He made his provincial debut for Wellington in the 2002 NPC and debuted for the Hurricanes in the 2003 Super 12. He played for the New Zealand Sevens in 2004. On the back of some outstanding Super 12 form, Nonu made his Test debut for the All Blacks on 14 June 2003, starting at centre in a 15-13 loss to England.
Nonu missed selection for the 2003 Tri Nations, with the selectors preferring Umaga, Aaron Mauger and Daniel Carter in the midfield. He was selected for the All Blacks' 2003 World Cup squad and played in pool matches against Canada, Italy and Tonga. He scored his first Test try against Canada and was generally impressive on attack and easily breaking the line and his big stature was intimidating to the opposition. However, question marks over his defensive game and inexperience meant he was not selected for the knockout stage of the tournament despite an injury to Umaga.
Nonu missed selection for the Tri Nations in 2004 after a form slump in the Super 12. He forced his way back into contention playing for Wellington in the 2004 NPC, and played as a substitute in all four matches on the All Blacks' undefeated end of year tour to Europe.
Nonu played on the wing for much of the 2005 Super 12, with Conrad Smith preferred as Umaga's midfield partner. Standout performances included a hat trick against 2004 Super 12 champions the Brumbies. Nonu played at second five-eighth for the Possibles in the 2005 All Blacks trial, scoring two tries and setting up two more to inspire the Possibles to an upset win over the Probables. He played in the second Test against the 2005 British & Irish Lions as a substitute, replacing Sitiveni Sivivatu on the wing. He again missed selection for the 2005 Tri Nations.
Wellington Lions captain Umaga was rested during the 2005 NPC, and in his absence Nonu was promoted to the captaincy of the team. During the NPC, he established himself as one of New Zealand's most dangerous midfield runners. He was selected for the 2005 All Blacks Grand Slam tour, playing Tests as a substitute against Wales and Scotland, and earning his third Test start against Ireland. He was cited for an alleged spear tackle against Brian O'Driscoll during the Test against Ireland, but was later cleared of the charge.
In 2006 Nonu was ruled out of the Tri Nations squad due to injury, Mils Muliaina being chosen to take his place. He damaged the base of his left thumb playing club rugby in Wellington, which required him to have surgery.[6] He was, however, included in the end of year tour with the All Blacks.
Due to his absence from the All Blacks Tri Nations squad, Nonu was able to play every game with the Wellington Lions in the Air New Zealand Cup, which greatly helped them. Nonu missed out on selection for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, with the selectors preferring Aaron Mauger, Luke McAlister, Conrad Smith and Isaia Toeava in the centres.
The game against Argentina on 28 September 2013 marked a record fiftieth international game in combination with Conrad Smith.
Rugby league
In December 2006, Nonu expressed a desire to switch codes to rugby league and play in the National Rugby League (NRL) after the 2007 Rugby World Cup.[7] A move overseas was seen as more likely as he was not named in Graham Henry's 2007 squad but was instead dropped to the Junior All Blacks.[8]
In 2008, Nonu returned to the All Blacks, starting in the majority of tests throughout the year, and regarded to be the All Blacks first choice inside centre.[9]
2011 Tri-Nations & Rugby World Cup
Nonu played his first international of 2011 in a friendly against Fiji.[citation needed]
He played in New Zealand's first Tri-Nations game against South Africa. The All Blacks ended up winning 40-7. He then went on to play New Zealand's next game in the Tri-Nations against Australia where he scored the opening try. He played the final game of the tournament against Australia and scored his 21st international try.[citation needed]
Nonu was selected for the All Blacks 2011 Rugby World Cup. He scored the final try in the All Blacks' opening match against Tonga. On 23 October 2011, he played in the final against France, which the All Blacks won by 8-7 to become world champions.
Ricoh Black Rams
Following the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Nonu joined the Ricoh Black Rams, in Japan, on a short-term 'sabbatical'.[citation needed] In 12 games for the Rams, he scored six tries and received one yellow card.[10]
Blues
On 1 July 2011, Nonu announced he had signed a two-year contract with the Blues.[11] This was after the Hurricanes announced he would not be resigned following the 2011 Super Rugby season.[12]
Nonu made his debut for the Blues in round three of the 2012 Super Rugby season.[citation needed] 2012 also marked a 'below-par'[citation needed] season for Nonu in terms of form and his struggle to return to the No. 12 jersey for the All Blacks. Nonu's performances following his return from his Black Rams sabbatical were met with poor response[citation needed] and subsequently led to his exclusion from the match-day 22 for the France test series. Nonu's place was filled by Sonny Bill Williams, whose form and consistency kept Nonu out of the 12 jersey until Week 3 of the 2012 Rugby Championship. Due to injury to former Hurricanes teammate Conrad Smith,[citation needed] Nonu returned to the All Blacks starting lineup in the first week of the inaugural Rugby Championship at 13, centre, with Sonny Bill at 12, forming what was considered the most 'destructive' centre pairing in world rugby.[citation needed]
Nonu returned to the All Blacks number 12 jersey. Following Williams' departure to Japan and then the NRL, Nonu played all but one of the remaining tests as second five-eighth, except against Scotland where he came off the bench.[citation needed]
After struggling to find a Super Rugby team for 2014, (where all 5 New Zealand franchises initially stated they weren't interested in signing him),[15] Nonu eventually turned down a lucrative offer to play for French Top 14 side Clermont, to return to the Blues for another season. In doing so, he made himself available to continue playing for the All Blacks throughout 2014 and ultimately gain selection for the Rugby World Cup the following year in England.
Nonu returned to the Hurricanes for the 2015 Super Rugby season, the team he left in 2011.[16] It was speculated that the departure of former Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett to the Cardiff Blues paved the way for his return.
Nonu was selected as the starting inside centre for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, he played in nearly every pool game. Nonu played every knockout match and scored a 50m solo try to help the All Blacks beat Australia 34-17 in the final.
Nonu signed on with the Blues for the 2019 Super Rugby season.[19]
San Diego Legion
Major League Rugby announced in October 2019 that Nonu would play for the San Diego Legion in the 2020 season.[20] Nonu was named captain of the San Diego Legion for the 2022 season.
Playing style
Nonu is well known for his explosiveness and powerful attacking runs and regularly breaks the defensive line at will. 2011 World Cup-winning All Blacks coach Graham Henry has described him as "probably the best linebreaker in this game in this country."[21]
Nonu has been noted to possess a similar attacking skillset to former All Black centre Tana Umaga. Like Umaga, he is an exceptional crash ball runner who excels at breaking the line and creating space for outside backs. In 2005, Henry described Nonu as "young Tana,"[22] underlining the impression that he was being groomed as a potential successor to Umaga. This comparison has been confirmed in recent times by Wayne Smith.[23]
Personal life
Nonu became a vegetarian while playing in France for Toulon, citing his son Michael as his motivation: "Michael, my second one, he's seven years old. When he was growing up, I was trying to feed him meat – chicken – and he never liked it. I thought 'let's try something new'. I said 'I'm not going to eat meat because I feel sorry for him enough, he'll (feel) stink. If we're going out and I'm ordering a T-bone steak and he's eating his carrots and cucumber … so I said look for the love of my son I won't eat meat because I'll try to be the same as him".[24]
According to Nonu, part of the reason why he had remained in good condition and fitness despite his advancing years was because he was very careful about what he ate, crediting his new diet with his resurgence playing Super Rugby for the Blues at 37 years old. "It's helped me physically and I enjoy it, you know."[25]
Christian Mathias Cullen is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. He played most of his rugby at fullback for New Zealand, for the Hurricanes in the Super 12, and for Manawatu, Wellington and later Munster at provincial level. He was nicknamed the Paekakariki Express and was considered to be one of the most potent running fullbacks rugby has ever seen. With 46 tries scored in 58 tests, Cullen is the 9th-highest try-scorer in international rugby.
The Blues are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by the NZRU in 1996. One of the most successful teams in Super Rugby history, the Blues won the competition in its first two seasons, 1996 and 1997, and again in 2003 and 2024. Additionally, the team were finalists in 1998 and 2022, and semi-finalists in 2007, 2011 and 2023. They won a Trans Tasman competition in 2021.
The Hurricanes is a New Zealand professional men's rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in Super Rugby. The Hurricanes were formed to represent the lower North Island, including the East Coast, Hawke's Bay, Horowhenua Kapiti, Manawatū, Poverty Bay, Taranaki, Wairarapa-Bush, Wanganui and Wellington unions. They currently play at Sky Stadium, having previously played at the now-defunct Athletic Park.
Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. He is head coach of Moana Pasifika in the Super Rugby competition.
Junior Malili "Mils" Muliaina is a former professional rugby union player who most recently played for San Francisco Rush in the US PRO Rugby competition. He played primarily as a fullback, though he has also played as a centre and on the wing.
Conrad Gerard Smith is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, who played predominantly at centre. He captained the Hurricanes in Super Rugby, and played for New Zealand from 2004 until 2015. He was a key member of New Zealand's 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup winning teams. Following the 2015 World Cup he retired from international rugby and took up a contract with Pau in France, before retiring in 2018.
Sosene Raymond Anesi is a former rugby union footballer who played as a fullback and wing and currently the head coach of Romania's current champions CS Dinamo București.
Cory Steven Jane is a New Zealand international rugby union player.
Mark Garry 'Hammer' Hammett is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. Having represented Canterbury provincially 76 times, and the Crusaders 81 times and the All Blacks 30 times – including 29 Test matches, Hammett later went on to coach both Canterbury and Crusaders as a forwards/assistant coach. He is currently on the assistant coach of the Highlanders in Super Rugby and the Tasman Makos in the Mitre 10 Cup.
Jerome Kaino is a former New Zealand rugby union player.
Andrew Brown is an Australian Rugby Union player for the Queensland Reds in the international Super Rugby Competition. Brown is a very versatile player being able to play at Fullback, Flyhalf or in either Centre position but has made all appearances for the Reds at Inside Centre in Super Rugby.
Israel Jamahl Akuhata Dagg is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played for the Crusaders in Super Rugby. He has also played for the New Zealand Sevens team, and represents Hawkes Bay in the ITM Cup.
Colin Richard Slade is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He played primarily at first five-eighth, as well as all other backline positions on occasions. He was first selected for the All Blacks in 2009. He was a key member of the 2011 Rugby World Cup winning team. He was also included in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, but played in only one match against Namibia. He thus became one of only 44 players who have won the Rugby World Cup on multiple occasions.
Aaron Wiremu Cruden is a New Zealand rugby union player, who plays for Waikato and formerly Montpellier, Manawatu and New Zealand internationally. Cruden's usual position is fly-half.
Jayden Hayward is a New Zealand-born rugby union player who played for the Italy national rugby union team and for Benetton Rugby. He can play as a fly-half, centre or fullback.
Beauden John Barrett is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a First five-eighth or Fullback for the Blues in Super Rugby and Taranaki in the Bunnings NPC.
George Moala is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for Top 14 club Clermont. Born in New Zealand, he represents Tonga at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.
Thomas Tekanapu Rawakata Perenara, commonly known as TJ Perenara, is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a half-back for the Black Rams Tokyo in the Japan Rugby League One. He has previously played for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and Wellington in the Bunnings NPC. Perenara is the most capped Hurricane of all time with 163 caps. Perenara made his international debut for New Zealand in 2014 and played in 89 test matches until the end of his All Black career in 2024.
Ryan Stevenson Crotty is a New Zealand-born rugby union Rugby player. He currently plays as a midfield back for Canterbury in the Bunnings NPC and the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition.
Matthew Phillip Proctor is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a utility back for the Western Force in Super Rugby. He has previously played for the Northampton Saints in the Premiership Rugby and for the Melbourne Rebels and Hurricanes in Super Rugby.
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