A RESOLVE FORGED IN CHRISTCHURCH

Kiwi roots have fuelled Munster’s star’s tough battle back

BACK in his native New Zealand, the locals would probably describe Tyler Bleyendaal as a ‘tough bugger’. He comes from good stock. Born and bred in Christchurch, he grew up in a community where resilience and fortitude is a base requirement. His home city was shaken to its very core eight years ago when a magnitude 6.3 earthquake ripped through the centre of Christchurch.

It was February 22, 2011 and he was out training with the Canterbury Crusaders. Bleyendaal and his teammates were forced to seek shelter when the first tremors arrived at 12.51pm. The earthquake would claim 185 lives and would leave thousands injured.

‘Not being able to move, literally pinned up against the table because the ground’s shaking so violently,’ Bleyendaal recalls at Munster’s training base in Limerick earlier this week.

‘We’d experienced earthquakes so (you’re thinking) this is just another one. Then you’re driving home and there’s liquefaction piling out of the ground, roads blocked, traffic bumper to bumper and then you’re realising no, this is pretty serious. Just a race to get home to see if the family was alright.

‘We had pretty much a week without power, people from the country

were supplying us with water, bringing in fresh water. We just had to make do for a while. Rugby was put on hold for a week.

‘The city kind of showed its resilience.. I think being a part of the rugby team, it helped to have a focus, to get on with things. It was a long recovery. The city still is recovering. It’s in a better place but it’s still being redeveloped, still plenty of empty sites.’

Despite the devastation and the thousands of aftershocks which would arrive in the coming years, the Garden City would heal and recover from the harrowing events of 2011.

Then came the traumatic events of the Christchurch mosque attacks last month which claimed the lives of 50 residents.

By chance, Bleyendaal found himself back home last month. His wife, Laura, was taking an extended holiday to visit friends and family and the 28-year-old returned to New Zealand to ‘make sure she flew back home’ with him.

He was en route back to Limerick when the carnage began to unfold.

‘I was in the air flying back to Ireland when it happened so it was pretty stressful news,’ he explains. ‘I think everyone was shocked by it. There was a week of mourning, of people saying: “What’s happened here?” Sad news.

‘(We’re a ) resilient bunch and then to have been through so much and then it’s so many years on and something completely out of the blue like this happens.. It affected the whole city, which is saying something.’

Taking all of that into account, it explains why Bleyendaal is such a thoughtful character. He has been ravaged by injury since his move from Canterbury to Munster back in 2014. A highly-rated out-half renowned for his rugby intellect and tactical smarts, he was top of the province’s recruitment list for quite some time. Rob Penney – his former coach at Canterbury – was the first to try and secure his services. Anthony Foley eventually succeeded.

Bleyendaal captained New Zealand to an U20 World Cup title in 2010 and spent the next few seasons as Dan Carter’s understudy at the Crusaders. When he announced he would be upping sticks for Limerick, it was seen as a major coup for Munster. There was major disappointment back home. Many felt he could, and should, have been an All Black if he had stuck it out.

There was widespread excitement until news filtered through that Bleyendaal had suffered a serious neck injury, but Foley stuck with him throughout all the setbacks.

‘Yeah, he was great to be fair,’ says Bleyendaal of his former head coach.

‘Obviously it was a serious injury but we were confident that the rehab was going to go well. It was just a matter of extremely poor timing, I guess, signing a contract and then arriving here unable to perform on the pitch.

‘It was reassuring to know he had my back and that the rehab was going to go well.

‘It was reassuring to know he [Foley] had my back and that there was time to get fit. There was no rush – it was great as a player not to have to be rushed back from a serious injury, although the situation may call for it at some stage and you’re thinking: “I’ve really got to get out there”.

‘I’m itching to get out and show what I can do I’ve moved to the other side of the world for this. But they were very patient and I was very grateful for that.

Fittingly, Bleyendaal made his European debut in that emotionallycharged clash with Glasgow Warriors at Thomond Park, which took place the day after Foley’s funeral.

A cool head was needed that day to guide the fired-up hosts around the pitch.

Bleyendaal was superb, setting the tone with that burst off Keith Earls’ offlaod before shimmying his way to the try-line. Munster never looked back after that. Neither did their new star at No10. He would guide Munster to the semi-finals of the Pro12 and the European Champions Cup and would finish the year as the province’s player of the year. Then neck injury No2 stuck. Once again he went under the knife with a long period of rehabilitation to follow.

‘The disc is impinging on the nerve and you’re just getting the constant pain and then if you damage the nerve, it can be permanent damage and you have to make a decision to pull back from the contact and stop

It was reassuring to know that Anthony Foley had my back