Brain now put to different test for Counties stalwart

Errol Brain played more than 100 games for Counties Manukau. Photo / Getty Images, File

It took a lot to unnerve Errol Brain on the rugby field but in his new line of work he
regularly sees things that are, by his own admission, "bloody frightening".

After stints coaching in Japan and Europe, including a spell with the Portugal national team, the former Counties Manukau and Maori All Blacks captain now owns a New Zealand Drug Detection Agency franchise in Tauranga.

"We do workplace drug testing for companies to make sure their staff are safe at work, basically," he says.

While Brain mainly looks after the strategic side of the business, he occasionally oversees the testing to keep his knowledge levels up to date.

It's a novel field, but one that Brain says he enjoys, even if it is eye-opening at times.
"It's a positive thing for society. It's not only about the workplace. We see it having a really major effect in the community.

"And every day is a new day. There are always plenty of interesting things that crop up. Some of them are good stories and some of them are frightening, [like] the increase in meth. It's a growing

issue. Companies understand that, unfortunately, with the way it is these days, they have to manage that risk."

Brain says the industry is growing, especially with the recent culture shift that has led to greater scrutiny of workplace health-and-safety standards.

"The days are gone when you could just say, 'you're hungover, just get on with it or go and hide in the corner'. You can't do that any more."

Brain was one of New Zealand rugby's quiet achievers. In a long and distinguished career, he played more than 100 games for Counties, captaining them to back-to-back NPC finals in 1996-97. He also led the Maori All Blacks to a famous win over England in 1998.

The man-management skills he acquired as a captain and coach are, he believes, directly relevant to his success in business. But rugby has also enriched his personal life, and this is what he cherishes most from his time in the game.

"I've got lifelong friends - that's the amazing thing. I travel around New Zealand quite a bit with work and I see people I haven't seen for years, but we have a common bond through rugby. I've still got mates who I played with and, when we catch up, we just pick where we left off."

Brain's career with the Maori All Blacks spanned almost a decade, but the game against England in Rotorua, where the Maori hammered the tourists 62-14, stands out as a highlight.

"That was an amazing feat because they were working into the 1999 World Cup. Clive Woodward was the coach [and] there were plenty of players there with real quality. It was a great feeling - a real sense of achievement."

Rugby took Brain all over the world, made him a polyglot (he can speak Japanese and Portuguese), and gave him plenty of memories. But for all that, the self-described family man couldn't be happier with life in Tauranga with his wife and three daughters.

While he runs the show at work, he knows his job description at home isn't quite as exalted.

"I'm just a taxi driver for the girls," he laughs.

It's a role he seems to enjoy.