Japan halfback Fumiaki Tanaka. Photo / AP
Peewee Japanese rugby star Fumiaki Tanaka might be counted as yet another player to have slipped through Auckland's fingers.
A rough call, because he did turn up in the city quite a few years ago when he was an unheralded junior. But the much loved Atom Ant of world rugby - the man-of-the-match in Japan's shock World Cup win over South Africa - starred for the Ponsonby under-21s, winning their player of the year title. Ponsonby icon Bryan Williams, the All Black great who ran the club for many years, remembers the Tanaka style.
"He was a little guy with a big smile, with a very fast game," says Williams.
Ponsonby has a long association with Japan, making a ground breaking tour there in 1968, and again in 1981. A constant stream of Japanese players have turned out for the club over the years, often guided there by an Auckland-based Japanese intermediary.
Tanaka was a one season wonder but it did provide a little-known entree for his high profile return with the Highlanders, where he has been a massive hit. Tanaka, aged 30, is a popular team man who provides the perfect like-for-like cover for All Black Aaron Smith's rapid fire ways.
Highlanders assistant Tony Brown played a huge part in getting Tanaka to New Zealand. Brown spent five years playing alongside Tanaka for the Wild Knights in Japan's Top League. Tanaka is just over 70kg, the smallest man in the World Cup, but Brown had no doubt that he would succeed in New Zealand.
"I think in nine seasons I've never seen him injured - he's had one slight calf strain in that time," Brown told the Herald.
"For someone that small to take all the knocks every week...he trains hard, plays hard, and is obviously a very resilient character. His body can handle it.
"When I came to coach Otago I got him over and he performed really well. One hundred per cent, I knew he would make it. I knew he could play in New Zealand, easily.
"Not too many halfbacks in the world have his skills and the ability to play at that speed. He sees the space before you see it. He knows where to put the ball, he understands the game very well. So coming here was easy for him.
"He doesn't speak much English but rugby is an international language. I'd rate him up there with the best halfbacks in the world."
Tanaka has proved a winner in every regard. His infectious smile and bouncy character bursts off the screen when he is viewed on the reserves bench. His playful nature and time-for-anyone attitude is a winner with team mates, over-coming the language barrier.
Once on the field, he provides an energy that probably only Smith can match. His internet appearances also wow the audience. They include a bizarre TV appearance when he cuddled up to Highlanders forward Joe Wheeler, dressed only in his undies.
Tanaka has admitted frustration at times because Smith dominates at halfback for the surprise 2015 Super Rugby champion Highlanders.
"It's a frustrating situation for him but good for us," says Brown of having a world class understudy in the same mould as Smith.
It might be a reason why Tanaka's futures is clouded - there is mystery and even major doubt over whether he will line up for a fourth season with the Highlanders.
Complicating matters, Japan is trying to launch its Super Rugby team and would love Tanaka on board. But the franchise is struggling to get up and running, partly because it will struggle to match the money on offer elsewhere for players like Tanaka.
Whatever the outcome, New Zealand looms large in Tanaka's future according to Brown.
"His wife comes over with him, they have a young child, and he loves Dunedin" says Brown.
"They want to eventually live in New Zealand. He loves the New Zealand way of life and the rugby culture here."