Isaia Toeava has finally approached the promise the All Black selectors first saw in him.
Memories of a 19-year-old Isaia Toeava, shivering in the fierce Edinburgh cold and looking hopefully to his chaperone to help him out, have lingered for some time.
The boy wonder was two days away from making his test debut, having played just eight provincial games. Even his team-mates hardly knew
who Toeava was in November 2005, which was why Anton Oliver, the team's elder statesman, was at his side, helping the youngster through his first public outing as an All Black.
It was painful at times. Toeava, fresh out of Auckland's De la Salle College, was in no way ready for the off-field demands of an All Black. It was debatable, after a scratchy debut, whether he was ready for the on-field demands, either.
But the All Black coaches had been seduced by Toeava. They believed he could be a superstar and said so.
They have been proven right ... now. Toeava has been the best fullback in the Super 14 competition. He's a rock at the back for the Blues, beautifully positioned to always take the high ball and then blast past defenders. Almost five years since his test debut, he really is a superstar.
More than that, though, he's not the same person. These days, Toeava no longer stands mute, bashfully keeping out of the way. He's a talker, a gesticulator and a motivator.
Coaches often spout nonsense about players being leaders, about them having grown as people when all they have managed is to string together a coherent sentence. But Toeava is not the same man he was in 2005. He's bashed at least one foot out of his shell and his greater confidence in who he is, has been the foundation of his form this year.
With Mils Muliaina nursing his broken thumb, Toeava is the obvious choice to play fullback in the June tests. Even if Muliaina were fit, he'd be relying on reputation and experience to start ahead of Toeava.
Israel Dagg has played exceptionally well and Cory Jane has test experience but it's Toeava who has offered a compelling mix of explosive power and calm authority.
At 24, he's the player the All Black coaches said he was going to be when he was 19. Yet there is an uneasiness about anyone feeling vindicated by Toeava's arrival at rugby's top table.
The past five years have been a struggle. His confidence has been battered, his form has fluctuated and he has suffered the humiliation of spectacularly failing on the night the All Black selectors told the world he was on trial.
His journey has been troubled and maybe he would have matured more quickly and with less drama if he'd been left in the shadows until his talent was so obvious it demanded attention.
Toeava is the test case that will caution coaches against promoting young talent; of talking them up before they have shown enough.
Blues coach Pat Lam knows the pressure was piled on Toeava, but takes the Nietzsche view that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
"I believe it helped him," says Lam. "You'd maybe think differently when players don't come back, but he has, and he's shown how good he is and I believe all his experiences have helped him to get where he is. When he first came into the team he would listen and keep things to himself. But now he talks and controls his back three and is comfortable with who he is."
Whether his premature declaration as a world star did or didn't burden Toeava with unrealistic expectation and derail his progress, he is at least laughing about it now.
Those memories of Edinburgh 2005 are just as poignant for him. "It was a big fright to find myself there," he recalls. "I was pretty nervous. I couldn't believe I was going to be playing a test match."
His relationship with Muliaina helped: "He took me under his wing as soon as I came into the squad. He told me I just had to be myself, to not read the papers or listen to the radio.
"He has been a big influence on me and, having played fullback this year, I have rung Mils up a few times and asked for some advice. He always has the time to help me, which I think says everything about the type of guy he is."
Their friendship could be severely tested if Toeava ends up wearing the All Black No 15 jersey in June.
"Mils won't be grumpy about that," says Toeava before acknowledging a changing of the guard is not likely. "He's the best fullback in the world and I have so much still to learn."
