Silent partner is a scrumming dynamo

By CHRIS RATTUE

There isn't a come-from-nowhere rugby story quite like that of Saimone Taumoepeau.

Not that the 24-year-old Tongan prop will tell it.

Anyone hoping to publish Saimone Taumoepeau: In His Own Words would struggle to fill a leaflet.

"He never speaks at all, even at training," Auckland team-mate Jerome Kaino said after the pair's first All Black selection yesterday. "It will be interesting to see how he reacts to it all."

Taumoepeau reacted as expected. He shyly entered the Eden Park gymnasium where the media were gathered, and said he was "very happy", although becoming an All Black had not been his dream.

"I want to keep going up in my rugby and work hard," said Taumoepeau, who prays before each game and does not play on Sundays.

He had never played rugby - or any sport - before coming to New Zealand in 1997. He played in South Canterbury, then Waikato, then for Marist in Auckland.

The bush telegraph suggested Auckland had uncovered a dynamic scrummager but the jury was out given that club rugby was Taumoepeau's only benchmark. So his NPC arrival this season was as quiet as the man himself.

At just 105kg, he is small by modern standards. Fellow Auckland front-rower John Afoa is a good 20kg heavier and almost dwarfed the new test man as he congratulated him.

But loosehead Taumoepeau has won fame for his strength and a technique that has left a trail of scrum victims - respected Taranaki veteran Gordon Slater among them.

Taumoepeau was working at his job making cardboard boxes yesterday when workmates announced his selection.

"I just said 'Thank you'," he said, indicating life as a factory worker might be over.

That's if we caught his drift correctly.

Taumoepeau's brother, Tevita, a former Blues and Chiefs prop, plays in France.

Meanwhile, the selection of American Samoa-born Kaino re-opens a page of All Black history. Early-1930s test loose forward Frank Solomon - just the second Polynesian All Black - also had the rare rugby distinction of being born there.

Kaino, whose parents Veronica and Sa now live in Manurewa, arrived in New Zealand aged 4. The 21-year-old, a World Cup winner with the national under-19s and under-21s, is a blindside flanker with No 8 ambitions but was even worried about Super 12 selection after Auckland's poor season.

He was raised in Papakura, played rugby league as a kid, but moved to St Kentigern College - playing alongside Joe Rokocoko - as his union career took off.

"I'm really stoked to be called an All Black and just can't wait to put the jersey on," said Kaino, the bolter in the squad.


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