All Blacks prop Atu Moli puts in mammoth 80 minute shift against Canada just a year after almost losing leg
Not that long ago, Atu Moli was afraid that his rugby career was about to come to a premature end.
It all started when the former New Zealand Under 20s captain took a knock to his leg when playing for the Chiefs against the Crusaders in 2018. It was a fairly innocuous injury, but it led to a massive hematoma that could have required Moli’s leg to be amputated.
Thankfully, after two weeks in hospital and four surgeries, Moli’s future prospects remained promising.
Fellow Chiefs and All Blacks prop, Angus Ta’avao, was one of the first to notice that something wasn’t quite right with Moli.
“We were supposed to be doing extras after the game [against the Crusaders] and he was limping,” Ta’avao said in Oita this week in the lead up to the All Blacks game with Canada.
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“I said ‘bro, just go back into the changing room’. It happened and he had surgery.
Moli understandably wasn’t immediately back to his best, and it’s taken some fairly rigorous conditioning and training sessions to get him back up to the standards that almost earned him an All Blacks Test debut in 2017.
Ta’avao kept close tabs on the young prop throughout his recovery.
“He wasn’t able to do much and got quite big,” said Ta’avao.
“He got back into training and started small; just biking, running, and then got into the proper stuff.”
Now, however, rugby fans across the globe will finally get to see what one of the World Cup’s heaviest players is capable of.
“I’ve seen the work that he’s put in and also the growth as a person and a rugby player. To be put in that position where you could possibly lose your leg and not play rugby again… to be out for that long and come back in a World Cup in front of some pretty big names – it’s a proud moment for him and also a proud moment for me watching him.”
Wednesday’s match, which saw the All Blacks thump Canada 63-0, would have given the world just a small taste of what the hulking prop can do. Despite New Zealand including four props in their matchday squad – one specialist tighthead and three that can cover both sides of the scrum – Atu Moli was called upon to play the full 80 minutes.
It was the first time that Moli, who was a surprise inclusion in the All Blacks World Cup squad, had fronted for an entire game since his high school days at Marlborough Boys’ College.
“The coaches just said ‘go until you’re knackered’. So I went and I think I was knackered at halftime,” Moli said after the match.
“I don’t know where the other energy came from.”
A second half blowout by the All Blacks has seen them demolish Canada 63-0 in their second outing of the World Cup in Oita. #RWC2019 #NZLvCAN https://t.co/Rg3Ya8jwLr
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 2, 2019
Steve Hansen revealed after the game that the coaches had always intended for Atu Moli to play for the full 80.
Ta’avao, who started at tighthead prop, gave way for Nepo Laulala after 27 minutes. Laulala was then pulled in the 52nd minute for Ofa Tu’ungafasi.
“It was planned,” Hansen said of Ta’avao’s departure. “We wanted Atu to play the 80 minutes. We wanted to keep the other guys fresh because they have to play in four days’ time [against Namibia].”
It was an unusual run of substitutions, but Hansen’s justification is sound. Ta’avao, Laulala, Tu’ungafasi and, in all likelihood, Joe Moody will all be called upon to run out in Tokyo on Sunday – meaning that Molu will be given a well-earned break.
And how did Hansen think the 24-year-old prop faired in his first start for the All Blacks?
“We’re really pleased with Atu, he’s come a long way in a very short period. Today I think he came of age, so very happy with him. He should be proud of himself. To play 80 minutes, he proved a point to himself as well as other people.”
Could Springboks lock Eben Etzebeth’s World Cup be in jeopardy?:
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments