Tiatia’s meteoric Hurricanes rise
This time last year, Chase Tiatia was battling away with Hutt Old Boys Marist in Wellington club rugby.
Now, the 23-year-old is starting, and starring, for the Hurricanes at fullback.
It has been quite the rise for the Lower Hutt born-and-raised Tiatia but not one that was entirely unexpected.
He left St Patrick’s College, Silverstream (after earlier transferring from Hutt Valley High School), in 2013 as a first-five with a big reputation and was named the Wellington Rugby Union’s most promising player in 2014, but suffered a wretched injury run following his switch to Bay of Plenty in 2015.
‘‘I broke my ankle, I fractured the top of my fibula, I tore the ligaments in my elbow. Tore some cartilage in my ribs.
‘‘I think that’s about all,’’ he said with a wry smile when recounting his past few years. He put that behind him when finishing last season well with HOBM before getting through most of Bay of Plenty’s 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season, but a Super Rugby contract offer did not materialise.
He was ‘‘quite disappointed’’ by that, but answered the call of the Hurricanes to come in as injury cover, as he did through a lot of the 2018 Super Rugby season without seeing any gametime. This year has been different.
A slew of injuries in the Hurricanes’ backs, including a serious shoulder injury to first-five/fullback utility James Marshall, saw Tiatia thrown in the deep end to start at fullback against the Brumbies in round three in Palmerston North.
Tiatia said that because of the up-anddown past few seasons, he was prepared to give everything he had in his first start for the Hurricanes. ‘‘It’s been sort of a long road for me,’’ Tiatia said.
‘‘A few years of setbacks, so I just thought I’d go out and there and take my opportunity and just give it my all.
‘‘I thought I did that in the first game and they gave me a shot for the second.’’
That impressive debut earned him another start against the Highlanders, and another against the Chiefs, and he will start his fourth straight game when he lines up against the Stormers at Westpac Stadium in Wellington today.
Through all his injury woes, Tiatia said, a few doubts did creep in about whether he would ever make it to this point. ‘‘You always do [doubt yourself], especially when you’ve just got injured and returning to play is so far away.
‘‘My ankle took me seven months to be able to get back on the rugby field, so in those first three months, you sort of lose sight of it all, but then you surround yourself with good people and good company and they sort of help you through your journey.’’
Even with those doubts, he said, he was always confident an opportunity would eventually present itself.
‘‘I knew that all I had to do was put a good season together. Eat well, train hard and my opportunity would come.
‘‘As long as I stayed hungry and stayed driven, my opportunity would come and I’ve finally been given the chance to prove myself.’’
It’s a ride he will stay on for as long as it lasts.
Marshall is expected to return at some point this season, as is Nehe Milner-Skudder, while as more backs come back to fitness, Jordie Barrett should revert to his favoured fullback role. But if Tiatia can maintain his form, then he might push Milner-Skudder into a wing role, or Marshall to the bench, or keep Barrett on the wing.
Tiatia also has experience on the wing, and at first-five, so his versatility should ensure he remains a key part of the Hurricanes’ squad going forward.
As he does that, he plans to soak up all the knowledge he can from the likes of the Barrett brothers, Ben Lam and Matt Proctor.
‘‘I’ve been training here for a year and a half now, but actually going out on the field and playing with those guys, I’ve learned so much in these last three weeks.
‘‘It’s unbelievable the way they see the game and the way they communicate things. It’s just mind blowing.’’