A lot goes on behind the scenes for reporters covering the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The NZ Herald and Beyond the Game's Cheree Kinnear gives a sneak peek into life on tour. Video / NZ Herald / Getty Images
When Nelson Asofa-Solomona was a teenager, he didn’t make the cut for a national age group selection side.
It’s hard to imagine now, as the Kiwis enforcer has become such a towering figure in the game. He is one of the first picked for club and country and has been pursued by both New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia over the years. The 27-year-old is hot property but still uses that early rejection as a reminder of the pride involved in representing his country.
“It means everything to me,” Asofa-Solomona tells the Herald. “On my way to this [Kiwis] camp I really reflected on when I was in Under-15s. I tried to make the [national] squad and just remembering the feeling of not getting picked, getting that phone call saying that I wasn’t in the team and that feeling of disappointment. I carry that hunger into this camp and that gratitude…just grateful to be amongst the calibre of players that we have now.”
Asofa-Solomona, who made his Kiwis debut in 2017, also uses the memory to guard against complacency. “When you get picked a few times you expect it is going to happen sometimes,” says Asofa-Solomona. “But I caught that thought and held onto it. You have to earn your spot and there is a reason why you are picked in the Kiwis. It’s an opportunity that is not going to come around too often. I’m 27 now and we have some rising stars coming up.”
That may be so – with increasing forward depth amongst the Kiwis in recent years – but the 2.0m, 130kg forward is an asset like few others. His ability to swing momentum and destructive presence through the ruck was on display again last Saturday, one of the standouts in the Kiwis’ 50-0 win over Samoa.
It was another reminder of the importance of his decision in April, when he turned down heavy overtures from Rugby Australia – and a fast-track into the Wallabies – to stick with league. It wasn’t an easy call, as he flip-flopped between scenarios.
“I had to talk to my family, I had to talk to my very small circle, I had to talk to God,” says Asofa-Solomona.
He got a notebook out, listing the pros and cons of each situation. In the end, there were “too many positives” of staying in league and at the Melbourne Storm. He loves the city and the club but also wants the ultimate success with the Kiwis.
“A big drive is to win a World Cup,” says Asofa-Solomona. “There are not many people who can say they have won a World Cup with the Kiwis.”
He has also dismissed any possibility of a switch to represent Toa Samoa, after the recent rise of the Pacific nation. “Us Samoan-Kiwi boys have copped a lot of stuff from the fans,” says Asofa-Solomona. “I’m a proud Samoan but I am born in New Zealand. This country gave my family a better life and I have a lot of history in the Kiwis jersey.”
He has recently branched out into boxing, marking his professional debut two weeks ago with a brutal defeat of Dolphins prop Jarrod Wallace. It’s not entirely new – as he boxed briefly as a youngster in the capital – before he rediscovered it a few years ago.
“It’s an outlet for me and I love that feeling of trying to outsmart someone in the ring, it’s a chess match and I really enjoy that,” says Asofa-Solomona.
Boxing has become a popular post career pursuit for footy players – from Anthony Mundine and Sonny-Bill Williams to Paul Gallen and Justin Hodges – and you sense Asofa-Solomona will be next.
“I’m really keen - one day,” says Asofa-Solomona. “First and foremost I am footballer and I am employed by the Storm but in four years’ time when my contract is up I have to really evaluate and see what I want to do.”
However, his immediate focus is the Pacific Cup match in Melbourne against the Kangaroos on Saturday (10.10pm NZT), ahead of the final against the same opponents next weekend in Hamilton. The Kiwis have narrowed the gap in recent times but beating Australia remains one of the biggest challenges in sport.
“They just don’t go away,” says Asofa-Solomona. “They are relentless. When you think you have them, you don’t. They do all the little things well for the 80 minutes.”
Kiwis coach Michael Maguire has named an unchanged 17 for the match, while Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has opted to rotate his squad, with Selwyn Cobbo, Liam Martin, Payne Haas and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui rested from the team that beat Samoa two weeks ago, with an eye on next week.
Whatever unfolds on Saturday, Asofa-Solomona will be a target, with Australia aiming to subdue one of the Kiwis’ biggest weapons, though that is nothing new.
“I love it,” says Asofa-Solomona. “As Fish (captain James Fisher-Harris) said; we are going to be under pressure but embrace the pressure. Walk towards it. If they want to take me on in any way, so be it. I will deal with it accordingly and just do what is best for the team.”
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. He has also reported on the Warriors and NRL for more than a decade.
