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here’s a definite realism that exudes from Charlie Faumuina. Hidden behind that beard of his, one big enough to lose a badger in, there are the omnipresent, glistening white teeth.

Glimpses can always be sighted because Faumuina is a smiler. A jovial type who gives the impression he’s been put on earth to have some fun and not take himself, or anything, really, particularly seriously.

But he does. He takes his career deadly seriously and he has made what he believes to be a measured and considered decision to leave the Blues at the end of this campaign and join Toulouse.

There’s plenty of misconceptions about how these decisions are made. Money is rarely the deciding factor. It’s part of it, for sure, but not the sole driver of why players typically decide to leave New Zealand.

It definitely wasn’t the driving force behind Faumiuna’s decision to sign a three-year deal with the club most people see as the talisman for the Top 14.

“I guess it was just the different challenge,” says Faumuina. “I have been here [Blues] for close to 10 years now and I’m not saying that it is getting boring or anything, but I feel like I have done my time and have nothing more to prove.

“I just felt that I had the opportunity to do something else and go somewhere else with my family. Financially it was also a pretty good deal so all of those things came into play.”

To some extent, it’s hard to challenge Faumuina on his assertion that he’s got nothing left to prove.

He has played 46 tests since making his debut in 2012 and been a critical member of the All Blacks squad for the last five seasons. He’s won a World Cup medal and had a good, long taste of test football.

There’s plenty of boxes ticked there – especially the super important one that says Faumuina has proven himself as a genuinely good player. The man can play.

He’s got skills that many outside backs would like to have. He can step, he can shuffle, and stick the ball in his hands and it looks the most natural thing in the world.

Faumuina is a back trapped in a forward’s body, something he says is due to his background of spending hours playing touch in South Auckland with the likes of Joe Rokocoko when he was younger.

With such natural balance, agility and handling skills, Faumuina spent most of his formative years as a No 8. He only converted when former Auckland and Blues coach Pat Lam clocked him one day and reckoned that Faumuina’s natural home was in the front row.

It was an inspired move as, while it’s his footwork and passing that so often win him the rave reviews, Faumuina has developed into a handy scrummager over the years. That bit is often forgotten – he’s learned the Dark Arts well enough and become the total package.

“I think I am,” he says to the question of whether he’s a different player now to the one he was 10 years ago. “It is more when you are first coming through you are a young fella just wanting to play with the ball. Now I want to understand why we try to do certain things on the field and when it comes to the crunch time, I am able to be resilient and keep going on whereas before you may have just thrown in the towel.

“Experience is probably the biggest thing I have taken out of the game when I look back.”

I just felt that I had the opportunity to do something else and go somewhere else with my family. Financially it was also a pretty good deal so all of those things came into play.’ CHARLIE FAUMUINA