New All Blacks cap Matt Duffie. Photo / Photosport.
New All Blacks cap Matt Duffie. Photo / Photosport.
Two of the All Blacks' newest players have been taken by surprise in the wake of their inclusion of Steve Hansen's 37-man squad to tour the UK and France next month.
Blues and North Harbour outside back Matt Duffie revealed his anxiety ahead of the squad announcement as he watchedthe Facebook live stream with his partner at his home this morning.
"I found out when everyone else found out," said the 27-year-old rugby league convert.
"I tuned into the Facebook announcement, and I set up on the laptop in the lounge with my partner, and we just watched it and we were quite anxious all morning because there's been a lot of talk about it.
"It was pretty amazing when my name got called out. We kind of just screamed and jumped up and down in the lounge and opened some bubbles for about five minutes."
Duffie said he did not hear from any of the All Blacks staff for more than an hour after the announcement, which led him to believe that his ears may have deceived him during the live stream.
"For probably an hour and a half I hadn't heard from anyone, and was like 'Maybe it's a stitch up', and I didn't really know any plans.
"Ian Foster called me to say congratulations and wished me all the best for the next few days, and Gilly [Nic Gill], the S&C [strength and conditioning] guy, called me and took me through a few things just to tick the legs over to stay in decent shape so I can come to camp in good nick."
The former Melbourne Storm star, who played one test for the Kiwis in 2011, credited Blues coach Tana Umaga for instilling him with the confidence to perform to the best of his abilities since making the cross-code switch at the start of last year.
"After my first year, it was more of a hope thing [to make the All Blacks], but after my first year of Mitre 10 Cup, I started to play some good footy, and it started to become a little bit closer in reach.
"Through the Blues season, I played some consistently good footy, and I think once I started to do that, I got a lot more confident in myself and myself as a player, always trying to learn and ask a lot of questions and always be trying to improve at training.
"Tana's been great for me, he's really put a lot of confidence into me, and that's probably something that, when I came back into rugby union, I didn't probably think about the confidence part of the game as much.
"I'd just think about what I needed to do on the field, and he put the confidence in me to back myself and back my ability.
"I'm just glad this year I definitely started to make some progress and continue my performance and all that sort of stuff."
Young Wellington hooker Asafo Aumua stated that it was an emotional time for his family after his name was read out this morning.
Young Wellington hooker Asafo Aumua has been a key figure for the Lions during their Mitre 10 Cup campaign this season. Photo / Photosport.
"I called my dad, and it was about two minutes of crying. I was trying to talk to someone, but all I heard was crying in the background [from] mum [and] dad," he said.
"I couldn't really hear. He's not really a crying kind of guy, but I could hear him say 'I love you son, proud of you'. Getting that from him, he doesn't say that often, he's just like that. It means heaps to me. I cried for a bit."
The explosive 20-year-old has been a wrecking ball for both the national U20 side and Wellington this year, with his dynamic ball carrying skills forcing All Blacks selectors to turn their attention to a player who is yet to play Super Rugby.
The former New Zealand Schools representative said he was disappointed that he will not be able to take part in Wellington's Mitre 10 Cup Championship final against Bay of Plenty at Westpac Stadium this weekend, but was determined to make his family proud in Europe.
Both Duffie and Aumua join Tasman prop Tim Perry and Northland midfielder Jack Goodhue as the new caps for the All Blacks' end-of-year-tour, where they will play three tests against France in Paris, Scotland in Edinburgh, and Wales in Cardiff, as well as two non-test matches against the Barbarians in London, and a French XV in Lyon.
ALL BLACKS SQUAD Forwards: Hookers Asafo Aumua (20, Wellington, uncapped) Dane Coles (30, Wellington, 55) Nathan Harris (25, Bay of Plenty, 9) Codie Taylor (26, Canterbury, 25)
