Troy Flavell

Few New Zealand forwards have been blessed with the physical and athletic gifts possessed by Troy Flavell and his 1.95m and 111kg frame, plus his natural speed, skill and strength, meant he could play equally well as a lock or blindside flanker.

A good runner with the ball, he was an effective lineout winner, sound on defence, and for one who was essentially a tight forward a steady scorer of tries.

But for a variety of reasons Flavell never quite delivered on his immense potential, at least at international level. Injuries, two years in Japan in 2005-06 and an unhappy disciplinary record were all contributing factors to this.

For all that, Flavell did manage 22 tests for his country and with whatever team he was associated, be it North Harbour or Auckland at provincial level and the Chiefs or the Blues in the Super 12/14, he was always highly valued by both his coaches and team-mates. Testimony of that was the fact he was often captain of many of those sides.

A product of west Auckland, playing his early rugby at the Massey club, Flavell was marked as an exceptional prospect when in 1997, aged only 20, he made five appearances for the national under 21 side. In that year, though, came his first major brush with judicial authorities when, in one of his first games for North Harbour, he was cited for eye gouging.

In that instance he was unlucky, the victim of an over-zealous judicial officialdom, and the North Harbour union, on his behalf, vigilantly pursued an appeal which, with the aid of fresh videotape evidence, had his lengthy suspension severely reduced. But some of the taint remained and there was much less cause for sympathy for him when in 2003, playing for the Blues in a Super 12 match against the Chiefs, he received another lengthy suspension for stomping Chiefs hooker Greg Smith.

Then playing for the Barbarians in England, he was again in trouble when found guilty of a dangerous tackle. But for these lapses Flavell might have established himself as a champion all purpose forward. Certainly he had all the attributes.

Flavell was also a leading member of New Zealand Maori sides, playing for that national team in 1998-99, 2001 and 2003, making 11 appearances including games against top international sides such as England in 1998 and the Wallabies in 2001.

He made an auspicious All Black debut as a lock in 2000 against Tonga, scoring three tries and going on to appear in five of that year’s domestic and Tri-nations tests. He made that year’s end of season tour of Italy and France and was a regular test starter in 2001 before injury stopped him playing in the NPC and ruled him out of the end-of-season tour.

That appeared to be the end of his All Black career, especially when his suspension early in the 2003 Super 12 virtually ended his hopes of being in that year’s World Cup squad. Flavell, despite being a strong contender as a utility forward, had been also overlooked for Reuben Thorne for the 1999 World Cup tournament.

Flavell led North Harbour in the 2004 NPC but at the end of that season, having played 59 games for Harbour, he took up a lucrative contract in Japan and his days in New Zealand rugby appeared to be over.

But he made a surprise return for the 2006 Super 14 with the Blues and before being plagued by injuries regained his All Black place for two of the early season tests against Ireland. He had a more consistent Super 14 season as the Blues captain in 2007 and played in five of the domestic, Tri-nations tests. But his form waned and he was omitted from the World Cup squad, meaning that he never once competed in that tournament.

His omission enabled him to make his Auckland NPC debut, making nine appearances for the union and sharing in the Ranfurly Shield and Air New Zealand Cup successes. He had another solid season with the Blues as captain in 2008, bringing his appearances in that competition to 79 and 195 first class games in all before taking up another contract in Japan.