Sometimes it’s easy to look at the All Blacks as a bit of a behemoth.
A finely (and sometimes not so finely) tuned machine, where the individual parts are important but what makes it tick can be overlooked – so long as it is ticking.
In part that’s by design. Call it All Blacks mystique, or simply call it being closed off.
Either way, it’s remarkable how it’s still so refreshing to hear players speak from the heart, and be willing to share the more personal side of their journeys.
Lock Tupou Vaa’i, who you’d expect to come off the bench against France on Saturday, has been one of those in Lyon.
In a week where tension ratchets up to one of its highest levels within this camp (one small example: teams such as Ireland and Australia have held open training sessions in the last few days, drawing thousands of fans. The All Blacks have not and will not until at least post-France), it would be easy to shut down and reduce conversation to cliches.
Instead the 23-year-old talked with genuine feeling about how emotional he was being at the World Cup, how grateful and blessed he feels.
This is a man who three years ago didn’t have a Super Rugby contract.
“I guess three years ago I was at home in lockdown, building timber fences with my old man” he told media.
It’s a small but telling insight into the journey that’s led him from Wesley College to a potential World Cup debut at the Stade de France.
“It’s a dream come true, really.”
In a fun fact for the game, should Vaa’i, prop Nepo Laulala and French prop Uini Atonio all take the field on Saturday there will be three former Wesley students (the college boasts many rugby alumni, most notably Jonah Lomu) on the pitch.
A word of appreciation here for Tamaiti Williams too, whose revelation over the weekend that he discovered his great great grandfather served during World War I in the northern French town of Arras, was similarly touching.
For both players family will help drive them during this tournament.
And their personal stories may resonate with fans beyond what they do on the field.
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