All Blacks prop Karl Tu'inukuafe has spoken about his demotion from the All Blacks and also revealed the seriousness of the illness that sidelined him for two months earlier this year.
Tu'inukuafe, who made the All Blacks' first 2019 squad before he was cut for the Bledisloe Cup series, told Radio Sport this morning he was diagnosed with viral meningitis.
"The doctors don't know exactly how it came by, it was an infection, fluid on the brain," he said.
"It was viral meningitis, not bacterial (meningitis) which is fatal. There is illness for a bit and you can get past it.
"There was a whole bunch of confusion, like concussion like symptoms for a week. I had to take eight to 10 weeks off.
"It wasn't too bad, it could have gone a different way. Luckily it was on the side of not being fatal so I was happy about that."
Though it wasn't fatal, Tu'inukuafe revealed some of the symptoms were serious enough that his wife called Blues doctor James McGarvey when he was having problems.
"My wife was freaking - I didn't know what was going on. I was confused about what I was actually doing at home," he said.
"The Blues doctor told her to call an ambulance. Luckily, the doctors got through to me and fixed me up after a couple of days."
The 25-year-old said he is up for the challenge against the Springboks this Sunday in Pretoria. (Source: Other)
Tu'inukuafe is now back playing for North Harbour after his axing from the All Blacks but he revealed management left him a list of things to work on. The 26-year-old says he's accepted the situation.
"I was fine with it, I applaud the coaches' decision," he said.
"It is like loyalty…my opportunity only came from injuries to Tim Perry and Atu Moli. They have gone back to what they were looking at from the start.
"Atu had a great season, and I was missing half the season through illness. It is good they gave him a shot again because he had a terrible injury last year. To see him come back and doing so well is really good.
"Whatever is best for the team. We trust what the coaches decide to do – we're always happy for the brothers getting in the team and doing well.
Steve Hansen said the 25-year-old is a superb scrummager but can still improve in other areas (Source: Other)
Tu'inukuafe's analysis mirrors comments from All Blacks coach Steve Hansen who spoke about him shortly after the Bledisloe squad was announced.
"It's not that he's done anything wrong," Hansen said.
"It's just that we've said that we want mobile, ball-playing props who can also do their roles."
Hansen selected Atu Moli, Owen Franks, Nepo Laulala, Joe Moody, Angus Ta'avao and Ofa Tuungafasi as his front rowers for the series.
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