New year, new nose for success: Devan Flanders set to star in Super Rugby

Devan Flanders looks like the Hurricanes first choice blindside flanker heading into Super Rugby Aotearoa. Photo / Getty Images

Devan Flanders enjoyed a breakout year in 2020, but the loose forward hopes offseason nose surgery will help him perform even better in Super Rugby Aotearoa this time around.

The 21-year-old had an operation in December to open up the airways in the broken nose that has become a signature, but had hoped the doctors would be able to straighten it out a bit too.

"I was actually hoping for a perfectly straight nose, I suggested the Brad Pitt," Flanders said.

"It looks better, I think. Not many people can notice [the difference], but I definitely can."

The star flanker/No 8 first broke his nose playing in under-14s at Hastings Boys' High School.

"My theory was I broke it when I was still small, so when it grew it just grew wrong," Flanders said, which the surgeon confirmed.

Devan Flanders was named the Magpies' player of the season in 2020 after an outstanding campaign by both him and his team. Photo / File

The 11-cap Hurricane said he was stoked with how the surgery turned out on both the aesthetic and functional fronts.

"When I finally got the stent out of my nose I felt like a new man, breathing properly.

"The surgeon said since I'll be able to get more oxygen now I should be a little fitter."

Flanders played in 11 of the Hurricanes 13 games last year, although he only got a couple of starts with Canterbury's Reed Prinsep largely preferred at blindside flanker.

With Prinsep down with a calf injury that will see him miss at least the first round of Super Rugby, the Magpie was named to start in the Hurricanes final pre-season fixture against the Highlanders in Alexandra today.

With the Wellington side naming their strongest available team, that would indicate Flanders is the current first choice option at six, but the man himself wasn't reading too much into that given it was still pre-season.

Fellow Hawke's Bay Magpies Pouri Rakete-Stones, Danny Toala and Lolagi Visinia all made the bench for the clash, as did another Bay product in hooker Tyrone Thompson.

Visinia, who is new to the Hurricanes this season, is living with Flanders and Toala in Wellington.

The trio can regularly be seen on Instagram heading to local beaches for a swim or a spot of fishing.

Flanders in preseason training ahead of his second season with the Hurricanes. Photo / Getty Images

"We try to get out quite a lot, we go for longboards down the beach," Flanders said, noting it was important to make the most of the summer weather while it lasts in the capital.

The loose forward and his old schoolmate Danny Toala can also be found dancing on Tik Tok pretty regularly.

"We get a bit silly some nights, we kind of just do it for a bit of a laugh," Flanders said, noting Toala takes it a bit less seriously than he used to.

Magpies captain Ash Dixon and Marino Mikaele-Tu'u were both named to start for the Highlanders in Alexandra, while Folau Fakatava got a spot on the bench.

Super Rugby Aotearoa kicks off next Friday night when the Highlanders host the Crusaders in Dunedin.