Blues Captain reacts to star forward's All Blacks snub

By Alex Powell

While still celebrating his own All Blacks recall, Patrick Tuipulotu has expressed his disappointment for Blues teammate Hoskins Sotutu after he was overlooked.

As Scott Robertson’s maiden 32-man squad was named on Monday, Sotutu was arguably the biggest omission, after a standout season for the Blues.

The 25-year-old played a central role in the Blues ending their 21-year title drought, starting in 15 of the 16 games he featured in. Apart from that, Sotutu also nabbed a record-equalling 12 tries – the most for a forward in a single campaign.

However, as the 18 forwards were read out by Dame Patsy Reddy, Sotutu’s name wasn’t called, as his place went to 21-year-old Chiefs No 8 Wallace Sititi.

As captain of the title-winning Blues, Tuipulotu had as good a seat as any to watch Sotutu’s exploits in 2024 so far, and admitted being upset at his teammate missing out.

“I was surprised,” he said. “He’s been pretty consistent, an out-and-out performer for us through the whole season.

“I was pretty disappointed to see him not there.

“He’s had a pretty tough week or couple of days. I want to send my condolences to him and his family.

“There’s been a death in his family, that’s something pretty harsh to add to what he’s going through at the moment.

“I know he’s strong and he’ll bounce back. But at this stage, I just want to let him get through it.”

Elsewhere, Tuipulotu’s own return is just reward for the 31-year-old, who has endured a difficult couple of seasons on the sidelines.

Already stuck behind Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick, among New Zealand’s greatest locks, injuries saw Tuipulotu miss out on last year’s Rugby World Cup in France.

In that time, Scott Barrett went from strength to strength for club and country, and has been named as Robertson’s first All Blacks captain.

And while Tuipulotu looked certain to partner his skipper in the second row, a knee injury threatened to derail the start of his All Blacks season.

But in an incredible recovery, Tuipulotu defied doctor’s orders and a seven-week prognosis to lead the Blues to victory over the Chiefs last weekend.

In fact, so confident are they in Tuipulotu’s fitness, the All Blacks have named just three locks in their 32-man squad, with no room to manoeuvre if Tuipulotu is struck down again.

The man himself, though, is confident in his fitness.

“I’m pretty happy with how it’s pulled through,” Tuipulotu said. “I haven’t gone and made it any worse. It’s a good sign.

“The next couple of days, a lot of it will just be learning, so it will be pretty light, especially for me.

“Hopefully I’ll try and build into more contact next week. I’ll probably get a clearer plan from the medical team and coaches next as we head into the next couple of days.

“I like to think I’m pretty much ready to go, but test-level rugby is a different beast. So we’ll just take it day by day and see what the medical team and coaches have to do.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission