D'Arcy Waldegrave: Sportstalk host on Ngani Laumape's return to Super Rugby

Former All Blacks midfielder Ngani Laumape believes Moana Pasifika can win Super Rugby while he's there.

Laumape has signed a two year deal, returning to Super Rugby for the first time since leaving the Hurricanes in 2021.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Darcy water Grave sports talk host with me. Now, Darcy,
I love the fact the winner of the Paul Holmes
Memorial Award is actually broadcasting from the Paul Holmes Memorial Studio.
Is this the Pool Holmes Memorials? I named it that,
so for me it is your Honestly, sometimes you are
a strange man. Thank you. Now, how did more One
in Pacifica get enough money to poach back a player

(00:20):
from Japan? That I don't know. I'm not on the inside,
but considering they've lost fifteen players last week, I think
they might have a weave bit of money at the
bottom of the kiddy because have they lost Artie as well?
Is already going at the end of this year or not?
I not sure. I'd expect so, but Artie would Artie
would be a pretty penion. Yeah you were, But Artie

(00:41):
was playing with no. No, they will He's gone back,
isn't he? So they'll cross mid flight? But he would
have persuaded him. I'm sure it's coming over there. But
when you lose fifteen and then you get a guy
like Nani that that's great, But how long the club
will survive? Because we know that, you know, it's managing
some financial issues. It hasn't made a lot of money.

(01:03):
Maybe that's changed in the last couple of months with
the crowds they've turned up, and I hope they do, mate,
I wouldn't. I wouldn't hold out much hope, I mean nothing.
It's just it's it doesn't make a lot of money
at all, Super Rugby does it. Well, they've got some
sponsors on board, then we working super hard to drag more.
So we don't know this is all room. You're in
an inn, you windo. Nothing to be backed up on that,

(01:23):
but we do know that none of them up be
is coming back, and that guy is something else. He's
so much fun to watch, even at the ripe odd
age of thirty two. It could be a draw card
and maybe a drawer card for other players too, Yeah,
could be yeah, well you know, maybe league players. It
reminds me he's not very near of that class, but
a ton of who may sorry mixing them both up

(01:47):
are both fantastic centers, but like Mara is still playing.
It's one hundred and fifty. Yeah, so this guy is
only thirty two, so he's got a twenty Okay, so
why would if you were cricket. Why do you get
a formal all Blacken as the head of high performance?
How does that work? He joins on the show tonight. Yeah,
so you never listen. I talked to him about that,

(02:09):
because I will. The key for me is the fact
that he is not a cricketer, which I quite like,
which means he is detached from the whole cricket framework.
So he doesn't come in with any preconceived ideas. He's
got no connections to anybody. He's basically a free man.
It was coming in Brian's stronach roll. Well, he's high
performance director and he's been walking as high performance director

(02:31):
of high Performance Sport in z So if anyone understands
high performance, it's him and that's what it comes down.
Does that just mean director of fitness? No, no, No. He's
looking across the black Caps, the under twenties, the White fans,
everybody and trying to work out a way to hone
their performance so they can get the best out of
what they've got. So with this case, he needs to

(02:52):
keep the black Caps up at the top two, three
four in the world, which is where they are at.
What are the leavers that he pulls? I mean with
a coach. Obviously the coach would go up to the
bowler and say your techniques have been off, you want
to rub your feet. They wouldn't say that. The coach
is sit in the background, let one of his systems.
Do you know what I mean? It's a matter of
providing the systems behind the scenes that give them the

(03:14):
best possibility to create. So you're setting a framework, I
suppose it's the easiest way to put it, and that
Frameank needs to operate to the best interests of the
coach of the players. They're the two keys and systems guy. Yeah, well, yeah,
pretty much. And he's been around. I didn't realize he
had a couple of Master's degrees, Derek. He's a smart,

(03:36):
smart cookie. He was running a I last spoke to
him five years ago. I think it was when he
was the Warataz head coach and super rugby so it
didn't work particularly well for him, but wonderful rugby player.
But he came. He's retooled, he's whipped himself out and
now he wanders into this role and I think most
of us went well, didn't see that, No, not at all.

(03:57):
He's a good human being and let's hope it works.
I just like the fact that he's detached and he
comes from a background training high performance at Sport New
Zealand High Performance, So it kind of works well, doesn't
it totally? I hope, Dars, thank you very much. Looking
forward to that Darcy autograph sports Stalk host. He'll be
back at seven for more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive.

(04:17):
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