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His time in Super Rugby was all too brief but it was not without incredible impact. Rupeni did things no other player will likely ever be able to do and his combination of pace, awareness and confidence was intoxicating.

The Blues had a ridiculous number of back three players in 2003 and 2004, but Rupeni was always their number one pick. He was the quickest – faster than Doug Howlett and Joe Rokocoko.

He was strong. He was elusive and his skillset was phenomenal. Will anyone who ever saw him scoop the ball one-handed off the sodden Eden park turf in the 2003 semi-final ever forget it? He didn’t slow down and the Brumbies defenders were almost applauding him as he streaked away to score.

And what really made Rupeni such a great entertainer was the fact he played for fun.

The smile was never off his face and he never seemed to take things overly seriously.

Everyone was out there trying to take each other’s heads off and he was strolling about, cruising past defenders and scoring for fun.

He took off for France after two seasons with the Blues, leaving everyone in Super Rugby definitely wanting more.