Johan Bardoul has wasted no time in making an impression in his debut season at the Chiefs.
The Bay of Plenty Steamers blindside flanker set a new fitness mark for the Chiefs forwards of 20.2 on the feared yo-yo test on Monday.
It breaks the marks set by Steamers Carl Axtens, Sam Cane and Tanerau Latimer and typifies the attitude he has brought to his rugby over the last 12 months.
Getting his chance to shine at Super Rugby level is a dream come true for the 27-year-old who never lost sight of that goal despite the years of frustration missing out.
"I am excited, really excited. My goal at the start as my rugby career started to unfold was to make ITM Cup and then the next step was to try and make Super," Bardoul said. "Now that I've done that I am truly rapt about it. It is such a good environment and the calibre of players is very high. All you have to do here really is do your own role and do it well and everybody else does theirs. My work rate is probably my biggest strength." Bardoul's form in last year's ITM Cup was so strong Chiefs coach Dave Rennie had no hesitation in signing him.