Any ghosts of the devastating knee injury that kept Quinn Tupaea out of the All Blacks for close to three years have been exorcised.
It comes as the 26-year-old was yesterday named in Scott Robertson’s first New Zealand squad of the year – returning for the first time since the first Bledisloe test of 2022.
Tupaea’s World Cup dreams were crushed when a reckless tackle by Wallabies lock Darcy Swain left him with a ruptured medial cruciate ligament (MCL) and a partial tear of his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee, forcing him into a long recovery period.
It wasn’t a fairy-tale return to professional rugby last year for Tupaea either, struggling to find his red-hot form with limited game time under his belt and a lack of confidence.
“When the injury first happened, it was very tough mentally and physically, doing rehab and that. And then when I got back playing, it was tough to find my form again. I struggled for that first year just with playing time and confidence in my knee,” Tupaea told Herald NOW’s Ryan Bridge this morning.
But he was back to his 2022 self this year, playing an integral part in the Chiefs’ journey to the Super Rugby Pacific final.
“This year, I felt my body is where it needs to be and I felt fit and strong throughout the year and my confidence came back through playing well and getting good minutes for the Chiefs. I’m in a very good spot and very grateful,” Tupaea said.
The 14-test All Black credits his successful return from injury to his strong support system and creating little goals throughout the recovery period.
Asked if he had spoken to Swain since the 2022 incident, Tupaea said he’d only played against him once since – and that no words were shared between the two.
“It’s been a long time, coming up to three years ... I’m sort of past it now. I know he copped a lot of flak for it, I’m just hoping to move on now.”
As he sat nervously watching the announcement of the All Blacks squad yesterday, Tupaea said it was a relief to hear his name called again.
“It’s been pretty surreal ... I was pretty hopeful that my name would get called but obviously there are guys in that midfield that have been in the team for a long time and were always going to get their name called.”
Tupaea was one of six midfielders picked for the squad – alongside Anton Lienert-Brown, Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Billy Proctor and newbie Timoci Tavatavanawai.
“There was probably seven or eight of us going for five or six spots, so I didn’t know what was going to happen really,” he said.
Tupaea’s selection left no room for Crusaders captain David Havili, despite leading his side to the Super Rugby Pacific title just days ago.
“Getting named in the squad is awesome, but ultimately you want to be playing games. I’d love to be back in the black jersey, get some minutes and show what I can do on the international stage. That’s the goal in the meantime,” Tupaea said.
Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers sport and breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.