'You've left the skipper at the hotel': James Parsons reveals his rookie blunder that left All Blacks captain Richie McCaw behind
Your first week in an All Blacks camp can be a daunting experience for any international newcomer.
From the moment you set foot into the squad’s hotel lobby right through to stepping onto the field for your test debut, there is plenty to take in as you learn the ins and outs of touring with rugby’s most famous side.
That’s certainly how veteran Blues hooker James Parsons felt when he was called up to the All Blacks for the first time in place of the injured Nathan Harris during their end-of-year tour in 2014.
Parsons, who was in the United Kingdom as part of a Barbarians team that played the Wallabies, came into Steve Hansen’s squad alongside fellow Kiwi and Barbarians teammate Colin Slade, who took the place of Cory Jane, ahead of a clash against England in London.
It was there where the 33-year-old got his first taste of the traditions that come with touring with the All Blacks, which extends to how players travel on the team’s bus.
Speaking to the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, Parsons explained that part of the tradition is the All Blacks’ use of a ‘buddy’ system, whereby one player pairs up with another player to make sure their buddy is on the team bus so that nobody gets left behind.
In his first week in the national set-up, Parsons said he was paired up with former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, whose leadership qualities he said he admired due to the way that it helped him ease into the new environment.
Parsons said McCaw’s leadership attributes were no more evident than during his first week with the All Blacks, where his role as the 148-test flanker’s buddy didn’t go according to plan.
“I remember coming down – this is my first week in the team – coming down the escalator behind Richie, and obviously he got stopped by fans,” Parsons told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “I jumped on the bus and was like, ‘Oh, well he’s here, that’s great’.
“We got to the training ground, and everyone’s like ‘Where’s Ricco [McCaw]’, and I was like ‘Oh nah, he’s here, I came down with him’, and they were like, ‘Mate, he’s not on the bus, that’s your one job’.
“Kieran Read was like, ‘Oh mate, you’ve left the skipper at the hotel’, and this was like day two, so I’m just petrified.
“Five minutes later, Richie comes running around the corner. He’d run from the hotel to the training ground and he was like, ‘Nah mate, that’s terrible from me, I should have just got on the bus’.
“I was like, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry’, and he was like, ‘Nah, nah, nah, it’s all on me’.
“Just little things like that. He’s so approachable, for a guy that I had so much respect for, so easy to talk to, but he would always take the responsibility on his shoulders to make my week easy, and I think that’s one of the biggest things I learned out of that tour from a rugby aspect.”
Ex-All Blacks great Dan Carter has named a former Springboks loose forward as the "toughest-minded" player he's ever faced.https://t.co/l6kshIHQap
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 25, 2020
Another tradition that has become firmly steeped in All Blacks culture is the hierarchical seating system that is used to determine where on the bus players sit.
As has been the case for decades, where players are seated on the bus – as it travels between hotels, training grounds, stadiums, airports and other locations – is sorted by how many caps each player has.
The more experienced a player is, the further down the bus they will sit, whereas newer or less experienced members of the team are consigned to seats at the front.
A seat down the end of the bus can only be earned through experience, and it’s seen as a rite of passage to work your way down the bus over the course of time.
With two test caps to his name, neither Parsons, nor one-test All Blacks first-five Josh Ioane, have had the privilege of taking their place deep in the inner sanctums of the All Blacks bus.
Instead, both players have been forced to stay at the front of the bus during their times in the national squad.
That long-standing tradition has presented its challenges for Parsons and Ioane, both of whom told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod of experiences where they have opted to sit on the floor when the front seats have been filled rather than break tradition to vacate a spot near the back.
“The bus is a funny one,” Ioane, who made his All Blacks debut in a World Cup warm-up fixture against Tonga last year, said.
“You get on the bus, you’re a new boy, and there’s no seats at the front of the bus, and you’re like, ‘I’m not going down the back of the bus’, so I just sat down by the stairs, you know when you walk up the bus by the bus driver?
“I just sit down on the stairs by the bus driver because there’s no way I’m walking to the back.”
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Parsons was forced to endure similar treatment during the same time week he misguidedly accounted for McCaw on the bus.
“No jokes, I had to do the same thing. I got on late, and your heart drops as soon as you walk through the door,” he said.
“You’re like, ‘Oh my god, this is terrible’, and I literally just looked around and no one moved, and I was just like, ‘Oh well’, and then I just sat in the stairs like this little kid.”
He added that he learned quickly from the experience, which he said left him “so embarrassed”.
“I remember Steve [Hansen] just looking at me like, ‘You’re a 26-year-old sitting on bus stairs’. I didn’t even have the excuse of like, ‘I’m 19’, or something. I’ve been around a long time. I was just like, ‘This is so demoralising’,” Parsons said.
“No one said nothing. I was just so embarrassed. We didn’t even have far to go. Most of the time we’d walk to where we were going, but we were in the middle of London, and it was, I think, my first or second day.
“Kevvy [Keven Mealamu] said to me afterwards, ‘Mate, any chance you get, just get to that bus as quick as you possibly can’.”
Listen to the full episode of Aotearoa Rugby Pod below:
Comments on RugbyPass
Bell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
13 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
13 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to comments