Photos: Super 14 kicks offKEY POINTS:
Richard Kahui has three ambitions for this rugby season: he wants to play well, stay injury free and stay out of the papers.
It's fair to say he won't be able to achieve all three.
Such is the expectation that has built up around Kahui during his year-long
injury sabbatical, he will be one of the most closely watched players in the Super 14. If he plays at all well, headlines foreshadowing his elevation to the All Blacks will follow his every sidestep.
It's all a bit much for the 22-year-old, who by his own admission has had "half a good year, two years ago".
It's not, after all, his fault that the position of centre has become such a vexing issue for New Zealand rugby following yet another World Cup campaign when a fullback was pressed unsuccessfully into service in the 13 jumper.
Mils Muliaina becoming the latest to follow a path previously trodden by Leon McDonald and Christian Cullen.
Wallabies linchpin Stirling Mortlock's regular dismantling of a host of succession candidates since Tana Umaga's retirement has also exacerbated the problem.
Kahui's problem, if it can described as that, is that his good half season was actually pretty exceptional.
In 2006 he tore the national championship apart, scoring a competition-best eight tries as Waikato romped to the title.
He was expected to take the next step up and shine for the Chiefs in last year's Super 14. Some even touted him to make a late push for the All Blacks' World Cup squad.
He never made it through pre-season. In a warm-up game he popped his shoulder in a tackle, tearing his labrum and ending his season before it had really begun. Kahui sat idle as centre proved a problem position at a third consecutive World Cup.
Not being tainted by that World Cup failure certainly hasn't done Kahui's reputation any harm. But it also hasn't done anything to dampen the level of expectation surrounding a player with just 11 Super Rugby games to his name.
"The only expectations that I really want to live up to are my own and those of my teammates," says Kahui, who admits he is a"bit uneasy" about the level of attention he has been receiving.
"I had half a good year almost two years ago now. So I guess there is a lot of external pressure from people saying I should do this and I am going to be that. But I try to stay away from all that, try not to read about it. I just want to focus on doing some good things for the Chiefs.
"The last month media-wise has been pretty heavy. There have been a lot of things written about me that I don't think have been justified. I haven't proved myself any more than anybody else. I feel I am starting back at square one. I haven't played rugby in a year and I certainly don't expect to come back and set the Super 14 alight, especially in the first couple of weeks."
His coach at the Chiefs, Ian Foster, believes Kahui has the right temperament to deal with the pressure of being the All Blacks' centre-in-waiting.
"He just needs to focus on catching, passing, tackling and kicking - breaking the whole task down to exactly what he does on the park," says Foster. "That is the strength of him at the moment, he is not thinking about anything beyond that.
"The thing about Richard - why I am confident he will be successful - is that he is pretty well grounded. He knows this game is just about nailing the next moment."
The road back to tonight's Super 14 opener against the Blues has been torturous for Kahui, who found himself unable to go anywhere near a rugby field. But after months of grinding post-surgery rehab he was fit to take on the Highlanders in the Chiefs' first pre-season game.
He played poorly and initially got down on himself. But a week later, on the "anniversary' of his injury, he scored a hat-trick against the Hurricanes.
Now tipping the scales at 101kg, Kahui says he is in the best shape of his life. "At this stage the muscles aren't used to getting knocked around. They are taking a bit longer to heal but other than that I feel in really good shape.
"The first couple of games [of the Super 14] for me are about getting back into old habits and kind of getting comfortable again. At the moment I still feel out of place out on the field.
"I think I need a couple more games before I start feeling like my old self again."
The Blues will be hoping that Kahui isn't yet fully up to speed when he makes his return to competitive rugby tonight. But the magnitude of the derby match should ensure any rustiness is quickly banished.
"I can't think of too many places to play an opening game that I'd rather be," he says. "You get a lot of people saying we are slow starters and we are this and that. Well, we are a good team and [tonight] we want to prove to a few people how good we are."
With that, Kahui turns and trudges up the tunnel at Waikato Stadium.
I wish him luck.
"I just need to get through this season," he says. "And stay out of the damn papers."
