Rugby: Tipoki learns to play it straight

By Chris Rattue

Rua Tipoki has come a long way on the rugby field during the past month of the NPC, as North Harbour charged towards a semifinal place.

So far in fact, that his North Harbour coaches rated him the best back on the field during the past five games, when the side strung together wins which put them into Saturday night's semifinal against Auckland at Eden Park.

But the 23-year-old's journey off the field over the past decade or so has been even more remarkable - a classic story of a kid who experienced some tough beginnings who has been, and still is, turning his life around.

"Our job has been to teach him not to be so impetuous on the field and his journey is far from over," says Harbour assistant coach Allan Pollock, who believes Tipoki will establish himself as a world class second five-eighths over the next two or three seasons.

"I suppose in some ways it is similar to what he has had to do off the field as well."

Tipoki openly declares that if it wasn't for Rangataua o Aotearoa - a New Zealand form of martial arts - he would be in dire straits.

"I would have ended up in major trouble ... as my dad says to me, I would have ended up in a gang," says Tipoki.

Tipoki was brought up in towns around the east coast, his family coming from Te Araroa and Rangitukia, about 120km north-east of Gisborne.

One of his earliest memories is living in a "gang house" with his mother, and one particular night of terror.

"I was about five. One night I heard a couple of shots, and looked up and saw a couple of bullet holes," he says.

His mother, Eileen, decided it was time to move and called for Social Welfare help. Soon after Tipoki, an only child, moved in with his father Reihana, a shearer.

"There was a lot of love in the house, but dad was at the pub a bit," says Tipoki. "I was home alone a lot by myself, even at primary school. I got into quite a bit of mischief. I had a pretty ill-disciplined up bringing.

"I saw the martial arts training when I was at intermediate school and wanted to join. I'd been brought up around a lot of macho men and liked that sort of thing.

"I ended up dedicated to it for the next seven years. It gave me the chance to use my aggression and gave me self confidence. Being an only child, it gave me a family."

Tipoki reached black belt status and credits martial arts leaders Zac Te Maro and Taka Maki for helping turn his life around.

He left Gisborne Boys High early and worked on his uncle's farm at Raukokoreo on the east coast of Bay of Plenty, but when his father moved to Auckland to teach Maori at Waitakere College, Tipoki followed and returned to school there.

He went on to make the Auckland Colts where he was spotted by North Harbour during a representative game.

"Graham Henry was coaching in Auckland then and he told me I was next in line after Eroni Clarke and those guys," says Tipoki.

"But I didn't want to be sitting on the bench. A lot have had to sit behind the top players with Auckland and then never got anywhere.

"I had been in the sevens with Eric Rush and he has had a big influence on my life, with things like the dedication to the game.

"I got on with him and the other Harbour sevens guys and I thought I would enjoy things a lot more with Harbour, and it has been great."

Tipoki, who made the Blues squad this year, is a tough defender with maybe the best sidestep in the New Zealand game. North Harbour have played him in all the three-quarter positions, although Pollock is adamant that second five-eighths is where he can make a mark.

But his individual talents did not always fit into a team game.

Pollock says: "If he got the ball you wouldn't see it again. Off he would go. In the Colts, they actually missed him out in moves because of that."

But this year has seen a growing maturity in his game - exemplified by his willingness to kick Harbour clear of trouble during vital moments in their last round win over Canterbury.

Once a lazy trainer, Pollock now describes him as among the most dedicated in his side.

"He is the only player who rings me up on the morning of every training day to find out what we are doing that night. If it is a light run, he will then go out and do some hard work on his own."

If Pollock's assessment is correct, Tipoki - who was in the national sevens side for two years - still has a long way to go in rugby. And Tipoki, who lives with his partner and 17-month-old son, is still learning about life off the field.

Earlier this year Tipoki - who spent two years studying law at Auckland University before rugby intervened - faced an assault charge from which he was discharged without conviction. Now, he abstains from alcohol when he goes out.

"Things were going so well, then suddenly they were tumbling down," he says. I don't drink when I go out ... if someone says something provocative you are more likely to respond if you've had a couple of beers.

"I look on what happened as something positive. I've been able to change things about my life off the field before something really bad happened. It has been good for my home life as well."