How big Karl Tu’inukuafe avoided ‘I found everyone was pretty nice

From unfit nightclub bouncer to All Blacks prop, big Karl’s story is straight out of Hollywood, writes

New Zealand lost more than an accomplished rugby player when All Blacks prop Karl Tu’inukuafe packed for France.

The country also farewelled a character who tussled with adversity and, despite the odds loaded against him when his weight ballooned to 175kg, not only found a way to prevent potential health scares but also earned the trust of the All

Blacks’ selectors and was rewarded with 27 test caps.

Let’s be honest, the game needs more of these tales. Because who doesn’t enjoy stories about an underdog who finds it within himself to fight out of the darkness and claw his way to the top?

Now Tu’inukuafe has jetted off to chase a new career with the Montpellier club on the continent at the age of 29. If you’re a front rower, that’s not old. Tu’inukuafe, who made his last appearance for the All Blacks as a replacement against Ireland in Wellington on July 16, says his time here was up.

Regrets? None. He was ready to go. He didn’t want to risk trying to hold on for next year’s World Cup in France, having missed the cut for the 2019 global tournament because meningitis reduced his chances of impressing the selectors.

‘‘I am definitely sad to be leaving, but I am confident in the new, younger props that are coming through. They are doing real well, now. I just feel like it is my time to focus on family. Last year with the long tour (to the northern hemisphere), it really took a toll on family time and that sort of thing. When I am in France, the longest I will be away from home is three days.’’

Tu’inukuafe’s backstory never dates. When he left Wesley College, where he played for the 1st XV, he wasn’t planted into one of the rugby academy hothouses that shape young men into potential Super Rugby representatives or, if they’re lucky, test players.

Tu’inukuafe was married at 19 and got a job in security, mostly behind a desk but he also manned the doors. It was a working life. Then the kilos began to accumulate and he struggled to breathe as he tied his shoelaces.

A visit to a doctor jolted him into action; unless he carved a chunk of timber off his 175kg frame, he risked suffering a heart attack.

So Tu’inukuafe got fit, made his debut for North Harbour in 2015 and thanks to team-mate and first five-eighth Daniel Halangahu, now an assistant coach at the Blues, played part of a season with French club Narbonne as injury cover.

He enjoyed that adventure and discovered he still had much to learn about the complicated art of being a loosehead prop. Yet no-one dared believe how his luck was about to change.

Because what happened in 2018 was extraordinary. When injuries decimated the Chiefs’ loosehead prop options that season, Tu’inukuafe was called in as cover and eventually made 16 appearances. His performances were good enough for him to be picked for the All Blacks ahead of the domestic three-test series against France.

As then-All Blacks coach Sir Steve Hansen stated: ‘‘He had a few marbles roll his way’’.

But Tu’inukuafe was the one who got those little glass balls in motion: hard work and determination can be valuable assets.

His test debut was memorable. Tu’inukuafe took the field as a replacement in Auckland, and in his first scrum helped bulldoze the French into conceding a penalty.

The sight of the big man with the impressive moustache shedding tears prior to the match was also beamed around the world. It’s not often an All Black displays their emotions in such a manner, but Tu’inukuafe, who has Tongan heritage, regrets nothing.

‘‘I couldn’t hold anything back . . . I never thought I would bring my name into the spotlight of being an All Black, just making my family proud.

‘‘I got emotional because both