Ta’avao performs better when he sheds pressure
All Blacks and Chiefs prop Angus Ta’avao is enjoying the benefits of both an assured contract and his first delayed pre-season in eight years ahead of Super Rugby in 2019.
That extended break after the All Blacks’ end-of-season tour allowed time for assessment and to give thanks for one of the more remarkable turnarounds in fortune.
Ta’avao wondered what his future held at the start of the 2018 season which began without the security of a contract. But the dream never died and he had his reward for persevering.
“Not many people would have thought I would be an All Black, probably only my family really, even then it was ‘what’s going to happen?’ So to be able to call myself an All Black now — I thought it might never happen,” he said.
“To be able to look back and see where I was a year ago . . . there was a bit of frustration. I was living weekto-week at the Chiefs as a replacement player but also frustrated because I still believed I could play at a high level and make an effect for the team, so it was sort of taking every opportunity I had.
“I obviously didn’t have a contract and then once that Chiefs opportunity popped up it was like, ‘You’ve got to take this, otherwise who knows what’s going to happen’?”
Ta’avao didn’t feel the pressure of the situation, rather he took it as an exciting prospect.
“I came off the bench in the first couple of games for the Chiefs and I was loving just being able to play. I suppose it was a wake-up call not having a contract through until the Mitre 10 Cup. I was, ‘Okay, here I am playing for the Chiefs in Super Rugby and it can go two ways. You can be like, let’s just enjoy this or put all this pressure on yourself that might inhibit your performance’.
“So I was just looking at it like, ‘Let’s just enjoy this and go out and have a crack, let’s have fun. You’ve done all the hard work, you’ve done all the preseason, you’re fit, you’re feeling good, why not just go out and play and enjoy yourself?’
“Then once I started Neps [Nepo Laulala] unfortunately got injured. But to start for the rest of the season and get some really good solid minutes, I was just having fun really,” he said.
Ta’avao said when he was younger, pressure was selfimposed by the belief of what he needed to be doing in particular areas and resulted in not being true to himself and who he was. The realisation came with time that he enjoyed being more relaxed.
He found when achieving that state he was performing at his best.
“I feel like it has taken a few years to get to that, I’ve probably matured a little bit but that’s the journey and path I’ve been on.”