Prop’s meteoric rise
Karl Tu’inukuafe admits if he wasn’t playing for the All Blacks on Saturday, he may well have been working on the door of a nightclub in Auckland.
So instead of chucking out drunks who’d been going large at Eden Park, he’ll be making his test debut and continuing one of the most remarkable rises in rugby since the professional era began.
Just three months ago the 24-year-old prop made his Super Rugby debut for the Chiefs, coincidentally at Eden Park, and this weekend he’s expected to come off the bench against France.
It’s an incredible story, but not one the understated Tu’inukuafe is thinking about ahead of this weekend’s clash.
‘‘I’ll do the job first and think about it later. I’m grateful, but the job first.’’
Tu’inukuafe’s rise has been so meteoric that he hasn’t yet adjusted to life as a professional rugby player and still hasn’t moved away from holding down a normal job, which for him was working in security for Auckland Live.
‘‘It’s mostly a desk job but I get on the doors at night sometimes,’’ he said. ‘‘To get some extra money in for working at the clubs.’’ Tu’inukuafe is listed in the All Blacks media guide as weighing 135kg. But he wasn’t always so ‘trim’.
It was only when a doctor told him he could be heading for an early grave that he decided to take up rugby again and he says he’s lost around 30-40kg since that warning.
‘‘In 2014, the doctors were telling me to lose weight,’’ he said.
‘‘I was complaining about pain in my legs and stuff and he was explaining that all my bad health decisions with eating was leading to a heart attack or whatever.
‘‘When he told me to lose weight, the easiest way was to play rugby with my brothers and family.
‘‘I’d rather do it with them on the field, than lose it by myself, so it made it easier.’’
Tu’inukuafe’s motivation to turn his life around and cut out the burgers – something Jordie Barrett should probably also do – is an inspirational story.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says he should be proud of what he’s achieved and he’s shown that players who haven’t come through a traditional path can still make it to the top.
‘‘It is a special occasion for Karl and his family,’’ Hansen said.
‘‘For anyone that’s out there who has still got aspirations to be an All Black and hasn’t been a Super Rugby academy player or under-20 player, it’s a clear message you can still make it if you’ve still got that dream, desire and work ethic to try make it.
‘‘He’s had a few marbles roll his way, the Chiefs looseheads have been dropping like flies all year, but he’s stepped up and really done the job.’’
While Tu’inukuafe will look to make the most of this opportunity, as he did with the ones offered to him at North Harbour and the Chiefs, it’s fair to say if it wasn’t for the injuries to Kane Hames and Tim Perry, plus the international retirement of Wyatt Crockett, he wouldn’t have made it to the All Blacks.
‘‘I’d never heard of him before he got to the Chiefs,’’ Hansen said.
‘‘I don’t think the Chiefs had either until they found him. Garbine Muguruza’s big strokes overwhelmed Maria Sharapova right from the start. Their French Open quarterfinal yesterday was no contest at all, a 6-2 6-1 one-way journey.
Simona Halep went from outof-sorts to on-target against Angelique Kerber, scrambling to every ball and staying the course to erase an early deficit. Halep pointed her right index finger at her temple when she eventually completed a 6-7 (2) 6-3 6-2 comeback to reach the semifinals, too.
‘‘I never gave up. So I think that’s why I won today,’’ Halep said. ‘‘My head won it.’’
When the top-seeded Halep and No 3 Muguruza meet today, their contrasting styles will match up with plenty at stake. The winner earns a berth in the final at Roland Garros – plus the No 1 ranking that currently belongs to Halep.
The women got their matches done before rain arrived at Roland Garros, leaving the men’s quarterfinals suspended in progress. That might very well have been a relief to 10-time champion Rafael Nadal, who was not at his best and dropped a French Open set for the first time since 2015.