Cult figures often become so because they are unaware or at least unassuming about their public status. Piri Weepu seems to fit into that camp.
He is a sportsman with a common touch who would be like the average bloke were it not for the fact he played a crucial role helping the All Blacks regain the World Cup, particularly with a man-of-the match performance in the quarter-final against Argentina. He likes a good feed, enjoys playing the larrikin and speaks his mind with disarming honesty.
Those traits have earned him national respect and, in the modern day measurement of such matters, 40,501 twitter followers (at last count). In addition, the Wainuiomata rugby club have named their Piri Weepu Invitational Sevens after him and he's a finalist in Marae Investigate's 2011 Nga Toa Whakaihuwaka (Maori of the Year) announced today.
After taking on some of the injured Dan Carter's responsibilities like goal and tactical kicking at the World Cup, the Weepu Effect (a mimic of 2005's Chuck Norris Facts) went viral across the country. The phenomenon suddenly had the halfback capable of absurdly fictional feats like slamming a revolving door, dividing by zero and destroying the periodic table because 'Piri Weepu only recognises the element of surprise'.
However, as Weepu says, "a long time has passed since the World Cup". Living a short distance from Eden Park in Mt Roskill, he now gets a chance to offer the Blues that element of surprise over the next two Super Rugby seasons - or at least he will once he overcomes the minor groin niggle which ruled him out of yesterday's warm-up against the Hurricanes in Whangarei.
