Munster close in on Kiwi bad-boy Tipoki

MUNSTER are closing on New Zealand Maori captain Rua Tipoki — despite the inside centre’s disciplinary problems.

The 2006 Heineken Cup winners have had a frustrating summer in their bid to bolster the squad for a renewed tilt at European honours next season.

However, they are prepare to gamble on the talent of Tipoki, of the Canterbury Crusaders, to fill the void left by the return to his native South Africa of Trevor Halstead.

Tipoki, described by one of his coaches as a “tortured genius”, was involved in a street fight last month in Christchurch which left former All Black Caleb Ralph unconscious. Two men claimed they were attacked by Tipoki and others, but that version of events was disputed by Tipoki’s father Reihana, who claimed the players were defending themselves.

His signing is obviously something of gamble for Declan Kidney.

In 2005 Tipoki broke both his hands punching a player in a Maori festival game — and then tried to cover up the incident by claiming he’d suffered the injuries in a gym accident. Later he described it as “just a bit of a punch-up on the rugby field”.

In April 2006 he received a 16-week suspension — the longest ban in New Zealand rugby history — for fracturing Western Force player James Hilgendorff’s eye socket with a swinging arm, a blow which left the South African concussed.

Tipoki then contemplated giving up the game, but chose to carry on after the Blues and North Harbour persuaded him he remained a vital part of their plans — and also after he began working with a psychologist.

“I was thinking about going to [play rugby] league or about the UK or Australia . . . after I decided I was going to stay on [in rugby], I had to do something to make sure I didn’t put myself in that situation again,” Tipoki explained.

“I talked to a sports psychologist, people who are good at breaking bad habits.”

The centre’s ability isn’t questioned. Last year he was considered an outside possibility for the All Black World Cup squad, having sparked a brilliant Bay of Plenty season in 2004 and guiding North Harbour into the NPC semi-finals in 2005 to earn himself a Super 14 contract. He captained the New Zealand Maori to the final of the Churchill Cup last month, where they lost the final to England A.