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International

'I was just so blessed': Tupou Vaa'i opens up on emotional All Blacks announcement video

(Photo by MARTY MELVILLE/AFP via Getty Images)
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When Ian Foster named his first All Blacks squad of the year last month, one of the standout names that featured in the 35-man list was that of 20-year-old Chiefs lock Tupou Vaa’i.

Given he didn’t even have a Super Rugby contract while New Zealand was in lockdown due to COVID-19, very few pundits expected the young second-rower to earn a national call-up.

However, a slew of injuries paved the way for Vaa’i to be called into the Chiefs squad for Super Rugby Aotearoa, and his impressive performances there were enough to win selection for the North Island in the North vs South match.

Video Spacer

All Blacks boss Ian Foster already knows who will start at No. 10 against the Wallabies

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All Blacks boss Ian Foster already knows who will start at No. 10 against the Wallabies

Earning a starting role alongside his childhood idol Patrick Tuipulotu, Vaa’i played with enough conviction in that match to convince Foster and his fellow selectors to hand him a place in the national squad.

His rapid rise from Super Rugby obscurity to becoming a member of the All Blacks in the space of about three months took many by surprise, none more so than Vaa’i and his family.

Speaking exclusively to The XV, the 2019 New Zealand U20 representative recounted how he was left “speechless” after he received the call that confirmed his selection, and how he shared his moment of joy with North Island roommate Beauden Barrett.

“My phone call came five minutes after my alarm so I was probably one of the lucky guys that got my call pretty early, I wasn’t really nervous for that long at all,” Vaa’i said.

“I received the phone call at 7:30am from the manager and to hear him say that I made the All Blacks, there were so many emotions going through my head. The only thing I could say to him was ‘Oh, true?’. He was like, ‘Yeah mate, you’ve made the All Blacks’ and I was just like, ‘Oh, thank you, thank you.’ I was just speechless, I didn’t know what to say when he said that, to be honest.

“I think I woke up [roommate] Beauden Barrett when I received the phone call too. He knew the phone call was coming but I think he was still sleeping so I got up to go outside to receive the phone call and then I think I woke him up.

“After his phone call, he asked me if I had good news or bad news, so I told him I had good news and he was just so stoked for me to make it into the team.”

Vaa’i also lifted the lid on the viral video that emerged shortly after the squad announcement where he and his family burst into tears when he let them know the news.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEyigv2gqFi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

“I rang my old man earlier just to say happy Father’s Day and stuff, just to let him know we’d be finding out that day if we’d made the All Blacks or not. He just said that whatever happens, he still loved me and stuff,” he told The XV.

“After that, I got the phone call, so I messaged one of my cousins to round up the whole family, just so I could say thank you for the support the night before for the North and South game. I FaceTimed my family and they were all there and I thought it was going to be easy just saying that I’d made the All Blacks but then all the emotions and stuff all came in and took the best of me. It just all went from there.

“My family have always been there on the sideline supporting me since I was playing at school. I’ve got six sisters and all my cousins are pretty much my siblings as well, we all grew up together. To see them all cry, I was just so blessed to see that their sacrifices were all worth it.”

The full article appears on TheXV.Rugby. Register now for a free trial and get access to long form and thoughtful editorial content from award-winning journalists and content creators

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Comments on RugbyPass

C
Conrad 3 minutes ago
There's only one selection that truly matters for the All Blacks this July

Fair but I would risk it for a biscuit.

Him and Richie! Ahhh



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H
Hammer Head 4 minutes ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

They will be, but they must focus on getting the job done. Not Henry pollock. Or anything else for that matter.

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H
Hammer Head 4 minutes ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

Hope you’re right!

15 Go to comments
H
Hammer Head 18 minutes ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

Apart from maybe losing RG Snyman in his normal role off the bench, the lock department can’t really be described as threadbare for this test. So I don’t think that’s a real vulnerability.

Manie Libbok has been at 80% in Japan League One this year. And already showed, before he left SA, that his technique had improved with the shorter run up.



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Lou Cifer 25 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Exactly! should’ve probably been 2+ penalty tries awarded

35 Go to comments
N
NoLongerARuck 28 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Yeah plus when you kick a pen the ball comes back off the kick off and you then have to exit so it makes sense to go for the corner and look for a try because you keep the possession and territory and keep the pressure up.

35 Go to comments
N
NoLongerARuck 31 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

For sure. The games down South are always Skewed towards the Southern teams because the Northern sides are coming off a long season where they have already played 10 internationals and have been going for 10 months. Even so though the South do win when they similarly go up North in just as trying conditions so the Northern sides must really get better and improve their end of season mentality

35 Go to comments
C
Conrad 31 minutes ago
Where's the power? And what to do with Sua'ali'i? The key questions facing the Wallabies

Yeah. They need it.

I'm Irish but I got a great bounce watching the wallabies in the lions tests. Definite potential.



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N
NoLongerARuck 33 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

I think hes done plenty of articles before about speed of game, ball in play time, pens etc in the Southern context and the North are now seemingly ahead in terms of key metrics that determine the quality of game especially those that World Rugby are after in terms of creating more value for fans

35 Go to comments
C
Conrad 35 minutes ago
Where's the power? And what to do with Sua'ali'i? The key questions facing the Wallabies

Plenty would say that. When he first came to Leinster the guy ended careers. Overnight.

33 Go to comments
N
NoLongerARuck 35 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

England were really awful on defence that game, were shellshocked half way through it

35 Go to comments
C
Conrad 36 minutes ago
Where's the power? And what to do with Sua'ali'i? The key questions facing the Wallabies

Toner was treated terribly. Nobody would call him world class but he had to have been one of the most improved players at test level for a period. He was the only reason the 2016 SA tour was even close. Awful treatment in the end.

Henshaw has spoken about being the 24th man early on and accompanying the sqaud on tours. Schmidt would still expect non-playing sqaud memebrs to be able to talk him through all the set plays when he asked them. If you couldn't, it was never overlooked.



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GrahamVF 36 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

In all fairness the ref backed off giving penalties and after the pack had marched the Irish pack backwards on the double for ten meters then folded he tol the Bok scrummie “Play it.”

The psychological advantage of being so comprehensively dismantled in the scrums is huge. You can fix missed tackles and sloppy attack - even fix high ball skills - but it’s far more difficult to fix an entire scrum when they are that comprehensively beaten. And that’s what Rassie’s aim was - not necessarily scoreboard dominance but to send the message if you want to play on the same field as us you had better fix your scrum. Like I said - not so easily done.



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N
NoLongerARuck 39 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

How do you judge the North South battle and if the North is catching the South? I think theres a couple of categories to consider. In the early 2000’s the South was ahead on almost every category that determines the quality of rugby playing region. I would say the categories are:

Coaching



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GrahamVF 43 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

“Having opened it up coincided with a massive uplift in the success of the Springboks.” That and the development of black and Coloured players. A huge previously untapped resource to the Springboks.

35 Go to comments
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GrahamVF 45 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

“The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field.”

Great para and sums it up perfectly. In SA we were sooooo tired of the endless 26 phase going nowhere or backwards cycles of Super Rugby the URC came as a breath of fresh air. We were back to the various elements that make rugby stand out from league. Scrum, ruck, lineout, maul - variety fGs



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NoLongerARuck 53 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

The Six Nations produced so many compelling games and so much of action packed moments that you can only conclude that its the best international comp out there at the moment except for a world cup. If Wales improve it will be even better especially given the strides Italy have made in recent times. The Rugby Championship is now taking a hiatus in a year it really should be building toward something better which is terrible considering the competition was so tight last year. The Nations Champs promises much but one gets the feeling that the 6 Nations teams will not be at their peak given its at the end of their long season. In terms of rugby quality and entertainment Id rather watch the 6 Nations over everything else other than a world cup right now. The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field. In terms of entertainment the North wins. In terms of winning? They are making strides but until they win another world cup or get a team to rank number 1 again for an extended time again they cant really say they are better than the South.

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C
Conrad 53 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Agree. In the end, they had to resort to starting off the ball stuff at 77 mins to rattle Ireland and run the clock as it was only a two score game - which is insane given their dominance.

I suspect Rassie may have gone hard on them afterwards.



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35 Go to comments
C
Conrad 56 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Agree. Tournament play or a knockout game I’m sure they would be nailing their kicks instead.

Even conservatively, they left 12-15 PTS behind which is strange as they should have been worth double that by getting their opponents down to 12 players.



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35 Go to comments
C
Conrad 58 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

It’s noticeable that most NH test teams now refuse to kick for goal until maybe the 3rd or 4th time of asking across the same phases of play. It’s such a trend that they have to be coached that way now.

I think the amended rules around playing the 9 - or not being able to - have helped things as the teams seem to prefer kicking 50/50 constestables or going multi-phase in the opponents 22. The 6N teams generally have tempo 9’s that are hitting 70+ rucks a match, so it suits them.



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35 Go to comments
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