Scotty Stevenson: Jordan Taufua and the charm of the Heritage Hotel
Scotty Stevenson pays tribute to the charm of the Heritage Hotel and the All Black team announcement.
So familiar now, those halls and doors; the flickering lights and the dated beige. So many times they have all walked the wooden steps down to the team room, or marched across the old floorboards that lead from the tower block to the lobby, and out into the scruffy private lane where Grunta waits with the team bus.
Not all of them, though. For Jordan Taufua, the corridors of the Heritage Hotel are yet to be fully explored. He’s one of the new ones – Shannon Frizzell and Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi the others – the freshly minted All Blacks for whom this Auckland landmark remains a novelty: a destination for the dreams of their yesterdays which today became reality.
The modern greats have all called this place home, from time to time, or for too long depending on the mood. This is where Dan Carter slept in desolation after his early exit from the Rugby World Cup in 2011. It’s where four years later he sat by the pool and pondered what it would mean to him to play in the next final. He did play in the final that year. And he won. This is where Piri Weepu kept calm and carried on and put his mattresses on the floor. This is where Keven Mealamu kicked everyone’s ass at Madden. This is where McCaw made notes and stared out the window. This is where Hore and Woodcock drank their six-packs on Thursday nights.
I think of how many nights and days the veterans have spent in this place, it’s northern rooms with harbour views, the buffet in the atrium, the city at the doorstep. The old stagers know all the shortcuts through busy kitchens and up and down the service lifts. They’ll show the new boys how to get around the place. No singlets at breakfast. Don’t be late to meetings.
They’ll live here two to a room, except the captain. A new captain was named today. Kieran Read will not spend his days here next month. Fortunately Sam Whitelock knows this place like the back of a lineout. He’ll sit about in the Grand Tea Room, which is now the Grand Team Room, its wooden floors covered in carpet the colour of tobacco phlegm.
They all grow tired of the place eventually, but they all love it at first. Jordan Taufua walked into the team announcement this morning with a smile that could light a candle in a blizzard. The night before, his Super Rugby coach, Scott Robertson, had announced to him and the Crusaders team that he had been selected for the All Blacks. He led the team song after that, and its victory chant echoed in the bowels of Eden Park.
To his Crusaders’ teammates, Taufua’s selection is long overdue. No one, they say, has worked harder for it than he has. In interviews, he thanked his parents. On Facebook he thanked everyone for their messages. In person he thanked us for the well wishes. So much gratitude in one human being.
The other players at the announcement had been here before, in the hotel and in front of the cameras, and in their All Blacks media duties polo shirts. They took it all in their stride, as Taufua will do when his feet touch the ground again. I wandered off, down the long corridor. There was Beauden Barrett, barefooted and wondering where the breakfast was. It was downstairs, where the team room used to be, opposite the conference suite, now packed with suitcases and kit, all initialled and official.
Logistics man Jimmy Iverson was arranging the piles and the rows, ticking off the checklists, making everything just so. Jordan Taufua thought he might need to go out and buy some fresh underwear – he had only packed for one night away and now he was here at the hotel and staying another couple. I wasn’t sure if the underwear was supplied or not. Everything else sure seemed to be.
A little later I sat and had coffee with Wyatt Crockett. Today was the first time since 2012 that he has not heard his name read out at an All Blacks announcement. He retired from the international game earlier this year. He had watched the announcement on television, in another hotel just down the road. I asked him if the day felt strange and he agreed that it did.
“But it’s a door that has finally closed,” he said after a brief moment, and with a smile. “The decision to retire felt hypothetical until today. Now it is done. Now it feels real.”
He will miss it a little. The shuffling from room to room, the meetings and the marches and the walks to breakfast and out to the waiting bus, where Grunta will be sitting in the driver’s seat. He will miss the echoes of team nights after wins and the long afternoons in rooms with rain on the windows and kick off still hours away. But he knows Jordan Taufua will love it all. Enough for all of them no longer on the guest list.
“How good?” He asks me, rhetorically.
“How bloody good for Jordy?”
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Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments