minutes of their 31-28 victory over the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship.
The fly-half was called up before the Ireland match because Billy Proctor rushed home for the birth of his first child, despite the fact that he was not chosen for the year-end tour.
The 26-year-old was therefore close to the 23 and injuries to Damian McKenzie or Beauden Barrett might have allowed him to play next year, but he chose to sign a contract with Clermont before the 2025–2026 season and postpone his aspirations of playing in the Tests.
Every Blacks fly-half choice
He told the New Zealand Herald that he was “quite open about it.”
In my opinion, New Zealand rugby is in a position where they partially revealed their first five players.
Beauden has a great deal of experience, and we witnessed his performance on the global stage during the Northern Tour. DMac has been playing some incredible football, and he demonstrated his abilities and impact on a game during the Rugby Championship.
“I thought I probably wouldn’t get a shot, a proper crack at how I envisioned it, being in that environment.”
Ahead of the 2025 match, All Blacks captain Scott Barrett makes a claim against the Springboks at Eden Park and reflects on the “pretty demanding” 2024 season.
Plummer is aware that he is currently at the bottom of the hierarchy and that if Richie Mo’unga were to return, he would fall even lower.
The Blues star’s prospects of adding to his one cap would be harmed by New Zealand Rugby and Scott Robertson’s clear desire to lure him back.
In order to defend their Super Rugby crown, Plummer will therefore want to complete his time with the Auckland team on a positive note before travelling to Europe.
The return of Richie Mo’unga is being discussed. Although it didn’t guarantee my demise, it did weigh somewhat on me,” he remarked.
“Yeah, I’m young, but I have this incredible chance to end the season with the Blues on a high note and try to do something unique by playing back-to-back. After that, I’ll have the chance to move to a really cool area of France, play in a great competition, and have a huge lifestyle change.”
Playing rugby in the Northern Hemisphere and seeing what it’s like to play deep into their season would help me develop both personally and as a player. That was my final choice and the way it turned out.
“No animosity”
“I have no animosity towards either New Zealand Rugby or the Blues, that’s just the way it is,” he continued. Playing football in New Zealand isn’t sustainable.
It’s crucial that folks understand that I would most likely stay at the Blues indefinitely if I could. This group and area have provided me the opportunity to succeed in 2024 and be in this position.
“I adore this team, its values, and its sense of community. Saying goodbye to that for the time being was the most difficult aspect.
Given that Plummer will be 29 when his Clermont contract expires, his choice may put a stop to his aspirations of playing in the Tests, but the fly-half is not ruling out returning to New Zealand, and more especially the Blues.
“I’ll be totally focused on that atmosphere and not think about anything else once this Blues season is over and I visit Clermont. Despite rugby’s unpredictability, he declared, “I will never turn away any teams, especially the Blues.”
“We’ll see how the next six months go first, but if everything goes as planned, there would be some motivation to return later.”
