Weepu’s new mission — to get fit
About two years after he put aside the rugby boots, former All Black great Piri Weepu is working at getting fit and healthy again — largely to keep up with his four young kids.
Weepu has also wrapped up filming for the second season of his show Piri’s Tiki
Tour, a grassroots catch ’emand-cook ’em style series.
The first episode will air on Maori TV tomorrow.
“The locations we went to were beautiful spots,” he said.
“Getting to meet local people that are really passionate about the outdoors and seeing how they provide food for their families — and sometimes the community as well.”
Filming for season two came as Weepu was trying to get his health in order.
Speaking to the Herald about life after rugby, Weepu said he wasn’t as fit as he used to be. “I probably spend more time on the couch than I should,” he said.
The death of a friend last year acted as an eye-opener.
Weepu himself has been struck down on the rugby field by bad health — his debut for Wairarapa Bush in 2017 was cut short when he suffered an asthma attack. “I was a bit run down, was sick and it just all caught up with me.”
About a year later, Weepu was convicted, and sentenced for driving with excess breath alcohol.
These days, Weepu is focusing on keeping up with his four kids’ sporting pursuits.
“We want to be a lot healthier than we have been, so that we can be around to race our kids in the 50m race if they do try to challenge us.”