Inside Running

By Steve Hale A seemingly meek and mild twenty-year-old Michael Jones suddenly found himself immersed in a hard drinking, old school rugby environment, surrounded by senior All Blacks who could be as ruthless off the field as they were on it.  “What people don’t realise about Michael is that there are two sides to him” laughs former Auckland Blues and Manu Samoa lock Leo Lafaiali’i.  He is a lovely man, softly spoken and humble. But he could flick a switch before kick-off and trainings. I’d known Michael my whole life, our families go way back. But when Michael flicked that switch… he changed.” “You know guys like Eroni Clarke, Andrew Blowers I would be having prayers with Michael the night before a game, but the next day in the sheds before kick-off, I often wondered, is this the same guy?” “The word mongrel speaks to mind…. in the nicest possible sense. People thought Zinzan Brooke was competitive, well he didn’t have anything on Michael. He had to w...

I have been recruiting rugby players since 2009 and working fulltime for Inside Running for the last two years.  In that period of time I have heard nearly every excuse known to man.  Not much surprises me these days.  If I had was given a dollar every time a player mysteriously lost his phone, drops it in a puddle or goes AWOL for a week due to a family bereavement, I could afford to holiday permanently in the Caribbean.    There’s always a percentage of tyre kickers who might dream about playing overseas but when push comes to shove make some timid excuse and wimp out.  I’d like to take this opportunity to save those types some embarrassment.   If you’re not genuine and prepared to actually get on that plane… please don’t register with Inside Running Recruitment.  That might sound harsh, but we don’t want to waste your time, ours, or the numerous clubs we deal with. Our role is to place rugby players, that’s what we ...