Dylan Cleaver: Eye-catching name fits his eye-catching game

Fritz Lee fends off Corey Flynn of the Crusaders. Photo / Getty Images

Some things read better in French. Such as, "Fritz Lee décapite Hamilton."

It's the title of a YouTube video, which, as advertised, shows Lee almost taking Northland replacement halfback Luke Hamilton's head off with a coathanger tackle.

The video and its English version has attracted more than a quarter of a million viewers.

Lee, who was red-carded for the incident, is not one of them.

"The guys are always telling me to watch it, but I don't want to. It happened and I want to move on from that," Lee says.

He's done a decent job. That horror tackle - and in truth it was reflex rather than malicious - was about the only stain on an otherwise great campaign for Counties Manukau in last year's ITM Cup.

A dominating physical presence at that level, Lee also showed the ability to switch seamlessly between blindside flanker and No 8.

"I probably prefer No 8 but I don't mind. They're similar positions," he says of where his future may lie.

Lee agrees that comparisons between ITM Cup form and Super 15 are made moot by the huge jump in class. "It's so much more physical, it's so much faster. I've had to change parts of my game to adjust."

On the request of the Chiefs' coaching staff, Lee put 3kg on to his already imposing frame in the off-season.

"I've been told to be more physical around the contact area," Lee says.

He signed a two-year contract with the Chiefs, with some judges predicting he will be pushing for a spot in the All Blacks with another Super rugby campaign under his belt.

If he achieves that honour - and Lee gives the stock answer about not looking ahead more than one campaign at a time - he will be the first Fritz to wear the fabled black jersey.

His is an eye-catching name to match his eye-catching game.

For the record, Fritz is his grandfather's name, who hailed from Germany. He has yet to master the art of Teutonic efficiency, but that's to be expected.

Tomorrow night against the Stormers will be his 10th game for the Chiefs, probably about as much as coach Ian Foster would have wanted him to play this season in total.

But Colin Bourke's season-ending injury changed the thinking.

"We saw Fritz as an important cog in our wheel, but in saying that we envisaged him working in with Bourkey," Foster says.

"He's got a great attitude. It's his first year at this level in a key decision-making position, so there's going to be the odd error, but he's working hard to get into the professional game. It hasn't come all that easy for him."

Which seems a strange thing to say about a 22-year-old getting significant game time in a position where players generally mature a little later.

"He came into the NPC early and was playing a bit of sevens. He was going okay without looking settled," Foster explains.

"It wasn't until the 2010 ITM Cup campaign that he made his mark on the game."

Some mark, just ask Hamilton.