{"id":184985,"date":"2025-10-08T07:59:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T07:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/184985\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T07:59:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T07:59:15","slug":"hes-got-a-few-years-left-in-him-maa-nonu-43-still-breaking-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/184985\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018He\u2019s got a few years left in him\u2019 \u2014 Ma\u2019a Nonu, 43, still breaking records"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday afternoon at Stade Mayol is already a special experience, before you bear witness to the next remarkable feat in Ma\u2019a Nonu\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

If the ground plonked by the harbour on the Var region\u2019s south coast is not on your rugby-watching bucket list then add it immediately. The beaches at Mourillon are bathed in October\u2019s beating sunshine, as yachts clink away in the marina by the port where in 1815 the fictional Jean Valjean left prison to begin his parole in Les Mis\u00e9rables, and the very real Admiral Horatio Nelson blockaded the city ten years before.<\/p>\n

It cost me and a friend \u20ac15 (about \u00a313) to sit behind the goal, and after we had watched the famous Pilou Pilou war cry, and a physical Toulon best Pau 33-17, we were drinking a Corsican pression by the Mediterranean within five minutes of leaving the ground. You do wonder what we are doing sometimes in the Gallagher Prem, charging \u00a3100 or more to sit in an uncovered stand during Storm Amy.<\/p>\n

The Toulon-Pau game was notable for two things; first the comeback of Charles Ollivon, the French open-side\/Roman god-of-war lookalike, who had last played in January when he tore the cruciate ligaments in his knee. Many Toulonnais, dressed in black and red, spilt out of the bars, into the plastic seats set on to concrete slabs at the Mayol, wearing masks with Ollivon\u2019s face on them to celebrate the return of their hero.<\/p>\n

\"Toulon's<\/p>\n

Nonu continues to break his own records in the Top 14<\/p>\n

AFP<\/p>\n

If Ollivon was their recovering Lazarus then Nonu is Methuselah, not only now the oldest player ever to play in the Top 14, at 43, but also the grand championship\u2019s most senior scorer. <\/p>\n

Deon Fourie, the 39-year-old Springbok hooker\/flanker, is his closest active veteran in the world\u2019s top leagues and, according to the rugby statistician Stuart Farmer, you have to go back to 2001 to find an older top-flight French player still trucking. The one-cap flanker Christian B\u00e9guerie was still playing for Agen then, aged 45, four years before the first edition of the Top 14, when it was known as the clunkier Championnat de France de rugby \u00e0 XV.<\/p>\n

But in the modern elite game, Nonu is in uncharted waters. On Saturday, the New Zealander broke his Top 14 oldest-scorer record \u2026 which he had set the week before when he crossed in a 35-32 defeat by Bayonne. It happened right in front of us. On as a second-half substitute, Nonu slunk in the centres, his dreadlocks lolloping behind him, as Pau forced a Toulon maul to crab across the face of the posts, defending their line. <\/p>\n

Then, when the ball shot out to him, Nonu punched inside off his right foot, which floored Pau\u2019s blind-side flanker, Sacha Zegueur, who is 17 years his junior, to power over for Toulon\u2019s fifth and final try. You do not see many middle-aged dads doing that.<\/p>\n

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Nonu\u2019s latest try in the world\u2019s toughest league, at 43 years and 136 days old, came three weeks shy of the ten-year anniversary of his Test retirement. He bowed out of the All Blacks team alongside Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Conrad Smith, Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock on Halloween 2015 at Twickenham, having won his second consecutive World Cup, beating Australia 34-17, and his 103rd cap. And here he is still dominating.<\/p>\n

Smith chuckles about his old mate\u2019s latest achievement. \u201cYou can\u2019t play Top 14 by just turning up trying to collect paycheques, that\u2019s proper rugby,\u201d he says. \u201cThe fact that he\u2019s at the top of his game at his age is bloody impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are so many hilariously mind-boggling statistics relating to Nonu. In the Toulon side last Saturday were two 21-year-olds \u2014 Jo\u00e9 Quere Karaba and Mathis Fert\u00e9 \u2014 who were both born after his Test debut, England\u2019s famous 15-13 win in Wellington on June 14, 2003. Then consider that Kyle Sinckler, the 32-year-old English tight-head at Toulon, made his Test debut the year after Nonu retired; since then he has won 68 England caps, been to two World Cups and been on two British & Irish Lions tours.<\/p>\n

\"Ma'a<\/p>\n

Nonu made his New Zealand debut against England 22 years ago<\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

Sinckler is in awe of Nonu, who rejoined Toulon for a second stint from the American Major League Rugby side San Diego Legion in February as a \u201cmedical joker\u201d signing to cover injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the king has returned,\u201d Sinckler says of Nonu, who was at Toulon first between 2015 and 2021. \u201cSometimes in France the schedule can be a bit crazy, but I try to get in at 7am, or just after, to be ready for whatever is thrown at us from 8am. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do an hour of treatments, sauna and stretching but he will have already been in since 6am. He will have done an ice-bath, sauna, pool work, would have had his massage treatment and then will be firing up his muscles, or doing his maintenance work and core exercises in the gym for two hours. <\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

Nonu retired from international rugby alongside Carter and McCaw after the All Blacks won the 2015 World Cup<\/p>\n

AFP<\/p>\n

\u201cI did a core session with him once last season \u2014 I have abs underneath my stomach somewhere \u2014 but honestly I was still hurting after three days going, \u2018Bro, this is ridiculous!\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

One player Nonu mentors is Oliver Cowie, 20. Born and raised in France to English parents, he is the club\u2019s next hot prospect in the back line and taking invaluable lessons from one of the world\u2019s greats. Sinckler, who worked closely with the Welsh legend Adam Jones at Harlequins, bemoans how the priceless experiences of these veterans has been lost from the Prem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the sad thing about the game in England, as with the financial situation after Covid some of the statesmen have had to be let go as you can\u2019t keep them all in your budget,\u201d the prop says. <\/p>\n

\u201cUntil I had that daily interaction with Adam Jones I didn\u2019t truly get it. Just because you\u2019re paid to be a professional doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re truly professional. It is an honour and a privilege to work with someone like that. <\/p>\n

\"Will<\/p>\n

Sinckler is in awe of his Toulon team-mate<\/p>\n

PANORAMIC<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be times that you come in not feeling great and you see him working and you think, \u2018If Ma\u2019a\u2019s doing that, working as hard as he is, and he\u2019s won two World Cups, 100 caps, played in Japan, France and won and everything else in the game, what\u2019s my excuse?\u2019 He raises the level for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonu advises on strength and conditioning, tactics and plenty else besides at Toulon. His hunger is undiminished as he continues to work away from his wife and high-school aged children who are back home in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s even more impressive that he\u2019s doing it from centre,\u201d Sinckler says. \u201cYou get some older props and second-rows who play for longer in attritional positions, but playing at centre, which requires speed, pace and power, you never really see someone still playing at 43 and at the level he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ma'a<\/p>\n

Nonu returned to rugby for East Coast in Ruatoria in 2021<\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

That special All Blacks class of 2015 would have a few members who would back themselves to perform at the highest level. McCaw runs ultra-marathons, Sonny Bill Williams boxes and Smith feels he is in good shape but does not think he would have the mental strength Nonu has to keep playing rugby into his forties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to Pau recently, and they asked me if I would mark up against Ma\u2019a last Saturday, but I\u2019m more than happy to just watch these days,\u201d Smith says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t put a couple more seasons past him. It\u2019ll be great to watch. He says he\u2019s in as good a nick as he has ever been. Toulon will be smart in managing him, but I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll be enjoying breaking records.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get yourselves down to the Mayol when you can, and you too may have the privilege of watching the marvellous Ma\u2019a.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday afternoon at Stade Mayol is already a special experience, before you bear witness to the next remarkable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-184985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}