Bolt to the Blues
and no matter where he was, if he was to be anywhere in New Zealand or even overseas, if he gave me the call, I would have gone with him,’’ Tu’inukuafe said.
Coventry was his coach at North Harbour last year and it’s the form he showed in that Mitre
10 Cup season that convinced the Chiefs to first sign him as injury cover. ‘‘2016 is when I broke my leg and I was pretty much done with rugby at the time,’’ said Tu’inukuafe.
‘‘He offered to sign me while I was still walking around in a cast. He believed I could come back. He did that favour for me and I guess I’m returning it.’’
Tu’inukuafe and his family grew up in Auckland and signing with the Blues was the best decision for them, he said. He is moving his wife and kids to the city’s North Shore.
Chiefs coach Colin Cooper made no secret of his desire to keep Tu’inukuafe and their loss is the Blues’ again. ‘‘We’ll do everything we can to keep him,’’ Cooper said.
Tu’inukuafe continued to perform well in Super Rugby before a hamstring injury to Tim Perry during a training camp prompted All Blacks coach Steve Hansen to call him into the national side in May.
The Chiefs shouldn’t be caught shorthanded at loosehead next season. They’ve got Kane Hames
(2019), who didn’t play all season due to concussion, and Atu Moli
(2020), who played just one game before a quad haematoma ruined his season, signed up.
Tu’inukuafe will join the Blues following their latest season of woe but he wants to lift the club he supported growing up back to their former glory days.
‘‘I was a fan of the Blues growing up and watching Carlos Spencer’s era,’’ he said.
‘‘I was a huge fan of watching them dominate the whole competition every time, but seeing where it’s at now, I would love to give back what I can.’’