KEY POINTS:
There's an upside to having a body that is a monument to modern surgical techniques.
British employment law is pretty robust when it comes to workplace injuries. If you hurt yourself at work and end up scarred as a result, you're eligible for compensation.
Having endured three knee reconstructions - where ligament grafts are taken from the thighs and attached to knees - while earning his corn as a league player, Bradford-based Kiwis centre Shontayne Hape has a nice little sideline going.
"I get paid to have scars," he says. "It's probably the only upside."
That Hape will be turning out for the Kiwis at all on Sunday morning is nothing short of remarkable.
Playing for Bradford against Stacey Jones' Catalans Dragons in late March, Hape suffered a third anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture.
One ACL injury can be career-threatening. Three is close to unheard of.
"When I did the first one, after going through all the rehab and stuff, which was really mentally draining, I always said if I did it again I'd finish up. But obviously I didn't plan on doing it again when I was 24. And now that I've done it a third time ... "
It's doubtful such news can be called fortunate but Hape's most recent injury was at least to his previously uninjured left knee.
His right knee had already been reconstructed twice following an horrific injury playing for the Warriors in 2002 - when a severe dislocation compounded the ligament damage - and a relapse on Kiwis duty in 2004 when the original ligament graft failed.
For the third time in his career, Hape faced six to 12 months of painstaking rehabilitation.
There were times when he felt like chucking in the towel, but a visit to a children's hospital put things in perspective.
"Seeing those kids who had cancer and things and maybe a year or two to live made me realise I was actually in a pretty good position. Whenever I fell down in my rehab, I'd think of them."
The surgeons may have been able to patch him up but, at just 26, Hape's body has already taken a fearful pounding. In 2004, he missed lengthy stretches of the season after twice breaking his arm.
"Some days when you sit down and you are aching, you just think 'I should have been a reporter or something' instead of trying to be a rugby player," he laughs.
But there is also a less humorous side to his occupational hazards.
"I've spoken to my specialists and they reckon, with my knees, I'm probably going to end up with arthritis."
He has already been told to start taking supplements, such as cod liver oil, to help delay the onset.
With his wife Liana due to give birth to their first child in eight weeks, Hape admits he wonders what sort of shape he'll be in when his career ends.
"You want to be able play with your kids when they are growing up," he says. "You don't want to be hobbling around with a walking stick or in a wheelchair.
"But at the end of the day we do what we love doing and that is playing rugby league. I'm always going to put my body on the line."
After his second reconstruction in early 2005, Hape returned in time to help Bradford to the Super League title and starred in the Kiwis' Tri Nations final victory over Australia in Leeds.
This year, despite managing just a handful of games for Bradford following his return in late September, he was the lone UK-based New Zealander called into the Kiwis squad for the centenary test.
When he joined the Kiwis training camp ahead of the Wellington test, Hape was shocked by his new-found status as one of the senior pros.
"It was pretty weird not seeing the old guys like Stacey [Jones], Nigel [Vagana] and Ruben [Wiki] and that.
"A few of the older guys are still here but if you combine all of our test caps it's still probably not as many as Ruben played by himself. That pretty much showed in that record loss to Australia."
Being in camp in the UK with the All Golds had helped unite the young Kiwis squad, but the forthcoming series against Great Britain would be a step into the unknown for many, Hape said.
"Training has been on the up since [the Australia defeat] and everyone is looking enthusiastic. But, at the same time, I don't think these guys know what is coming.
"They haven't seen too much of the English players and I think they are going to be in for a shock.
"Great Britain have all been together for the last few years but, when you look at our team, there are only four or five guys from the last two years.
"It feels like a rebuilding phase.
"We're trying to build a platform going into next year's World Cup and it's not easy.
"But over the last week we've been looking better in training, so we are confident."
