Llanelli’s Kiwi King plotting to knock champions off throne
Not that Henry’s reticence is preoccupying the centre; he understands the motives behind the silence from New Zealand in relation those who ply their trade in the northern hemisphere.
“It’s just New Zealand policy. If they start picking players overseas they’re going to lose a lot of players back home. I understand that principle.”
Once upon a time, King moved in regal All Black company: one such name is an old friend — Munster’s Christian Cullen, a member of the 2002 All Black tour to England, Wales and France, when King won his only cap. The day he wore the silver fern came against Wales and he scored a late try in a 43-17 victory. The call-up to that tour only came about after impressing then-coach John Mitchell in the National Provincial Championship with Waikato.
The future looked oh so bright, but leg and stomach problems peppered his 2003 season. Getting no love from any of the NZ franchises, King took up an offer from Stade Francis after a persuasive phone call from Fabien Galthie.
Remembers King: “Stade Francais came knocking and I thought I would go over there and go back home after eight months. I enjoyed the European style of football over here and I didn’t really want to go back. My father is English (from Kent) and I have a British passport so I took advantage of that.”
Coming from a small town like Cambridge (population 15,000) in New Zealand’s north island, cosmopolitan Paris was anathema to a country boy like King and it’s easy to see now why he was lured to sleepy west Wales. And, with like-minded individuals such as Munster coming to town, tomorrow night’s lights in the valleys is as close as he’ll ever likely to get to big games back home.
“This would compare to the semis of the Super 12. But I was never in that situation apart from being in an NPC final — that’s the only real big occasion that I’ve possibly been involved in.”
If home, ultimately, is where his heart really lies, he looks forward to facing some of his own kind tomorrow evening. His face lights up when mention is made of Christian Cullen. A one word description will suffice here, he says. “Legend”. And there’s Lifeimi Mafi. Before King departed New Zealand, Mafi was coming on stream with Taranaki in the NPC.
“When I was coming through the age-groups, I used be playing full back at home. Christian is the best full back I’ve ever seen. Everyone has got a huge respect for him. He might not have the extra yard of gas he used to, but he still reads the game so well and can put the other players into space. He’s a legend.
“In 2002 we were on the same tour. Back then, training with him was a hell of a thrill. But every time we’ve played Munster since I moved (in 2005), he has been injured.”
Recognising that the Munster natives are praying for that All Black magic of Cullen’s to manifest itself tomorrow, King’s fear is that it may happen in Stradey Park, a ground not unfamiliar to Cullen. In 1997 Llanelli RFC organised a match to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Welsh club’s famous 9-3 win over the All Blacks in 1972. Alas, the 1997 AB class weren’t in the mood for nostalgia; especially Cullen who scored four tries in an 81-3 rout.
“Hopefully it’s not this week that that sort of Cullen magic returns,” smiled King.
“He can turn it on in a flash. Just give him an opportunity and he’s in. We’ll be looking to shut him down.”
And neither will he or centre partner Gavin Evans be getting complacent against Munster’s probable southern hemisphere partnership of Trevor Halstead and Mafi.
“I saw Trevor Halstead when he used play for the Sharks back in Durban. Mafi was with Taranaki. I was picking up my injury when he (Mafi) arrived in the scene and I left suddenly after that — but what I’ve seen, he’s got light feet, he’s quick and he likes to put in big hits.
“Halstead is like the battering ram, and either Mafi or Murphy are the runners off him.”
Outside of their half back partnership of Dwayne Peel and Stephen Jones, King has been the focal point of Scarlets’ swashbuckling backline that has helped them to an unblemished six-out-of-six record in their pool. They scored six tries on their away trip to Toulouse where King provided the spark and the pass for Nathan Jones’ match-winning try. King says the Scarlets have proved they can be more pragmatic if needs be, as demonstrated by their win in Ravenhill.
“First and foremost is getting territory and then we’ll work from there. Munster could play territory too, and we don’t want to be giving away penalties in our own half because Ronan O’Gara is going to take full advantage of it. We know we have the quality in the team to give the big performances we have given. We’ll just be looking to keep it tight and see what happens from there.”
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