Editorial: Tiger's rebound shows Nonu can dare to dream

Ma'a Nonu scores a try for the Blues during a match against the Waratahs at Eden Park. Photo / Photosport

Editorial

EDITORIAL

When Tiger Woods rolled in his final putt at Augusta on Monday, he completed another enthralling chapter in one of sport's most remarkable stories.

Woods had won 14 major titles and became the world's first US$1 billion athlete, all before his 33rd birthday, only to have his career sent into freefall by high-profile infidelities and treatment for sex addiction.

He could hardly walk after a fourth back surgery in April 2017 and was arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana, painkillers and sleeping pills — a potentially lethal cocktail designed to combat his crippling pain — four months later.

But the troubled American was catapulted back into the hearts of golf lovers this week for his Masters triumph.

Less than 36 hours earlier and 13,000km away in Hamilton, another unlikely comeback was gathering steam with every step, swivel and thrust of Ma'a Nonu's stocky frame.

Part of the All Blacks exodus after the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Nonu quit France when the bumbling Blues came calling late last year.

And despite stating his intentions to reclaim the black No12 jersey he monopolised for more than 12 years, it wasn't until his two tries against the Chiefs at the weekend that the likelihood of Nonu adding to his 103 test caps shot up the probability scale.

While Nonu, 37 next month, would not be the oldest player in the history of the event — former Springbok captain Victor Matfield was 38 years and 190 days when he took to the pitch in the United Kingdom four years ago — his inclusion would be one of the most surprising.

No player aged 37 or older has been picked for the All Blacks since Ned Hughes in 1921.

Yet, whether he's in the thinking of the All Blacks selectors or not, Nonu has powered his way back into the collective Kiwi rugby psyche in rapid time, something even All Blacks coach Steve Hansen admitted this week that he didn't expect to happen.

Nonu doesn't have to look far for inspiration. As Woods showed this week, sporting fairytales are possible.