Why George Bower said 'damn' when called up to the All Blacks

George Bower is an accomplished Super Rugby prop, a seasoned NPC veteran and a 24-Test All Black. But up until last weekend’s Bledisloe Cup game in Perth, he had never scored a try in professional rugby.

The 33-year-old has played 147 games as a first-class rugby player in New Zealand, won more than a handful of Super Rugby titles and continues to be a fringe All Black, earning frequent call-ups when another body is needed in the national setup.

While he’s contributed to some great teams, he’s never done so on the scoreboard, something that he was all too aware of coming into the 2025 season.

“At the start of the year, I was gaining on 80 Crusaders games, and I was telling my front-row friends like Fletcher Newell, Tamaiti (Williams), ‘I have to score a try for the Crusaders this season’,” the Wellington-born prop told Israel Dagg and Scotty Stevenson on Sport Nation.

“It even got to the point where in work-ons, I would practice my close-quarters work around the tryline, to really try and get in there, practising footwork, and still nothing came.

“I went down to Otago, and they found out, so they had a set move planned for me, and I was about to play that weekend, but I got called up for the All Blacks. I was like, ‘damn.’ So I didn’t play that game, either.

“Then, obviously, the Bledisloe happened, and I got called up for that, and I was just hungry, I was hungry for a try. How cool would it be to score my first-ever try at the international level? And fortunately enough for me, it happened. A blessing, bro.”

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While Bower, known as one of the most jovial characters in the Kiwi game, has had some injury troubles in his career, the fact that he had never scored a try up until the final round of this year’s Rugby Championship took many by surprise.

Now with a five-pointer to his name, Bower is clinging to every moment of the memory.

“Pushing the ball over the line, it was just slow motion, as everyone always says,” he recalled. “Once I realised I was over the line, my bounce to get up straight away was so quick. I think Pasi (Tosi) was still on the ground, but I was already up celebrating for 10 seconds or something. It was crazy.

“As soon as I heard the ref’s whistle, I was over the moon. And then Rieks (Ioane) came, he started hugging me, and I just started yelling out, ‘My first try! My first try!’, and then all the boys started coming in.

“It was definitely a memory that will stay with me forever.”

The score was just reward for Bower’s perseverance, having split his time between the NPC and the international game without the benefit of continuity in either camp.

“At first, I did find it quite hard. Bouncing around from Otago back up to All Blacks, and then from All Blacks back to Otago. You have to live out of your bag a lot, and you have to ask people ‘Can I crash in your room for a night?’ or, ‘Can I crash at your house for a few weeks?’

“But I told myself and my partner, and my family, that wherever I am, I’m going to spread my love and spread my energy, and just do it with 100 per cent. And that’s what helped me change that mindset and just be grateful for wherever I am. At the same time, be competitive, but grateful, and just spread my energy.”