Culpan navigates his way to the top
NZPA
June 12, 2007

Craig Culpan has already proved his worth on Canada's fleeting rugby tour of New Zealand, although he hopes to have even more impact should he play for his adopted country in Hamilton on Saturday night.

Vancouver-born Culpan was the obvious go-to man when the Canadians trained on an unsuitable surface yesterday -- a sodden track so treacherous the former Auckland Grammar schoolboy rolled his right ankle when losing his footing.

With an afternoon session planned at the same venue and the Teachers Eastern club headquarters clearly unplayable, the 25-year-old came up with an alternative -- his old Grammar-Carlton club ground.

It would have been a trip down memory lane had his ankle not confined him to the sidelines, although the incumbent centre will be available for a "huge" assignment against the All Blacks at Waikato Stadium.

If he is named tomorrow it would represent a happy homecoming for the New Zealander, who eyed a pathway to the World Cup with Canada two years ago.

"You could say I'm fulfilling a life long dream, " Culpan said when contemplating the one-off test against the All Blacks.

That will only come to fruition should he be named in the midfield for a international mismatch that threatens to be little more than a glorified training run for the World Cup favourites.

New Zealand Maori beat the Canadians 59-23 at last month's Churchill Cup in England and regardless of which 15 New Zealand coach Graham Henry decides upon tomorrow, a three-figure score is among pessimistic calculations.

The magnitude of defeat means little to Culpan, who can scarcely believe he may play against a team he idolised as a kid.

Culpan may have been born on Canada's western coast while his New Zealand-born parents John and Helen were on a working holiday but his allegiance was defined as soon as he returned to Auckland as a seven-year-old in 1989.

"I used to get up in the middle of the night to watch the All Blacks -- so to actually get the chance to play against them is absolutely huge."

Culpan played for the competition-winning Auckland Grammar first 15 in 1999 and five seasons later played for Grammar Old Boys in their Gallagher Shield loss to Ponsonby.

Realising an All Blacks jersey was an unattainable goal, Culpan decided to put his dual citizenship to use and headed to his birthplace in 2005 with the goal of completing his degree from the Auckland University of Technology -- and cracking the Canadian side.

"To fulfil a requirement of my degree in international business I needed to work overseas and it dawned on me I could do that, and try for the World Cup squad," he said.

Culpan told national coach Ric Suggitt he was coming and less than a year later found himself on Canada A's tour to New Zealand.

He was a virtual passenger on that tour after suffering a head injury in his first game against New Zealand A in Porirua, a pain accentuated by the fact his parents and friends had travelled to watch him play.

Since then Culpan has earned one full cap against the United States and three A caps via the Churchill Cup, the tournament in which he established himself as the first-choice centre last month.

Any worries about his teammates accepting a bloke with a hybrid accent have long since vanished.

"I think I've been accepted because I came and played a few seasons in Canada; I didn't just parachute in."

Culpan said the obvious difference between playing in New Zealand and Canada -- other than the sport's contrasting media profile -- was the fact most of his colleagues were late bloomers.

Many have wrestling, basketball and icehockey backgrounds, an unusual combination.

"It's a little different, you grow up playing with guys who have played rugby since the age of five but in this setup you've got guys that started playing when they're 18."

They will all find common ground in Hamilton on Saturday though.

"The feeling is to have a go at the All Blacks," he said.

"Everyone knows they're the best in the world at the moment but we'll give it everything we've got."

The history of rugby internationals between the All Blacks and Canada ahead of the one-off test at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on Saturday night:-

1991: New Zealand 29 Canada 13 at Lille, France (World Cup quarterfinal)

1995: New Zealand 73 Canada 7 at Auckland

2003: New Zealand 68 Canada 6 at Melborne (World Cup pool play)

* New Zealand also played a non-test match in Vancouver in 1980, winning 43-10.

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