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All Blacks star Patrick Tuipulotu re-signs with New Zealand Rugby
No one bothered to look for silver linings in the dark cloud of defeat that hung over Yokohama Stadium last year when the All Blacks were knocked out of the World Cup semifinal.
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Such an exercise in futility was never going to appeal, but one has cropped up nevertheless.
Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu probably would have today been announcing he was leaving New Zealand had it not been for that 19-7 loss to England.
That defeat changed the course of his personal history. Not entirely on its own though. The genuine revival at the Blues which saw them top the New Zealand Conference before the lockdown pushed him further along the path to staying and then of course there was the impact of the Coronavirus.
It was the perfect storm and from reaching September last year, almost certain 2020 would be his last season in New Zealand, the 27-year old Blues captain is now going to be staying here until at least 2023.
“Before the World Cup I had the one year left and if we had won, things probably would have changed and I would probably have gone overseas and set myself some new challenges,” he says.
“But coming into this year it changed even more given how well things were going at the Blues.
“There was interest from overseas but in the end with everything going on with Covid – how it was impacting in Japan and Europe – it was pretty scary. My partner and I have been together for a while now and we may want to start a family in the next few years and so I thought where do I want to set myself up, my family up, and I thought New Zealand is probably the best place to do that right now.”
Players hate being judged for their career choices but it’s inevitable that it will happen and around the country, there will be knowledgeable heads nodding slowly to signal that they feel Tuipulotu has made a wise decision.
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Something happened last year to Tuipulotu. It was almost as if he had an epiphany of sorts, saw a way to transform himself from a talented but inconsistent performer into a genuinely dominating, international class lock.
One minute no one was sure about him, the next he was a player the nation wanted to see in big tests where his giant frame could smash the last resistance out of tired opponents.
His moment of arrival was the second Bledisloe Cup test in Auckland where he was intensely destructive, not in isolated blasts as was too often the case in the earlier part of his career, but for the duration.
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At Eden Park that night he looked like he knew he was playing to save his All Blacks career and it’s a mentality he hasn’t lost. Since August last year, Tuipulotu has been impressive – imposing and resilient, aware almost that he’s a big man with the capacity to hurt teams if he believes in himself and increases his output.
He was still the fourth-choice lock behind Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Scott Barrett, but the gap had closed.
“In terms of flicking the switch, it is disappointing that it took me that long to understand things,” he says. “I have probably had a longer learning curve than others.
“Early on in my career there were games where I would do one physical thing and then be silent for the rest of the game. But if you look at the top players, they dominate physically the whole game not just for one instance.
“The way I play rugby is to try to dominate my position. You see guys performing week in week out where they want to dominate and use what they have got and fight for every inch, I am still working on that. But it is something I enjoy – the big collisions.”
He’s got three years to work on it in New Zealand now and he’s got absolute clarity about what he wants to achieve and how to do it.
He’s a man on the rise. A player with the physical goods and now the mental desire and if he’s well handled in the next three years, he’ll climb up that national pecking order.
Tucked away, and certain to power him, is a fierce memory from Yokohama. Tuipulotu was on the bench that night and probably left there too long.
It hurt the All Blacks not injecting him earlier, but there is a delayed reward of sorts to collect from that mistake.
New Zealand-born @wallabies prop Jermaine Ainsley will return to his homeland after signing a two-season deal with the @Highlanders. https://t.co/eT35r86DAG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 15, 2020
“That’s something on my mind,” says Tuipulotu. “I was sitting on the bench wondering when I was going to get on because I was getting an inch and thinking that if I got on I could make an impact straight away. I was hungry for it.
“That is something that drives me and motivates me to have another crack where I am not on the bench or pushing myself to not be on the bench.
“That opportunity has always been there to push. It has been up to me that if I really want it I now what I have to do.
“I have to play out of my skin and do that consistently and that will take care of itself. I have never thought ‘he’s better than me and this is what I will have to do to be better than him’.
“That’s the thing you can only get so far being nice. Growing up my dad would never praise me that much and I think that is where I get it from. I would be happy with anything. You are playing professional sport and it’s not going to be fair. It’s cut throat so you have to take it as far as you can.
“You are allowed to be a different person when you play. Off the field you can be yourself and be humble again.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
83 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
83 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
4 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
4 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
4 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to comments