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‘The pinnacle of my career’: Fainga'anuku eager to embrace World Cup ‘opportunity’
By Finn Morton
All Blacks selectors were forced to make a surprise call in the lead-up to their Rugby World Cup quarter-final showdown with Ireland as wing Mark Telea was stood down for disciplinary reasons.
But when one door closes, another opens. With Telea unavailable to take on the world’s top-ranked side, All Blacks selectors called on last weekend’s hat-trick hero Leicester Fainga’anuku.
Fainga’anuku, 24, will wear the All Blacks’ famous No. 11 jersey when the New Zealanders run out onto the sacred turf at Stade de France on Sunday morning (NZT).
The Toulon-bound utility is coming off a career-best season with the Crusaders in Super Rugby Pacific, but this is an all-new ballgame. This is Test match footy, and it’s a Rugby World Cup quarter-final no less.
For Fainga’anuku, this is simply “the pinnacle.”
"It's the pinnacle of my career,” Fainga’anuku told reporters at Stade de France on Friday. “Every player, this is where they dream of being.
“It's an opportunity to go out there and represent our nation. It's an opportunity I do not take for granted. As a collective, we want to earn ourselves another week and get closer to the World Cup."
All Blacks coach Ian Foster confirmed in a press conference at the team hotel on Thursday that wing Telea had been stood down after breaching team “protocol.”
It’s a costly blow for the All Blacks with Telea impressing during the World Cup so far. But Fainga’anuku is a handy replacement with the wing scoring a powerful hat-trick against Uruguay in Lyon.
The Tasman Mako and Crusaders representative even popped up at inside centre at one stage – a position he’d never played before. But Fainga’anuku should feel right at home outside of some genuinely world-class players.
Fainga’anuku joins a star-studded backline which, other than the absence of Mark Telea, is as many New Zealand rugby fans would’ve expected. It’s quite a settled team with Richie Mo’unga steering the attack from flyhalf.
"For me the first great opportunity was being named to come over and participate in a World Cup and represent my nation,” Fainga’anuku continued.
“To be in this environment and this tournament is a massive pleasure. In our environment and brotherhood, whether you are in the 23 or not, you have the same purpose, same respect.
“To get here today didn't take just the 23, it took the whole squad. Heading into tomorrow those boys that have the opportunity to play in the 23 are only showcasing the backbone of our squad."
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Latest Comments
> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
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