Prop heeds doctor’s ultimatum
The doctor wasn’t mincing words with Karl Tu’inukuafe.
It was just a few years back, and sitting at 170kg, the now Chiefs prop was given an ultimatum: get exercising, or keep being plagued by health problems.
That was all Tu’inukuafe needed to hear, and he wasn’t about to muck around. He had just started a family, and after a few seasons away from the sport, the former whopping Wesley College loosehead was straight back into footy.
Now here he is, at 25 years old, weighing around 135kg, suddenly set for a Super Rugby start against the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday night - in a Chiefs squad beset by injuries to props.
Tu’inukuafe wasn’t originally contracted by the club, but was called by coach Colin Cooper last October to see if he’d like a look what a Super Rugby pre-season is all about.
All of a sudden, though, Tu’inukuafe was to get an eyeful of competition proper too, called onto the bench in just the second match.
And it has continued that way since, with short cameos from the reserves, until last Friday, against the Hurricanes in Wellington, when Aidan Ross suffered a broken ankle and Tu’inukuafe put in an extensive 63-minute effort, which had the coach impressed.
‘‘He’s a bit of an unknown,’’ Cooper said. ‘‘We always knew he could scrum, and as you could see, we were bringing him on to try and turn scrums over. His challenge was to get fit enough to play the way the Chiefs are playing. And I thought he handled himself really well.’’
Indeed Tu’inukuafe was quite a presence around the park, now back near the weight he was when at the south Auckland school with such a proud rugby tradition, alongside fellow Chiefs prop Nepo Laulala.
‘‘They breed them big over there,’’ Tu’inukuafe said.
‘‘Wesley had us on set meals, but it was always the extras we had after school and in the weekend. I guess it was just eating whatever makes you feel good.’’
Tu’inukuafe went through Counties Manukau rep teams, but after finishing school, he also finished with rugby, as life’s realities sunk in.
‘‘It wasn’t doing anything money-wise, I had to get a job to support my family,’’ he said.
‘‘I was just doing a desk job for security in town and I just packed on the weight.
‘‘I was about 170 kilos. I started having a lot of health problems. Just to lose weight was the main goal. was forced to pretty much play the game again.
‘‘The doctor just said I need to do something, and I thought rugby would be fun.’’
So, in 2015, the boots were laced back up and Tu’inukuafe was playing club rugby, then getting a call into North Harbour’s wider squad.
A season at French club Narbonne followed, where former Wallaby Rocky Elsom was a player and shareholder and had touched base with Harbour backs coach and former Waratahs team-mate Daniel Halangahu about any props with not much on their schedules after the Mitre 10 Cup.
Tu’inukuafe learnt off some wily veterans in France and was meant to return for a second season, but a broken leg put paid to that.
‘‘But I guess it opened the door to this, so I’m grateful,’’ he said of Super Rugby.
‘‘When you get the call for an opportunity like this you’ve just got to take it eh.
‘‘I guess it’s just a much more fun job than sitting at a desk, so [I’ll] just try to play as long as I can.’’
Meanwhile, Cooper has made four changes to his starting XV for the match in Brisbane, with all alterations coming in the forwards.
With Tu’inukuafe replacing Ross, former Blues prop Sam Prattley comes onto the bench, after being drafted into the squad this week straight out of Nelson club rugby.
Hooker Nathan Harris is rested - one of his All Blacks stand-down games - with Liam Polwart getting his first start of the season and Samisoni Taukei’aho to see his first action of the year, from the reserves.
Lock Tyler Ardron returns from concussion, with Michael Allardice dropping out, while Pita Gus Sowakula is in at No 8 for Taleni Seu, who had a recurrence of a back niggle against the Hurricanes.
Halfback Brad Weber has overcome his wrist injury and will play from the bench, in place of Jonathan Taumateine.