The face of All Black Piri Weepu mid-haka is etched in the minds of all New Zealanders. But for one fan, it's etched on his leg.
The hype around Weepu's stellar performances in the haka and at halfback is permanently marked on the calf of Mitch Cooper, 22.
The tattooist at Thunderstruck Tattoo in Tauranga said: "It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. It was a slow day at Thunderstruck and we saw the newspaper with Piri on the front doing the haka and thought it would fill in a bit of space on my body. "
Fellow tattooist Brendon Montgomery took two hours to needle the black and grey piece.
There isn't a lot of skin on Cooper's body that isn't inked but Weepu is his first All Black. "I've got mainly old-school stuff like panthers and ships so this is a bit different."
