Injury ended my shot at England... and All Blacks
TO be able to tell my kids I once played with Richie McCaw and Dan Carter is unreal. It just shows the levels of esteem they are held in, in New Zealand, that an old pro of 15 years like me, still acts like a fan boy when it comes to those two.
I remember being so fixated on their half-time team talks at the Crusaders. Not only was their message spot on, the way they delivered it carried so much weight. Dan was also a very good person to know when it came to getting free stash – he had more endorsement deals than anyone I’ve ever met! One was with the underwear brand, Jockey. Usually it was only your Nan who’d give you undies but getting them from Dan made it doubly good. Every week your locker would be stuffed full. At 60 dollars a pop, the boys weren’t complaining.
By the time I was 22, I’d already played four seasons of Super Rugby – initially at the Blues, then the Highlanders and Crusaders. It might have been better to have had a steadier progression and learn my trade, but impatience always got the better of me. I wanted to play as much professional rugby as I could, as quickly as I could.
I’ll never forget experiences like lining up opposite Elton Flatley at Ballymore. I was only a year out of school and here I was, testing myself against someone who’d been in a World Cup final only a few years before.
Graham Henry was pretty filthy about me signing for London Irish as I’d come through the New Zealand U19 and U21 teams and was touted as a future All Black. But with so many quality players ahead of me for the 2011 World Cup – Dan, Colin Slade, Aaron Cruden and Stephen Donald, for example – I thought I’d give it a go playing overseas, especially as I had a British passport.
London Irish chased me quite aggressively. I was super impressed by Toby Booth’s drive and energy and we stay in touch to this day. I knew a lot of the players there already and, on paper, the squad was pretty good. With them having made the Premiership final the year before, it felt like an easy fit. We should have done better than finish sixth in my first year after getting off to a flying start – we beat Saracens by 30-odd points in the London Double Header.
One of the best things in rugby is experiencing different things. Playing at the Reebok Stadium against Sale and getting man of the match is one of the games that stands out. I was doubtful to play during the week after hyper-extending my elbow but I was able to take part in what was one heck of a game – and win – for Irish. Games against Munster and Toulouse in the Heineken Cup will also stay with me forever.
I played a ridiculous amount of games in my two seasons there – around 50 – and was onfield captain in the second year because Clarke Dermody couldn’t always play because of the foreign player ruling. By the time the St Patrick’s Day game came around, I’d signed for our opponents Leicester for the following season. Tom Homer had a brilliant game, celebrating a ridiculously good try with a somersault. We lost 41-32 but it was a hell of a game and it gave Leicester a good idea of what was to come from me.
My stock was at its highest then. I’d been player of the year in my first season and my stats for things like assists and defenders beaten were good in the second. I got tipped the wink that England might look at me and the best way to further that ambition would be to join Leicester, the biggest club in England. Doubling my money was pretty persuasive too!
Unfortunately, I went to Leicester needing surgery and missed the first seven or eight games. After that, I had to battle it out with Anthony Allen for game time. Anthony was a very good player who had been there a long time and always seemed to be favoured for the big games, which was frustrating. In my second year I played a lot more and my partnership with Manu Tuilagi was getting some attention England-wise.
The way Leicester operated was vastly different to what I’d experienced anywhere else. Richard Cockerill was extremely abrasive and everything was black and white. Their methods probably wouldn’t survive too much now but, at the time, they were hugely successful. They worked hard on tackle technique and the breakdown and the set-piece was a real strength, but there was nothing going on in terms of micro skill development. That was fine at the time but as the game evolved, they found themselves with a squad of players who couldn’t adapt. Going to the line and tipping the ball on or going to the line to distribute was alien to a lot of the forwards. Some didn’t even want to touch the ball and were happy to just move bodies.
Don’t get me wrong, though, I loved my time at the Tigers. Playing at a packed Welford Road was a brilliant experience. As a Leicester player you were spoilt with the amount of big games and big occasions you were involved with. Tigers was such a big worldwide brand – you’d even get to play pre-season friendlies in places like Geneva.
On the eve of England naming their 45-man EPS squad, I fractured my eye socket and was out for 14 weeks. Talk about bad timing! Any hope I had of playing for England had gone. My son had also been born around that time and my wife was keen to go back home to New Zealand for family support. It also tied in with me wanting to give the All Blacks another crack for the 2015 World Cup. I know, it sounds awful that I am trying to change allegiance left, right and centre – the very definition of a mercenary!
On the way home, we stopped off in Japan to try and make up the shortfall between Premiership and Super Rugby wages. I had a great time at Yahama playing with the likes of Siale Piutau and Ayumu Goromaru, who became an overnight sensation at the World Cup. Japan is an amazing place, so friendly and safe, and the rugby was kind on the body too, because you didn’t have as many 120kg units running into you.
Once I got back to New Zealand, I made the mistake of playing in a pre-season game I shouldn’t have played in, and broke the lisfranc bone in my foot. It was misdiagnosed and the whole situation became a bit of a shambles. The Blues had a horrendous season and I came back for the last six games which we won four of, our only wins of the season. John Kirwan was replaced as coach by Tana Umaga and Tana was honest with me that it might be time to blood the youngsters.
Mike Ford had wanted to sign me for some time, and I’d visited Farleigh House before my brief stopover in Japan. Within 48 hours of hearing I was leaving Blues he’d sorted me out with a deal at Bath. There were some really good people at Bath and rocking up for training at Farleigh was something else.
There were some very good players in the squad but Mike was sacked the first season I was there, and we finished ninth the season after they’d reached the final. For me, there was just a lack of clarity around people’s roles. Lots of injuries didn’t help, either, and in that first year, I only played three to four games.
I was knocked out after an hour of my debut, a win against Saracens down at Allianz Park, and not long after my comeback I displaced my AC joint against Gloucester in horrendous conditions at The Rec. Another six months out.
Todd Blackadder and Tabai Matson came in and everyone was buoyed by their arrival. They were extremely well-liked by everyone – players and staff – but we couldn’t get the results that reflected the talent in our squad. The next year I tore my hamstring off the bone against Cardiff Blues. From that perspective, it wasn’t a great time but the city of Bath will always be special to me. Our little girl Devon was born there and playing at the Rec was unreal. It was a life experience I’ll never forget, it’s just a shame the rugby side of things didn’t work out.
I went back to Auckland to play Mitre 10 rugby but like the story of my life for the three previous years, I only managed a handful of games before I got a really bad concussion and I decided enough was enough.
Rugby is a fickle industry, but I love it. I always wanted to stay in the game and now I take enormous pride in helping to find and nurture the next generation of talent at the Blues, while also assisting with the coaching of the Auckland Mitre 10 Cup side.
“I was told the best way to further my Engand ambition was to join Leicester”