Feek goes back to his roots
Feek, the former All Black prop who moved to Ireland at the start of last season to join Leinster as scrum consultant, is a native of New Plymouth, which sits on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island looking out across the Tasman Sea.
It is where he was born and bred, educated in life, academics and, most importantly, rugby.
“Went to school here, did the hard yards here,” Feek said.
“High School in New Plymouth, it will be pretty special going back. It brings back memories of playing for the first XV. It’s in a gully, and the school does a Haka during the game, 900 kids doing a Haka is pretty special. I was sort of wondering whether the school will be doing that when we’re there.
“If they came out it would be special, for the boys too, a bit of encouragement for the weekend.”
Feek, the Ireland scrum coach since last November, would go on to lead the All Blacks’ Haka at Lansdowne Road, no less, in 2001, a significant fixture in that it marked the debuts of both Aaron Mauger and a certain Richie McCaw in John Mitchell’s first Test as head coach.
Only one more cap would follow but those 10 appearances in an All Blacks jersey are what every kid in New Zealand dreams of from a very early age.
Feek was no exception and his journey into professional rugby with the Canterbury Crusaders was 17 years in the making.
“I started when I was five and played right the way through as every kid does,” he said.
And now the next generation of Feeks are on the same ladder. Asked if there was much rugby in the family tree, he said: “Well, we’re in New Zealand.
“I put my boy into kindergarten here before we moved to Ireland and he was three-and-a-half, four and they were lining up for the national anthem then walking out, this is three-and-a-half, four-year-olds, doing the Haka — they didn’t know what they were doing, just slapping their knees — and then playing rugby.
“So it’s ingrained early.”
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