‘Big fella’ Tu’inukuafe makes statement after rise from obscurity

KARL TU’INUKUAFE only played around 30 minutes of the All Blacks’ 52-11 first Test victory against France on Saturday, but the 25-year-old’s immediate impact ensured he was the talk of the rugby-mad country a day later.

The debutant, who did not even have a Super Rugby contract this year, came on in the 46th minute and shunted the experienced Rabah Slimani backwards so fast the All Blacks earned a scrum penalty that levelled the score at 11-11. The effort created an immediate buzz among the crowd and his teammates with even some of the backs, who prefer to steer clear of the dark arts in the front row, racing in to congratulate the moustachioed loosehead prop.

“I was just thinking ‘we’ll see how we go’ but as soon as I felt the pressure from behind I knew where to put it, so big ups to those guys behind us,” Tu’inukuafe said. “It was a pretty unreal feeling.”

Tu’inukuafe’s description was apt given his entire rise to international attention had an unreal feeling about it.

While a secondary school standout, he had virtually given the game away four years ago with his weight ballooning to 170kg and his doctor advising him to begin exercising urgently to alleviate several health problems.

He made the North Harbour provincial side in 2015 and went to France, but was injured and returned to New Zealand to take a job with a security company.

An injury crisis at the Chiefs earlier this year – all of the six props originally contracted have suffered long-term injuries – necessitated his promotion into the squad.

Fortune again smiled on him late last month when Tim Perry was ruled out of the All Blacks for the France series and coach Steve Hansen called him into the squad.

Hansen half joked when he named his side for the first Test with Tu’inukuafe on the bench that he had never heard of him before he began playing for the Chiefs, but said he had shown with the way he handled Slimani no-one would forget him.

“He’s a pretty humble big fella. There is a lot of top end in Karl,” Hansen said. – Reuters ANY doubts about David Pocock’s reintegration into Michael Cheika’s Wallabies were torpedoed at Lang Park as the flank put in a match-winning performance to snap Ireland’s 12-game unbeaten streak.

Australia waited 18 months to see Pocock, back in Wallabies colours after the openside took a sabbatical in 2017 to head back to Zimbabwe, labour on a farm and undertake conservation work in the country of his birth.

He kept busy during his time in Africa but also put in a mountain of work against the physical Irish, monstering them at the breakdown and scoring Australia’s second try to seal the 18-9 victory over the world’s second-ranked side.

Wearing the No 6 jersey, Pocock reunited with captain and No 7 Michael Hooper in the back row, the pair reprising the successful partnership that helped drive Australia to the World Cup final in 2015.

There was some doubt over how the two specialist opensides would gel, particularly after the ploy fell flat in a 3-0 series sweep by Eddie Jones’ England in 2016, but the Irish conceded the pair had comfortably won the battle of the breakdown.

There was no such apprehension from Pocock, however, or uncertainty about his ability to return to his Test best after the long hiatus.

“It’s one of those things you don’t think too much about,” he told reporters in Brisbane yesterday. “You just back yourself and know that if you are doing all your prep, the physical and mental stuff, you’ll get back to your best.

“You thought about it from time to time and I guess you think about what an incredible opportunity it is to represent Australia. As an immigrant, I’m so grateful for the opportunities that I’ve had.

“To be able to pull on the green and gold and represent Australia and go out there and do your best and also know you’re representing so many people in Zimbabwe, who have been part of the journey, it’s a huge honour and something I don’t take for granted.”

With Johnny Sexton and several firstchoice players starting on the bench, Joe Schmidt’s Ireland were kept try-less at Lang Park and disappointed with their failure to match the Wallabies’ work at the breakdown.

Pocock said he expected a backlash from the tourists for the second Test of the threematch series in Melbourne on Saturday.

“We have to be better in the second game for sure,” the flank said. – Reuters