Western Force sign former All Black Richard Kahui for Super Rugby Australia season

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13-07-20, 20:01
wholetruth

Western Force sign former All Black Richard Kahui for Super Rugby Australia season

Wow!!

Nick Taylor
The West Australian
Monday, 13 July 2020 4:26PM

Western Force international signings keep rolling in with New Zealand World Cup winner Richard Kahui the latest to sign on for the new Super Rugby season.

Kahui made 17 All Blacks appearances including the victorious 2011 World Cup final, his last appearance for New Zealand in a career blighted by injury.

One of his most famous moments came in the semifinal of the tournament, with a crunching textbook tackle on Wallabies fly-half Quade Cooper. He scored the first of 10 All Blacks tries on debut against England from the wing where he played much of career, but now plays in midfield.

Kahui, pictured, lives on the Gold Coast with his family, moving back after the coronavirus crisis shut down the Japanese competition where he has been playing for Toshiba Brave Lupus.

He joined his new teammates at their Hunter Valley hub yesterday ahead of Friday’s clash with the unbeaten Reds at Suncorp Stadium.

Former Wallaby, Force captain and now Global Rapid Rugby director of rugby Matt Hodgson said Kahui’s experience and knowledge would be invaluable.

“To bring someone like him into he squad is exciting. He’s someone who has been there, done it,” Hodgson said.

“After one day you can see why he is a world class player and what he is going to add to the group on-field and from Monday to Friday ... the one percenters.”

Kahui played Super Rugby for the Highlanders and helped the Chiefs to the 2012 title.

In recent weeks the Force have added Wallabies props Pek Cowan and Greg Holmes and backs Nick Frisby, Kyle Godwin and Jono Lance.

The Reds struggled in the past six seasons of Super Rugby but scrum-half Tate McDermott senses a change.

“For far too long we’ve let our fans down. We’ve still got a bit of redemption to go but we’re finally giving them something to cheer about, I hope,” McDermott said. He said they were learning how to win close games, although they could not get across the line in Friday’s 18-all draw with the Rebels.

Fighting back from 10 points down to force the game into golden point time showed the side’s spirit, he said.

“It was ugly there for a while,” he said.
13-07-20, 20:07
shasta

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Attachment 5633

Any truth in the rumour that we have enlisted JPR Williams and Willie John McBride, Sarn't Wilson?
13-07-20, 20:20
fulvio sammut

Shasta, I'm flattered, but why do you have a picture of me, as a much younger man, as your avatar?
13-07-20, 20:28
Kiap

Hasn't said avatar just been 'boned'?
13-07-20, 20:30
shasta

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiap

Hasn't said avatar just been 'boned'?

Yes. :(
13-07-20, 20:30
Kiap

On Kahui, he will be good enough for Aussoup even at 35.
13-07-20, 20:33
fulvio sammut

Who is he?
13-07-20, 20:35
shasta

Certainly. But I'll be surprised if the not-so-wise men from the east don't pin "Dad's Army" on them.
13-07-20, 20:36
Kiap

Quote:

Originally Posted by shasta

Yes. :(

I haven't much followed the goings on in RL since Dean Pay was a player. But just googling now it seems he may have been on a 'shit sandwich' mission after some disastrous club leadership in recent years (no names, no pack drill).
13-07-20, 20:37
shasta

Quote:

Originally Posted by fulvio sammut

Shasta, I'm flattered, but why do you have a picture of me, as a much younger man, as your avatar?

Had me confused there for a minute. I thought you were claiming to look like the dashing bank manager from Walmington-on-Sea.
13-07-20, 20:49
fulvio sammut

No, that's who I look like NOW.
16-07-20, 19:12
wholetruth

Great words about the boys from Kahui. I was there when he smashed Cooper. I think I cheered -just a little bit.

Western Force’s Richard Kahui says move west has reignited passion for the game
Nick Taylor
The West Australian
Wednesday, 15 July 2020 2:00AM
Nick Taylor

A week ago new Western Force signing Richard Kahui was relaxing on a Gold Coast beach with his son, wondering when he would play again.
Then his phone rang, his manager asking if he was interested in joining the Force for the Australian Super Rugby season — and on Friday he could be lining up against Queensland Reds at Suncorp Stadium.
The 17-Test All Black centre, with a World Cup medal and two Super Rugby titles with the Chiefs to his name, said being with the Force for just a couple of days had re-energised his love for the game.
He spent the past seven years with Toshiba Brave Lupus but returned home when the pandemic halted the Japanese competition.
“It’s a really great environment here, where a lot of guys who haven’t had high a level of Super Rugby experience are being given an opportunity,” Kahui said.
“A lot of people have been turned away from other provinces and now call Western Force home. We’re back in Super Rugby and we want to show why we should never have left.
“To be back in an environment and a team like this has really changed how I’ve felt about rugby.
“It’s not a dictatorship and that’s not just from the captain it’s from the management as well. It’s one team where you get to share your ideas.”
Kahui said in recent years he had been playing to support his family.
“I thought I’d love to play for a club that stands for something in a competition I love,” he said.
“I haven’t lost that excitement. Fitness is not going to be an issue, it’s just the content stuff.
“It doesn’t take long to get me back up to shape, especially that contact fitness.”