My report on Ma'a Nonu

MA’A ALLAN NONU

Ma’a Nonu was born in May 21, 1982 Wellington, New Zealand. His height is 6 foot tall and his weight is 110 kilograms. His nicknames are rock and skux. He went to Rongotai College in Wellington. He plays for the Hurricanes and the All Blacks. His positions are centre and wing. Nonu is playing for the Wellington Lions. Nonu is known for his blonde-streaked dreadlocks and former penchant for wearing eyeliner on the field. He is equally well-known for his explosiveness and powerful attacking runs and regularly breaks the defensive line at will. Nonu has a similar attacking skillset to former All Black centre Tana Umaga. Like Umaga, he is an exceptional crash ball runner who excels at breaking the line and creating space for outside backs. In 2005, Henry described Nonu as "young Tana," underlining the impression that he was being groomed as a potential successor to Umaga. This comparison has been confirmed in recent times by Wayne Smith. He made his provincial debut for Wellington in the 2002 NPC and debuted for the Hurricanes in the 2003 Super 12. He played for the New Zealand Sevens in 2004. On the back of some outstanding Super 12 form, Nonu made his Test debut for the All Blacks on June 14, 2003, starting at centre in a 15-13 loss to England. Nonu missed selection for the 2003 Tri Nations, with the selecters preferring Umaga, Aaron Mauger and Daniel Carter in the midfield. He was selected for the All Blacks' 2003 World Cup squad and played in pool matches against Canada, Italy and Tonga. His first Test try against Canada and was generally impressive on attack and easily breaking the line and his big stature was intimidating to the opposition. However, question marks over his defensive game and inexperience meant he was not selected for the knockout stage of the tournament despite an injury to Umaga. He made his provincial debut for Wellington in the 2002 N.P.C. and debuted for the Hurricanes in the 2003 super 12. He played for New Zealand sevens in 2004. Nonu played wing for most of the games in 2005 super 12, with Conrad Smith prefferred as Tana Umaga’s midfeild partner. In December, 2006 Nonu expressed a desire to switch codes to rugby league and play in the National rugby league after the 2007 rugby world cup. On July 1st, 2011 Nonu announced that he was going to play for the Auckland Blues.