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Charles Piutau set for international return

By Online Editors

Former All Black Charles Piutau is to set to make his international return next month, lining up for the Barbarians when they take on England on May 27th. 

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Piutau shifted from New Zealand to England in 2015, joining Wasps for a one-year spell before linking up with Ulster. He will join former Blues and All Blacks teammate Steven Luatua when he shifts to Bristol next season.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here [Ulster] but I’m very excited about the next challenge,” Piutau said.

“Playing at Bristol with my brother Siale and friends like Steven Luatua is going to be pretty cool. Siale’s kept me in touch with their season and I’m looking forward to playing in the Premiership. I’ve already had a taste of it and it’s a tough competition.”

26-year-old Piutau will be returning to Twickenham after making two appearances there five years ago. The first saw England beaten 30-22 and the second was a try-scoring debut for the Barbarians as they beat Fiji 43-19.

“They were both wins and good experiences and the atmosphere was pretty cool,” said Piutau.

“Playing for the Baabaas was different and everyone had told me there is a special feel to it. Playing alongside people I’d played against, like Willie Le Roux, Jean De Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis was pretty good and one of the great things about rugby.”

Piutau will be reunited with another familiar face when he joins Bristol. Head coach Pat Lam briefly coached Piutau with the Blues.

In other news:

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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