The almost All Black
He’s the man who had even ardent rugby fans scrambling for Google in October, 2018.
Even Reuben O’Neill himself admits to a ‘‘huge surprise’’ and a ‘‘who’s this guy’’ situation for the punters when his name appeared in that 51-man All Blacks squad.
The Taranaki prop had not even played Super Rugby when he was selected as one of 19 players to head to Tokyo for the test against Japan – a match the frontliners would skip between their Yokohama Bledisloe Cup assignment and the start of their three-test programme in Europe.
It had all the makings of a future quiz question for this selfdescribed ‘‘battler’’ who had been toiling away under the radar in the Mitre 10 Cup.
Yet O’Neill now can’t even lay claim to at least being a one-test wonder, for he didn’t end up getting the nod for the game-day 23.
A golden chance at a black jersey vanished before his eyes. But, now back at square one, the 25-year-old said that brief foray into the national squad had only made him hungrier.
‘‘It was sort of surreal being in that environment, pinching myself every day I was there,’’ he told Stuff.
‘‘It was good to get a little taste, and at the end of the day it makes me want to work a bit harder to taste it again.’’
Now, 16 months on, O’Neill has finally taken the next step on that journey, after a long-awaited Super Rugby debut with the Chiefs last weekend.
Somewhat ironically, that came back in Tokyo, in a finalquarter cameo off the bench in the win over the Sunwolves.
‘‘It was awesome, man, a dream come true,’’ O’Neill said.
‘‘I’d been looking forward to that day for a while and been grinding away for a few years now, and good that the body’s finally agreed with me and got me over the line.’’
Indeed, it’s been a frustrating time of it for the former New Zealand secondary schools rep.
Just after his All Blacks ‘fame’, he was announced in the Chiefs’ 2019 squad, only to miss the entire season due to an achilles tendon flare-up.
After rupturing it a few years
ago, bone spurs formed and a ‘‘big clean-up job’’ was required, which the 1.83m, 117kg O’Neill said with typical front-row humour had him ‘‘running like a 16-year-old again, very dynamic’’.
But just as that was sorted, O’Neill’s season with Taranaki – his fifth at that level – was then cut short by a toe injury, which kept him out of the early part of this Super season.
Chiefs props and injuries have made for what O’Neill termed a ‘‘bit of a circus’’ in recent seasons, but he’s hoping his diligence off the park, which has included getting a better handle in recent seasons on combating his diabetes, can pay off.
‘‘Just leaving no stone unturned recovery and rehabwise, looking after my body as best as I can to give myself the best chance, really, and hopefully start to get a little roll on.’’
O’Neill is a versatile operator at scrum time, able to play both sides, and while the Chiefs’ quality propping stocks was ‘‘a driving factor’’ in him wanting to join the franchise – who he is contracted to till the end of next season – he also credits a 2018 pre-season with the Crusaders as being big for his development.
‘‘I looked up to Owen Franks, and getting around him and picking his brain was awesome,’’ said O’Neill. ‘‘I learned the ropes down there, especially in the gym.’’
Having now ticked that longawaited Super goal, O’Neill’s ambitions don’t revolve around getting X amount of minutes or starts, but simply to just ‘‘control the controllables’’.
‘‘I don’t sort of worry too much about that stuff, I just worry about giving the very best I can to this team, and make sure when I get home at night I’ve left no stone unturned,’’ he said, with a cheeky nod to his boss for some inspiration.
‘‘Hopefully get my neck as big as [Chiefs chief executive and former prop] Mike Collins and I’ll be well on my way.’’
‘‘The body’s finally agreed with me and got me over the line.’’
Reuben O’Neill