Kyren keen for Mako action

After a stellar Super Rugby campaign, the NPC cannot come around quickly enough for Kyren Taumoefolau.

The 22-year-old winger was one of the individual stars of the Moana Pasifika side who lit up the Super Rugby stage with their passion, skills and support.

Scoring nine tries, some of them spectacular, Kyren produced moments of individual brilliance that had rugby commentators and pundits raving about his potential.

Now he is keen to ride that wave of momentum into the Tasman NPC season, which begins on August 3, relishing the prospect of becoming immersed in the Mako culture once more.

“Looks like another really good squad is shaping up [for the season] … we have a couple of guys who missed out on the All Blacks with us as well, the likes of David Havili, Ethan Blackadder and Finlay Christie. They are class players and every time they played for us last year, they made sure we played in the right areas of the field – their leadership around training and games was second to none.

“They have played on the big stages so I think just having them around full time will give us the confidence we need.”

While he rued the loss of Timoci Tavatavanawai to the All Blacks, he was felt ‘Jim’s’ selection would provide a boost for the Tasman squad.

“I’m really happy for him,” Kyren added, “he fully deserves it … it’s awesome.”

Standing six foot three and weighing in at 96kg, the former MBC standout is the epitome of the modern outside back, quick, elusive and adept at defusing the plethora of box kicks that come their way.

While he was selected for Moana Pasifika primarily as a winger he has hopes of being given a run in the 15 jersey in the future.

“I love playing fullback as well … I enjoy the right wing but I wouldn’t mind if they played me in either position.

“Being able to handle high kicks is a massive part of the game now, with no escorts being allowed it is one-on-one and how you do in that area of the game definitely influences the coaches’ selections.”

Despite finishing mid-table, Moana Pasifika were the talk of the Super Rugby scene, scoring six wins, including taking the notable scalp of the Blues. Kyren said there was a good feeling throughout the campaign.

“I think collectively as a team we were pretty aligned on where he wanted to be, where we wanted to go as a team.

“Culture was really high and you can see in the games that we really fought for each other because our culture was really aligned and we had a great leader in our captain Ardie Savea.

“He made a massive difference on and off the field. We had a great coaching staff, coaching group and I felt collectively, we were just growing and getting better each game.

“I loved it. I was really confident going into the season … I just felt like I could just keep getting better, which was awesome.”

Kyren said head coach Tana Umaga and his staff gave the backs freedom to do their own thing.

“Even last season we were given free license to run from anywhere … I wasn’t expected to just hold on my edge [of the field]. Tana gave me really good confidence to just go out there and play my own game.”

Despite their success, Kyren said Moana’s results were up and down and the team still had work to do balancing emotions and performance.

“We got up for some of those really big games, then weren’t able to back it up … we did it at times, but it’s about getting more consistent.”

After last representing Tonga at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Kyren will be eligible to play for New Zealand next year.

While he quickly points out that he is fully focussed on forthcoming NPC and Super Rugby campaigns, Kyren said that if the opportunity came to play for New Zealand he would take it.

“I can't see myself playing for Tonga anytime soon, so I will just concentrate on performing for my two clubs for a couple of years and if the opportunity comes to play in the black jersey, I'll definitely take it.”