The biggest game of Charlie Faumuina's life
It is striking to hear Charlie Faumuina, a 50-Test All Black and World Cup winner, a prop who has faced the British and Irish Lions, claimed the Rugby Championship and competed at the sharp end of Super Rugby, describe the Champions Cup final as the biggest game of his life.
This is how Toulouse has gripped him, how the city and the club and its people have been every bit as captivating as donning the black jersey, perhaps even more so.
Cheslin Kolbe, Toulouse’s irrepressible sprite on the wing, said this week that he is more nervous about Saturday’s final against La Rochelle than he was before filleting England in the World Cup showpiece. There is something about the magnitude of this place and this match that has Galacticos twitching.
“For me, I think it is the biggest game of my life,” Faumuina says. “I can say the same as Chessie – I’ve never felt so nervous before a game – but it’s a good thing, it means that you care about it. It’s more so from the fans, how much it means to them, and to your family. When it all comes together, it’s emotional. It’s another side to this game that we love to play.
“The success we’ve had with this special group, we just want to add to it. It’s more emotional than other games or other teams just because of how much we’ve put into it. Over here, it’s a long season, we’ve been to the Champions Cup semi-finals twice and lost to the teams that ended up winning it. The third time, we get to the final, we don’t want to leave any questions unanswered. That’s our mindset right now.”
Coming from the New Zealand culture club, where he had such brilliant men as Pat Lam and Wayne Smith for coaches, it is telling that Toulouse should pull Faumuina so. The aura of the All Blacks is magnetic, but he feels the same intangible bond at the Ernest-Wallon.
In 2019, two seasons into his French sojourn, he helped them win the Top 14, their first Bouclier de Brennus for seven years. On Saturday, they aim to sate an 11-year European drought, and conquer the continent for an unprecedented fifth time. The history is compelling.
“When we won the Top 14, the boys said, ‘You’re not going to experience anything like this ever again’. We drove the bus into the middle of the city and it was unreal,” says Faumuina.
“You can see how much it means to the people; it’s more than just a game, it’s their life. It lifts people up when they’re down. You can see it two hours before games, people are there going crazy. It’s something you’ll hold forever.
“The Kiwi fans are passionate but they are a lot calmer, they let you do your thing. Over here, they’re in your face, but it’s good, you want it, it’s why you play. You play for these people; Toulouse and this team is part of their lives. It’s awesome playing in front of it. We were leaving the stadium on Thursday to fly to London and a few-hundred people were there to see us off. That gives you that little bit more reason to play.
“The history and culture is all over the place, it’s everywhere at the club. You want to have your name, your team up there with some of the best that Toulouse have ever thrown out. We’ve had a really successful time, and I think we can really add to some of that success.”
In chewing over what is to come, Faumuina looks back too, back to his Samoan family in South Auckland, with is heavy Pacific Islands diaspora, back to the building site where he thought he’d spend most of his working life.
“There seemed to be something to go to every weekend, we always had to go and celebrate someone or something,” he says. “We spent a lot of time with our cousins in bare feet, shorts and singles – nothing fancy in life, just always together.
“I was doing my apprenticeship in building. I didn’t go to a big rugby school; I was just lucky to play at a club where there were a few guys who were already in the system. So, when the academy coaches came to watch them, they saw me. It happened pretty fast, from working 40-50 hours a week to being a professional rugby player.
Congratulations to Aaron Cruden and Charlie Faumuina who both brought up 50 Tests for the #AllBlacks in last night's #NZLvBIL clash. pic.twitter.com/0I6FuS8kGY
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) July 9, 2017
“People say rugby can take you around the world and it’s so real. I’ve been blessed to play nearly 14 years now and I’ve seen things that people from where I come from don’t, they don’t really get these opportunities. Hopefully I’ve got a few more years left in it too.”
What those academy coaches saw in Faumuina was a point of difference, a hulking tight-head who could make great, bullocking line breaks, act as a pivot player, or flip the ball, cat-flap-style, out the back door.
His game is perfect for Toulouse and their swashbuckling, mesmeric blueprint. Antoine Dupont is its pilot and fulcrum, aided and abetted by Romain Ntamack. They are the darlings of French rugby. Julian Marchand is arguably the form hooker in the sport. Joe Tekori, the Arnold brothers, Matthis Lebel, Thomas Ramos and of course, Kolbe, maraud around the paddock wreaking their merry, barnstorming mayhem.
When Toulouse get it right – and they get it right far more often than most – it is sorcery on a rugby field.
“It’s a style of rugby that I didn’t understand when I was back in New Zealand,” he says. “It goes against everything that we play. We play structure, everyone has a job, you do your job within a system.
"It’s something that I kind of had to deal with the whole way through my career"
– #TheBigRugbyRun training has painfully reminded ex-@LeicesterTigers
and @Munsterrugby back @MurphyJohne about gammy knee he coped with during his career: w/@heagneyl ???https://t.co/r2XUpBMJTk— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 21, 2021
“Over here, we like to play that way as well, but these guys can just… You have to have your Duponts and Cheslins to play this style, where you give them the ball and they make something. They off-load to Julian Marchand or Jerome Kaino and it just keeps going and going and it puts the defence under so much pressure that they close in, we whip it out wide to Cheslin again and he does something magical.
“Sometimes it’s hard to play that style but when we get on top of a team, it’s one of the best styles you can play.”
It has taken Faumuina four seasons to get this close to the Holy Grail, the fifth star on the Toulouse jersey. Only La Rochelle, hot on their heels at the Top 14 summit, are left blocking their path.
This has the makings of a colossal final. La Rochelle are a coming team, a side who have never before gone this deep into Europe but are bristling with weaponry. They have skilled physical monsters in Will Skelton and Uini Atonio, with Levani Botia conjuring Fijian wizardry in the backline and Raymond Rhule, a Springbok contemporary of Kolbe, on the wing, all of it overseen by that canniest of winners, Ronan O’Gara.
"No one is going to come to Strand and scout someone for the Stormers"
– @dill10leyds tells @JLyall93 ??? how he beat the odds to make it as a pro and how he is now looking forward to @staderochelais facing @Cheslin_Kolbe11 in the @ChampionsCup final
https://t.co/1Mx8k4hq5V— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 20, 2021
“It’s going to take everything,” Faumuina says. “We’ve got to be direct, meet their power through Skelton and Uini, meet them and hit them at the gain-line, and we’ve got to move those big boys around.
“We’ve got to get to those dark places and stay there. It’s going to hurt, going to be hard, but we’ve got to show that we want it more. We’ve played them twice and won twice but it’s never been easy, they’ve taken it right down to the wire. I just don’t want it to be the one they do win and it’s the biggest match of our lives.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Nick, and totally correct. Definately too many teams which is unfortunately an effect of the 21st century hubris that began after our 2nd World Cup win. Honestly we weren't like that before then. If NZ beat us in a Rugby League or cricket series (which has occasionally happened) they don't all of a sudden think they are our equal or even better than us. Unfortunately for Australia, we got carried away with ourselves and wanted to jump from 4th biggest football code to biggest…in 5 minutes. More teams, more matches against the All Blacks (so we could beat them even more). Bring it on. It’s been all down hill since then. Assuming Melbourne are gone, there are very good reasons to keep the remaining 4 in SR, or so it would seem. The Force?…wronged previously, and have $s. Surely not. The Brumbies?….easily the best performed. Surely not. The Waratahs?….most players (50%) and most followers. Surely not. The Reds?….easily the best current team, and nearly as many players and followers as the Waratahs. Surely not. I’d argue that based on how strong the combined Reds n Rebs would be and how strong a combined team of all of the other Oz SR teams would be, we have players for 2 teams…..which would be good. Good enough for a propper SR competition…or maybe good enough for Japan….if they’ll have us. Existing SR teams?….keep them and have them play a second tier…or maybe NZ's NRC….if they'll have us. This is biting the bullet. We have the cattle
1 Go to commentsbest 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