Ex-All Blacks star Charles Piutau opens up on imminent Tongan switch
Former All Blacks star Charles Piutau has lifted the lid behind his prospective switch of international allegiance from New Zealand to Tonga in the wake of World Rugby’s recently-amended eligibility laws.
Last week, it was announced by the game’s global governing body that internationally-capped players will be able to play for a second country that they are eligible through birthright, provided they stand down from test rugby for three years, from January 1.
The change in ruling has paved the way for numerous players to switch countries with immediate effect, with Samoa and Tonga standing as the teams with the most to gain from the overturned law.
Among the various former internationals of Samoan and Tongan background set to throw their lot in with the Pacific Island nations over the coming months is Piutau, who will, within a month’s time, become eligible for the ‘Ikale Tahi.
It’s been six years since the 30-year-old utility back played the last of his 17 tests for the All Blacks before leaving New Zealand at the age of just 23 to take up a lucrative contract with English Premiership side Wasps after having missed selection for the 2015 World Cup.
Since then, Piutau has established himself as one of the best players in European club rugby, as reflected by his status as the world’s equal-highest-paid player alongside Springboks playmaker Handre Pollard.
Both players reportedly earn £1 million per season, with Piutau the first to become rugby’s million-pound player when he signed with his current side Bristol Bears in 2018 following a series of compelling displays throughout the European domestic scene.
Prior to joining Pat Lam’s squad, Piutau was named 2015-16 Premiership Player of the Season during his time with Wasps and was crowned PRO12 (now known as the United Rugby Championship) Players’ Player of the Season a year later in his debut campaign for Ulster.
He was also included in both the the 2015-16 Premiership Team of the Season and the 2016-17 PRO12 Team of the Season, and continued that vein of form when he began his spell in Bristol three years ago.
Selected in back-to-back Premiership Teams of the Season for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns, Piutau helped guide Bristol to its first European honour as the Bears claimed the second-tier Challenge Cup last year.
Piutau achieved all of this while remaining ineligible for the All Blacks as he plied his trade outside of New Zealand, leaving the world deprived of viewing his exceptional talents on the global stage.
That’s set to change, though, as World Rugby’s new laws means Piutau will become available to play for Tonga, his parents’ nation of birth, from New Year’s Day.
Blues head coach Leon MacDonald says competing with Moana Pasifika for players has become “an issue” due to the depletion of New Zealand’s player pool. #Blues #MoanaPasifika #SuperRugbyPacific https://t.co/z9RoJzLxfh
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 3, 2021
Jumping ship from New Zealand to Tonga is an emotional prospect for Piutau, as it will be for other players in a similar position to him.
His brother Siale played in 43 tests and at three World Cups for the ‘Ikale Tahi, and the chance to follow in his sibling’s footsteps and honour his heritage is something that Charles hasn’t shied away from.
“It’s always been a place close to my heart. My family were happy about the news and personally I’m happy that if I’m selected I can give back to Tonga,” Piutau said, as per the Daily Mail.
The presence of Piutau in the Tongan squad would be a significant boost for head coach Toutai Kefu, who is also set to welcome a large swathe of former internationals next year, including the likes of Israel Folau and Malakai Fekitoa.
Those players – and others such as former All Blacks Vaea Fifita, George Moala and Augustine Pulu, as well as ex-Wallabies Adam Coleman and Sekope Kepu – could make Tonga a seriously competitive unit come the 2023 World Cup in France.
It is partly for that reason that Piutau is keen on playing for Tonga as he hopes to help form his parents’ homeland into a team capable of taking down some of rugby’s biggest nations.
That chance is likely to come at the next World Cup should Tonga claim the Asia/Pacific berth next year, which would see them qualify for Pool B alongside the Springboks, Ireland and Scotland.
“This change is a start. It’s not the only or the main thing, there are many others, but it’s a step towards being able to bridge the gap between the tier one nations,” Piutau said, according to the Daily Mail.
“With the possible players that may be available, it’s them being able to share their experience and knowledge can add to what’s already there.
“If I can pull on the Tonga jersey it’ll definitely be a memory I’ll cherish. I’m happy not only for myself but for the possibilities of what it can do for Pacific nations.”
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best news and very helpful
4 Go to commentsA year ago Ireland and France looked impressive. In this 6N neither looked special. Both have lost good players, but more importantly teams have figured out how to shut them down. In particular the Irish loss to a rebuilding England and the home game struggle against a brave Scotland did nothing to prove that the Irish RWC result was undeserved. If the Scots can shut down the Irish attack, then SA can do so with interest. Rassie will have watched that game with confidence. Farrell is smart, and the Irish team is talented, so we should expect a more creative game plan in SA. But if all they bring is what they showed against Scotland then Ireland is going to struggle against the Boks. It was a fun 6N tournament, but the win for Ireland was as much about weak competition as about Irish brilliance. It was mostly due to France being off the boil, Wales and Italy not being contenders, and Scotland being a home game. England are looking much better, but “much better” should not be enough to topple a team that is supposed by some to be The Best in the World. I hope that Ireland can bump it up a notch or two for the Bok tour. A year ago they were fantastic to watch. It would be great to see that again.
24 Go to commentsLooking forward to the Wallabies being competitive again. No doubt that Joe can get them back on track.
1 Go to commentsThanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.
43 Go to commentsGreat story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
43 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
24 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
43 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
43 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
4 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to comments