Rebuilt, refreshed, re-energised, Ofa Tu’ungafasi eyes return to All Blacks pinnacle
Saturday, 29 November 2025
For the first time in 11 years Ofa Tu’ungafasi is embarking on a Super Rugby pre-season. Try wiping the smile off his face, too, as he anticipates some healthy pain in the name of the gain he hopes will take him back to the pinnacle of this game he loves.
At 33, and fresh off neck fusion surgery that took him out for the majority of 2025, the Blues and All Blacks prop has got his body right and his mind where it needs to be to fulfil the ambitions that still drive him.
Ultimately, those very much peak at a return to the All Blacks, and a trip to South Africa for the biggest challenge in the game – a four-test road series against the all-conquering Springboks. It’s Tu’ungafasi’s kind of trip, too, into the lion’s den, so to speak.
That’s the aim, the affable Tu’ungafasi tells The Post from the Blues’ 30th anniversary Super Rugby jersey reveal, but he has most definitely been around long enough –153 appearances for the Blues, 68 tests for the All Blacks -- to know there’s a heck of a lot of ground to be traversed before that can become anything resembling a reality.
Luckily, the 1.95-metre, 127kg powerhouse front-rower doesn’t mind a challenge. Assuredly, he has one in front of him as he works back from surgery in April that only now has him cleared for full rugby activity.
When we speak, he was on the cusp of launching pre-season training with the Blues, and the dreaded opening-day bronco that tests lung capacity and aerobic fitness levels in gut-busting fashion. Nervous?
“Nah,” smiles the big man, about to enter his 14th season of Super Rugby. “I’m due for some hard work. What’s five minutes of pain, compared to what I’ve been through?”
Tu’ungafasi thought he was going in for a “tidy-up” on some wear and tear in his neck in April when he began feeling discomfort, and it morphed into fusion surgery that joined two of the vertebrae in his neck.
It’s been a long haul back since, though one he was always confident of making, with plenty of precedent for successful returns. He had his first post-surgery check after three months, was cleared for restricted training after six, and recently got the thumbs-up for full rugby contact.
He has ground to make up too. Tamaiti Williams, Ethan de Groot, George Bower and Ollie Norris have all been on national duty on the loosehead side, with Fletcher Newell, Tyrel Lomax, Pasilio Tosi and Tevita Mafileo covering tighthead.
Tu’ungafasi, as it happens, can play both, but understands it’s on him to prove he still has something to offer.
“We’ve got a great bunch of young boys coming through,” he notes. “They’re playing good footy, and are going to be world-class. The season went well. Obviously we’re not where South Africa is at the moment, but we’re good, and we’re going to get better. A few months in Africa next year will be one of the great tours.”
Naturally, Tu’ungafasi is taking a first-things-first approach to his rugby goals, but concedes an All Blacks return is his main driver, and a spot on the plane to South Africa “on the plan”.
He adds: “The South Africans have a good mixture of old-school and modern rugby in their game. They’re physical and take the ball out wide. They’re playing some good footy and at the same time dominating physically. But I think we’re going to be good. We’re always up for those games.”
The Blues veteran is confident, with that first full pre-season since 2014, he can get back to the level he was at pre-injury.
“My body is good, and my mindset is strong. I still have the desire – otherwise I’d be chilling somewhere in the south of France, enjoying life and a little bit of rugby. I’m still driven. I don’t feel like I’ve got anything to prove, but the goal is always the black jersey. That that will take care of itself if I nail a good season with the Blues.”
TIme out also gave the happy family man (he and wife Emma have three daughters) a chance to refresh and refocus, and tend to other priorities, such as his engineering business, and home life.
“I’m always looking at the positives in everything,” he shrugs. “I got to spend time with the family, be a stay-home dad, Emma went back to university to finish off her degree. I really enjoyed it, but can’t wait to get back to work now.”
He also featured in friend Jason Momoa’s hit Apple TV series, ‘Chief of War’, joining fellow Kiwi rugby figures as tribesmen in a part not requiring too much in the way of acting skill.
“Cool experience,” he chuckles, pointing out he’s happy to leave the acting work to his pal Momoa. “I got to take the kids behind the scenes, and see how these guys work. You can be sure I won’t be giving up my day job.”
Why would he? There’s too much unfinished business to do that.