Reflecting on the tour and yesterday's 20-14 third test loss to England, the 2015 Dally M fullback of the year had mixed feelings.
"It was definitely a missed opportunity for us to stamp [our mark] as the number one team in the world but also a learning curve and it was a good experience for [the young players]," said Tuivasa-Sheck. "It's not the best way to end the tour but they will take a lot out of this [and that] will make them better players for the future."
Although he had a mixed tour on the field, Tuivasa-Sheck said he had "loved the trip" and travelling with a "good bunch of boys". He was electric against Leeds on a mild Autumn night for the first match of the tour, saving three tries in the first half and scoring two in the second, as well as several sweeping individual runs.
But he never again found that kind of space on the trip.
He had good first half in Hull behind a beaten pack, then gave a brilliant defensive display at the Olympic Stadium, helping to restrict the English team to just a single penalty. However, yesterday was below his usual high standards. Tuivasa-Sheck still looked the most dangerous Kiwis player on attack, scored one try, played a part in another and was only foiled by a brilliant Gareth Widdop tackle for a third but also made several uncharacteristic errors.
Perhaps more than most he suffered from the absence of a recognized playmaker in the halves. He went from being the junior member of the Kiwis' spine at the Anzac test in May to being Issac Luke's deputy among a much younger quartet on this tour. And it's easy to forget, given his heroics over the last 12 months, that the test in Hull was just his second at fullback.
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