Tonu'u looks back at season launch

The new Super 14 season is under way after this week's launch at the Trusts Stadium in Henderson.

Former players from the inaugural 1996 season joined their 2010 peers at the opening.

Among them was halfback Ofisa "Junior" Tonu'u who turns 40 this week.

Tonu'u was a member of the dominant Auckland Blues side in the 1990s.

He lives in Massey with his family and is chairman of the Waitakere City Rugby club.

He recalls the final game of the 1996 regular season against Natal in Durban and the intensity surrounding the match.

"That last game of the regular season was when we really won the Super 12," he says.

"If we didn't win we would have had to stay in South Africa for the semifinal and playing there was not a good place to be."

The Blues won 30-23 and went on to defeat Natal again in the final at Eden Park 45-21.

Travel to South Africa is still an issue for Super rugby but it isn't as tough as it was in 1996.

"To just play the Natal Sharks we had to go from Auckland to Sydney to Singapore to Harare to Johannesburg to Durban."

Tonu'u still keeps in touch with some of the players from the 1996 campaign and says he misses the old days.

"I don't miss the pre-season training but the good times and laughs we had are such fond memories," he says.

"It still feels like yesterday when I see guys like Michael Jones in west Auckland."

Tonu'u still recalls a funny moment when the Blues faced the Queensland Reds.

Captain Zinzan Brooke demanded his men run the ball back at their opponents from the kickoff.

"So the kickoff goes straight to Zinny and the first thing he does is kick it straight back to them."

"We were standing around going 'what the heck'?"

The Reds scored shortly afterwards and went on to comfortably win.

His advice to younger players in the New Zealand teams is to pace themselves over the season.

"It is truly a marathon, not a sprint," he says.

"Especially now with expanding to 15 teams in 2011, you need to plan your way through the season and not go all out at the start."