Putting faith in Christian

YOU’RE interviewing Christian Cullen? The affable Kiwi has not a lot to say for himself, you are warned.

He is very shy, very quiet and is certainly no Austin Healey in the drum-beating stakes. Getting him to talk will be like pulling teeth.

Just as the gregarious Healey’s readiness to regale on any subject in any situation is misinterpreted as proof positive of his English arrogance (Healey is actually one of the most approachable guys on the circuit), so Christian Cullen is far from the shrinking violet which is generally portrayed.

He prefers to make his bigger statements on the pitch, and there they all are. In capitals. In bold.

He holds the All Black all-time try-scoring record, (46). He scored three tries in his All-Black debut, aged 20, against Samoa and landed four tries next time out, against Scotland. Away from the international scene he holds the Super-12 try-scoring record, with 56.

But off the field also, Cullen will have his say. The principal point of this discussion was how an All Black legend, still in his prime, just gone 28, ends up with Munster tomorrow in fabled Thomond Park, as the men in red attempt to lay a bogey that’s been haunting them for the last four years.

The fallout with former All Black coach John Mitchell is well documented but, why the move to Ireland and Munster?

“I’d lived in New Zealand all my life, started playing professional rugby at 19 and since then I have played at the top level.

“During that time I’ve been all round the world, but never in any one place for very long. I’d been to Ireland for a week or two, been to South Africa for the same, the UK, all these places, but I never really stayed.

“I guess my time was up in New Zealand with the national side, so I felt like doing something different. I needed a change, mentally more than anything else. I decided to get out of New Zealand, to go somewhere different, and to do something different.”

It was a radical departure but within fairly conservative parameters, reflecting his own innate temperance.

“I could have gone to Japan, somewhere else, got more money, better weather too,” and he smiles, the rain still belting outside.

“And it probably would have been easier rugby in Japan too. But I didn’t want that. I wanted more of a challenge, and I think the language barrier would have got to me a bit.”

That factor probably ruled out France also, but why not the UK, where the money would surely have been better?

“I didn’t want to go to the UK. I’d been there a few times and I didn’t really like it. But every time I’d been to Ireland I really enjoyed it; it’s a lot like New Zealand, but still it’s different. Munster came up, it was a great opportunity, and I jumped at it.”

Jumping higher than anyone were the Munster fans, who saw in Cullen the world-class finisher who would finally see them break the Heineken Cup hoodoo. Frustratingly for them however, and for the man himself, the first order of business for Cullen on landing in Cork was to head off to get a recent shoulder injury sorted out.

That operation meant he played no part in the qualifying rounds. His only action to date being in the Celtic League, in the company of much of the young talent that will form Munster’s future. But he has been watching and learning. In boxing parlance, where the Southern Hemisphere is all fancy head-shots, the Heineken Cup is more rounded, the big forwards doing the body-punching, taking the legs away, before unleashing the old one-two, but always with an eye to defence, keeping the guard up.

“The style of play is totally different to what I’m used to. You sit down on the Saturday, watch the Super-12 on the tv and it’s completely different footy. Defences in the Super-12 don’t push up as hard and that’s why you get so much more space.

“It was difficult at the start with the injury and that, but things are ticking along now, the body is coming right.

“I’ve played four games and lost them all, but once the rugby starts coming good, and I get back to playing the rugby I know I can, then I think that will change everything for me.”

For Christian, for Munster, hopefully that new phase in his career kicks off this Saturday, against Stade Francais. It will be his first Heineken Cup appearance, his first experience of a packed Thomond Park, his first experience against a French side. It’s obvious, very obvious, that he is looking forward to the prospect.

“It’s different for me, I don’t really know any of the teams from around Europe, the only chance I get to see them is on the video. I don’t really know from experience how tough or whatever they’re going to be, I just have to take the word of the other guys, listen to them.

“Stade Francais have made it to the quarter-final, and that in itself shows that they are a team that’s going to be very hard to beat.”

But what of the Thomond Park Factor. To an outsider just how important is it?

“Thomond Park is pretty special,” he agrees. “The first time I experienced the silence, for the kicker, I thought it was crazy, I couldn’t believe it, you could have heard a pin drop. Nowhere I’ve ever been has been like that. It was a shock to me. It would almost put you off if you were a kicker, I reckon, you need a bit of noise!

“I’ve played a Celtic League game here, but obviously it’s not the same as a Heineken Cup. I was here for one of those games, the atmosphere was fantastic, it’s pretty awesome. If I make the team, then playing there, against Stade Francais, will be special.”