KEY POINTS:
At high school, Richard Kahui managed only a few games for his first XV, playing as a first five-eighths.
He started to fill out only towards the end of his sixth form, as he was about to leave Forest View High in Tokoroa and head to an apprentice building career and rugby with the Te Rapa club in Hamilton.
"By then I had only played a couple of games for the first XV," he recalled. "I was tiny and it wasn't until the end of my sixth-form year, when I was leaving, that I started to shoot up.
"I used to be the smallest kid until I was about 14 or 15, I was one of the smallest kids at high school and played first-five. My size has come out of nowhere really."
Kahui is now a robust 1.9m and over the 100kg mark, figures which would have put him in contention to be an All Blacks lock in the 1960s.
His physical growth has been matched by his progress in the Super 14 series, although that evolution was inhibited by a serious shoulder injury last year and a shin problem this year.
Had he not required shoulder surgery last year, Kahui could have made his way to the World Cup stage. And the shin trouble has kept him out of rugby since early May.
He points to a long stretch of plaster up his right shin where continuous pain this season meant several spells on the sideline, with the latest rest giving him time to recover for his test debut in Christchurch tonight against England.
Still just 23, Kahui gets his debut chance because the All Blacks selectors have chosen to rest Conrad Smith and break up the Hurricanes midfield partnership he was growing with Ma'a Nonu. It is no wonder that Kahui is a fan of rotation.
"Ma'a [Nonu] and Conrad [Smith] have been playing really well for the last two weeks but I suppose in a competition this long with just 22 players is asking a bit much," he said. "This will be great and will also be an opportunity for some other guys to get a run, to put some pressure on. I am fairly excited to say the least, the whole three weeks, training has been awesome."
Kahui did not feel he was injury prone, it was injury management which had been the problem.
His shoulder injury claimed several diagnoses then four or five visits to specialists to sort out what the eventual problem was, and it was a similar situation with his ankle.
"If it means taking a few extra weeks off when I am injured in future I will, to save me four or five months' heartache," Kahui said.
Was he feeling rusty now? Not really. He would be fired up, he had trained well and, mentally, he felt in the right place.
His only problem would be finding enough to occupy himself throughout the long build-up today. It might be a bonus for local assistant coaches Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen if their lawns need cutting as Kahui often occupies his time with that sort of work when he is home.
"The night before I usually read over my gameplans before I go to bed and then wake up at the normal time.
"Game day is usually a low-key day, I try to separate the day from the rugby but I'm not sure how I will deal with this test.
"Maybe I will mow Rugby Park [in Christchurch] even if it takes a lots of hours because I will have to kill some time."
Back home he said former All Blacks and Chiefs senior men Jono Gibbes and Keith Robinson had helped him through his injuries, getting him out of bed when it was five months until he could play again.
They kept him interested and were extremely helpful, he said.
Now he stood on the cusp of his All Black dream. "Right from the day of team selection it is quite tough to explain. You spend your whole life working towards something and at times it is pretty unrealistic that you are going to be one of the 1075 All Blacks who have been named.
"It was huge to be named to play in this test. With the national anthem, the haka - it would all be very emotional, very exciting and probably a lot of ... superlatives.
"Smith has been a massive help, utterly selfless and one of those calming influences. He could tell you things you don't know about unless you have been there.
"The challenge for me is not to drop standards but to do that I have to play my game too, do little things well and not make mistakes."
