{"id":776356,"date":"2026-09-20T02:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T02:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/776356\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T02:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T02:04:19","slug":"dual-eligible-france-nz-lock-given-20-to-40-per-cent-chance-of-playing-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/776356\/","title":{"rendered":"Dual eligible France-NZ lock given ’20 to 40 per cent chance’ of playing again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published: 4 hours ago | 19 September 2026 17:44 EDT <\/p>\n

mens<\/p>\n

international<\/p>\n

Patrick Tuifua and Mathis Castro-Ferreira celebrates after scoring the team’s fourth try during the Under 20 Six Nations international rugby union match between Scotland and France at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland on February 9, 2024. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN\/AFP via Getty Images) \"Google <\/a> <\/p>\n

Former France<\/a> U20s and ex-Hawke\u2019s Bay lock Patrick Tuifua was given \u201c20 to 40 per cent\u201d chance of ever playing rugby again after a mismanaged knee injury derailed his career at Toulon.<\/p>\n

The dual eligible lock turned heads when he played for France U20s in 2024 which prompted a recruitment war between New Zealand<\/a> and France.\u00a0The New Caledonian continued his rugby in Hawke\u2019s Bay in the NPC, where he was schooled, in order to continue on the Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> pathway.\u00a0When he missed out on the Hurricanes<\/a> full squad in 2025, Toulon<\/a> came with a deal that priced the NZ club out of contention.<\/p>\n

On return to France with the Top 14<\/a> giants Tuifua suffered a serious right knee injury in October 2025 against Clermont. After a 10-month layoff, he finally made his return for the final ten minutes of Saturday\u2019s match against La Rochelle.<\/p>\n

\"Video\"Video<\/p>\n

In an interview with Var-Martin, the 22-year-old revealed he was given a 20-40 per cent chance of playing again, prompting him to consider retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy knee started to really bother me, until it gave way. I had to have surgery in Lyon,\u201d he told Var-Martin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point, the doctor told me I had between a 20 and 40% chance of coming back. But I decided to give it my all over these ten months to recover and try to return.<\/p>\n

Tuifua revealed that it was the same injury he suffered in New Zealand during NPC and believed coming back too soon caused the relapse.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, it\u2019s the same injury I\u2019ve been carrying since New Zealand. I did my rehabilitation, but I came back too soon. I should have taken more time,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, it wasn\u2019t healed enough. But now, it\u2019s much better. The surgery went well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes tabled a counter three-year offer to try and keep Tuifua but the Toulon package proved irresistible.<\/p>\n

They were happy to see the prospect take the \u201clife-changing\u201d contract in the Top 14.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe offered him a three-year deal to stay, but it\u2019s probably a slightly different package to what\u00a0Toulon<\/a> can offer,\u201d Hurricanes head coach Laidlaw said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is French. He\u2019s played for the French under-20s and his family speaks French. His parents see that as the route they want their son to take, and we support that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d love for him to stay and we offered him a contract to stay and keep developing him. He\u2019s a young player with a high ceiling but he\u2019s got a long way to go before he\u2019s fully Super Rugby ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re disappointed to see him go but we\u2019re supportive. It could be life-changing with the type of contracts you can earn in France, and he sees that route as his pathway \u2026 we wish all the best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published: 4 hours ago | 19 September 2026 17:44 EDT mens international Patrick Tuifua and Mathis Castro-Ferreira celebrates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-776356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776356","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=776356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}