CHARLIE NGATAI LEAVING FOR FRANCE
There is an alternative career path that Charlie Ngatai may feel he was robbed of.
Ngatai was arguably the form midfielder in Super Rugby 2016 and was picked by the All Blacks for the June series. He was quick, versatile, visionary, able to break the line and play others into space, had a huge boot and was a solid tackler.
He was going to be a feature in their match day 23. Except he was concussed a few weeks before the series. He was picked anyway as the hope was he would recover in time to be available. But the days ticked by and there was no improvement in Ngatai’s health. And they kept ticking over and he began to wonder if he would ever play again.
The 2016 season came and went and it wasn’t until April 2017 that he returned and the moment had gone.
It took him until mid-way through this year to get back to being the player he had been but by then, he’d already decided to sign with Bordeaux.
His medical troubles had shaken him up and when he as asked whether concussion had played a part in him deciding to head to France, he said: “Yeah, sort of. That’s another reason why we looked overseas well, you never know when your career’s going to finish.”