Super Rugby: Time to hit 'beast mode' again - Patrick Tuipulotu's challenge against Stormers

Patrick Tuipulotu of the Blues. Photo / Photosport

Patrick Tuipulotu, a monster of a man at nearly 2m tall and more than 120kg, has turned down several overseas offers to stay at the Blues for another year at least, but it's his appreciation of exactly where his game is at which should please the team's supporters as much as his contract extension.

The lock's physical gifts are obvious, and so mostly is his athleticism, and sometimes his attitude, and it's the latter which is perhaps his greatest area of potential growth because when he sets his mind to matters on the pitch he can be devastating.

It was his impact after 30 minutes which helped turn the game in the Blues' favour when he came on against the Highlanders at Eden Park. The previously creaking scrum received a significant power boost, and his carries in the second half – and try in the final 10 minutes – were a testament to his desire to have a defining influence on the game.

There almost seemed to be a simmering anger in Tuipulotu during his team's 33-26 win. Perhaps it was because the 26-year-old, who has played 21 tests for the All Blacks, was named on the reserves bench behind Josh Goodhue and Gerard Cowley-Tuioti rather than starting.

Either way, Tuipulotu should attempt to find this state of mind more often – "beast mode" as Crusaders loose forward Jordan Taufua calls it - because he's a different player when he does.

Above all, it's about consistency of performance. Tuipulotu made his test debut in 2014 but didn't make the squad for the 2015 World Cup due to injury and the All Blacks didn't have a place for a reserve lock for the knockout matches.

With Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Scott Barrett set to travel to Japan in September as the best three locks in the country, it's now up to Tuipulotu to prove he deserves to go too. If he does he will have helped the Blues considerably this season by using his size and skills to maximum effect.

Patrick Tuipulotu of the Blues. Photo / Photosport

Most clubs in England and France would have wanted to sign a lock of his dimensions and power, and while Tuipulotu said this week the offers were "pretty tempting - enough to make it a hard decision for me", his next line delivered to the media was probably more significant.

"But in saying that, I'm happy staying here," he said. "The first thing that came to mind is how consistent I want to be and what I want to leave here before I go."

Consistent. Tuipulotu's next opportunity to test that consistency is tomorrow night against the Stormers at Eden Park. He and the Blues will know what to expect from the South Africans; a big pack which will look to bludgeon the Blues into submission early with set piece and lineout maul and big ball-runners charging straight ahead. It should be right up Tuipulotu's alley.

After Tuipulotu's breakout year in 2014, when he made his All Black debut in his first season of Super Rugby, the big man's progress has been hurt by hip injuries. In 2016 he was sent home from an overseas tour after failing a drugs test which was later overturned as faulty and for which he has never received a satisfactory explanation.

Now he's fit again and should be entering his prime. He should know too, that at 30, and with 108 caps under his belt, Whitelock, the probable next All Blacks captain, is entering the autumn of his career and that Retallick, still only 27, Scott Barrett, 25, and Tuipulotu, 26, have a few more years at the top left in them yet.

Blues coach Leon MacDonald said Tuipulotu's signing sends a good message in terms of commitment and optimism, and it does. Now for the Blues co-captain to consistently deliver on the field.

"He wants this team to be successful – that's one of his big motivators," MacDonald said.