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Charles Piutau on the 'hardest point in my career so far'

Charles Piutau

Charles Piutau is widely regarded as one of the most talented backs in world rugby, expected to go on and win many more All Blacks caps than his current tally of sixteen.

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In a candid interview with Donald McRae of the Guardian, Piatau discusses his rationale behind leaving New Zealand in 2015 just before the Rugby World Cup.

A World Cup you would presume Piutau would be a part of and it all seems to have happened remarkably last minute.

“That was the hardest point in my career so far,” Piutau says.

“It was another dream to play in a World Cup – and falling short was tough. But the Ulster offer came out of the blue.”

“I was counting on my agent agreeing a contract with New Zealand and he had to tell me about Ulster the night before we were meant to finalise things.”

“I was like: ‘You’ve got to give me two weeks to think about this.’ I wasn’t thinking of coming overseas.”

Piutau didn’t have the easiest start to life, giving a greater insight as to why he was willing to forgo additional All Black caps for a big money move abroad.

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He speaks of growing up in Mangere a tough suburb of Auckland the youngest of a family of ten.

He and his brothers “lived in the garage. We had three beds and a couple of bunk beds. I guess they were hard times but it never felt like that,” said Piutau.

“It speaks volumes for my parents that I never thought ‘I’m still hungry’ or ‘I need clothes.”

“But you look back at 12 people needing to be fed and you think: ‘How did they do it?’ I just take the positives – the love they showed and the discipline they taught us.”

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It was that love and admiration of his parents that ultimately swayed Piutau’s decision to emigrate, as it would give him the ability to provide for his family.

“When I was in New Zealand it felt like the All Blacks were everything,” said Piutau.

“It felt like you were going to play forever.”

“You felt invincible.”

“But, taking a step back, you realise it’s such a short career.”

“For me, what really hit home was remembering everything my parents had done for me and my siblings.”

“They left Tonga for New Zealand to give us better opportunities.”

“And for me, coming here, I had the same chance to do something similar for my family.”

 

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EllenMoody 3 hours ago
Great moments in Lions tour history – JPR’s drop goal and the All Blacks' brutal revenge

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JWH 4 hours ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

Do you hear yourself? Do you have any concept of world view? Have you tried looking into why people call Ireland ‘arrogant’? Obviously not.


We started calling you arrogant when you called our captain a ‘shit Richie McCaw’. In New Zealand. On our turf. Don’t think that kind of behaviour really calls for respect, does it.


NZ don’t really talk ourselves up, if anything the rugby does it for us. No kiwi goes in the media and says: ‘We are gonna win the RWC’. However, I have found many instance of IRISH media saying that the Irish should win, without a doubt. THAT is disrespectful.


The All Blacks have played good rugby, even some of the best rugby ever, at many points in history, but I don’t think you could find a single instance of one of those players, or the NZ media, saying that they should whitewash their opponents. Ever.


Now, onto your analysis. Ireland DID choke the QF. They beat the champions, they were ranked first coming into it, a lot of players at the peaks of their powers. Its hard to say that they didn’t choke. Obviously, their preparation was just not as good as NZ, and thats all there really is to it.


If Ireland had repsected that ABs team and that QF more, maybe they would’ve prepared properly for it and won. But they didn’t.


Maybe if Ireland had won their QF last RWC, they wouldn’t have to be in the same pool as SA and Scotland. I mean, its called a draw for a reason. NZ got third last RWC, so of course they should get a reasonable pool, and they were ranked pretty highly too. If you want to talk about easy pools, look no further than Pool 3 with England, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia I think?


Now, obviously you don’t remember how that QF ended, so I’ll go ahead and rectify that. Ireland reclaimed the ball off kickoff and marched for 20ish phases into the opposition half. Savea then won a turnover, but the referee refused to give it, so play went on. Finally, at the NZ 22, after not giving up a single penatly in 25 phases of hard defense, Sam Whitelock, the most capped All Black of all time, wins the game with an incredible steal.


Now, NZ players having a go at Ireland. Do you cry when you get hit after making the first swing? We all know Sexton is a prick on the field, its just the truth. And Ioane never backs down from a clash, so he thought he should humble a player who has never won an international knockout game who thought he was all that. Don’t really see the issue, its poetic justice really.

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