THE REALIST
CHARLIE FAUMUINA WILL HEAD TO FRANCE LATER THIS YEAR, CERTAIN HE’S ACHIEVED ALL HE WANTS IN NEW ZEALAND. GREGOR PAUL REPORTS.
As much as Faumuina can make an argument that he’s got nothing left to prove, others may disagree. There is a contrary view and one that he no doubt heard from All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.
Having only just turned 30, Faumuina is still a baby. Props all say their best years come in their 30s, when they have built a knowledge of most of the tricks they will encounter at scrum time and built the strength and endurance they need to play at the highest level.
Faumuina could be a significantly better player in three years. In five he could be one of the All Blacks greats. He’s 130kg of athlete and he could push close to 100 caps and have another crack at a World Cup if he stayed until 2019.
But the realist in Faumuina kicked in when he began to think about that. For the last four years or so, he’s been job sharing with Owen Franks. The two of them have built a neat combination where Franks opens the assault in the All Blacks No 3 jersey and Faumuina closes it out in the last half hour off the bench. It is a classic one-two punch where Franks, as the better scrummager, softens up the opposition and Faumuina uses his attributes later in the game to exploit the space.
It’s a double act that has plenty of life left in it, but Faumuina is at the stage in his career where more of the same just didn’t appeal.
“I have enjoyed that combination and relationship with Owey,” he says. “He’s awesome and whether it was starting or coming off the bench I was more than happy to do my job for the team. It was a great combination but I still thought it was time to do something different.
“I think when they name the team you are always hanging out to be starting and then you might have 10 minutes there to say ‘ahh I didn’t get picked’ but we are in a team environment where you have to get over that. Props are usually split 50 minutes to 30 minutes so you are going to get a good chunk of game time and have a part to play and you have to play that part well.”
Would he feel differently about staying if he was regularly the one sent to open the batting as it were? And is he of the view that his skill-set, while a blessing, is also a curse? He is, after all, tailor-made to close games out, using his athleticism to take advantage of tired legs in the opposition.
“It is and it isn’t,” he says. “Obviously you want to be playing and starting and you always have to look at it like this: if I didn’t have those ball-playing skills would I even be picked? I have to say I like coming on.
“By the time I get on the game is opening up and you get to do things that you probably wouldn’t be able to do if you started a game. There are pros and cons to both sides.”
Weighing it all up, the prospect of playing that secondary role for the All Blacks, while rewarding and enjoyable, wasn’t enough to convince him he should sign up for more.
By shifting to France, Faumuina has the chance to change his career narrative.
The thing about the French, is that they love the physical nature of rugby. Even in this modern age of ball-in-hand rugby, they continue to believe in the no scrum, no win adage.
Rugby for them begins and ends up front. The set-piece forms a huge part of their planning and preparation and while New Zealanders can go a bit gooey over a first-five who has a few tricks up his sleeve, in France, it is the props who are the rock stars.
Some of the best paid players in the Top 14 are props. Some of the biggest celebrities and cult figures are props and Faumuina is odds on to be a massive hit in Toulouse.
They will love that he can hold a scrum steady and yet also dance around as if he should be wearing No 10. The French don’t get to see many props with that sort of range and with Faumuina’s easy-going nature, he could become a legend in a league that is jam-packed with big name players.
“I hope it is a good one,” he says of the relationship he’d like to form with the Toulouse fans. “It is going to be a big transition taking my family over so anything that helps with that is good and the better we can make that transition, the better it will be.
“I have heard great things. I have spoken to the coaches and they like to play an expansive sort of game. They like to throw the ball around, so they were pretty keen to have me and that suits my game pretty well.
“I know they are a club that wants to go places,” says Faumuina of Toulouse. “I haven’t been. I have spoken to a few guys
I think when they name the team you are always hanging out to be starting and then you might have 10 minutes there to say “ahh I didn’t get picked” but we are in a team environment where you have to get over that.’ CHARLIE FAUMUINA
over there and they say the club is familybased so that suits me that the club is like that. I have heard about that but I guess I will find out when I get there.”
It’s early to say, but Toulouse and Faumuina could be about to form a long and happy marriage. He’s bringing his wife, three children and possibly his sister to France and they are coming with open minds.
Faumuina wants to embrace the lifestyle and he wants to stretch it out for as long as he can. He knows that to do both – enjoy all that France has to offer and continue to play well into his thirties – he’ll have to strike some kind of balance.
His weight has been a problem in the past. He let himself go physically in 2014 and was publicly dropped by the All Blacks midway through the Rugby Championship. It was a hard time for him, but he took on board what he needed to do to better manage his nutrition and now he has a system that works for him.
“That’s the plan – to try to get to 36, 37 that would be awesome,” he says. “If I can keep playing the way I am and enjoy the game, and have fun doing it then I will try to keep going for as long as I can. I have been pretty good [injury-wise], touch wood.
“Coaches would always like you to be fitter but I am pretty happy with where I am at. I can play some good rugby with where I am at. I learned plenty about that when I was dropped by the All Blacks. I have a system that works for me. They love big men over there so it will be a challenge for me in France. They like different sorts of food, but if I stick to the plan that should be enough.”
He’s due to leave once the Blues finish their Super Rugby campaign. He’d love for that campaign to finish in August – with a title – but will settle with making the playoffs. Again that’s his realism kicking in, as it does when he thinks about the prospect of playing the Lions.
Now that’s he’s leaving New Zealand, he accepts he’s possibly jeopardised his selection prospects.
“I would like to get this team [the Blues] to the playoffs,” he says. “There are a few guys leaving this team and there are going to be some young leaders in this team next year and I would like for them to know about what needs to be done and said next year to get the job done. “Internationally – I have to be selected – and I know that is going to be harder now that I am going. There are also a few props playing good rugby. It would be great to get the opportunity but it was all part of the decision to go overseas. I understand if they don’t pick me. That will be cool, but I’ll be happy to play against the Lions.”
They like to throw the ball around, so they were pretty keen to have me and that suits my game pretty well.’ CHARLIE FAUMUINA