All Blacks and Hurricanes second-five eighth Ngani Laumape sent a stern message to his doubters, following his man-of-the-match display in last night's 29-27 victory over the Blues.
After giving away a penalty in the opening seconds, seeing the Blues take an early 3-0 lead, Laumape put in a match-turning performance , scoring the Hurricanes' first try.
That was just the first of Laumape's exploits, impressing on both attack and defence as the Hurricanes snuck home for a two-point win.
Speaking to Sky Sport after the match though, the often shy Laumape didn't hold back in his words for those who've doubted his place at the highest level.
The 27-year-old was arguably the biggest casualty of last year's Rugby World Cup squad, overlooked for the midfield quartet of Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty, Jack Goodhue and Anton Lienert-Brown.
"It's good to be out here and to perform the way I did," Laumape said.
"A lot of people have been disrespecting my name and I wanted to come out and show everyone the way that I play.
"I'm happy with that. Let those people keep disrespecting my name, because I'm going to turn up every week."
"Too much people talking, I'm just going to be me."
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