HOSEA GEAR

CHIEF
AMONG
THEM
BY ALEXANDER BISLEY

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MANA MAGAZINE

THIS GUY IS the form winger

in the country and I dont think I
have seen a better individual per
performance than the one he delivered
against England the other night,
Buck Shelford hailed Hosea Gears
2010 hat-trick for New Zealand Mori.
Many talked similarly about Gear during the 2010-2011
period. Even All Blacks coach Graham Henry described
Gear as the best winger in the world. Gear played with
Lomu-like explosive exceptionalism. But he was unlucky
not to be selected for the 2011 Rugby World Cup team,
losing out to Zac Guildford (Gear still got the medal as he
was called in as squad injury cover from the semi-final,
without making the starting 22s).
After 14 All Blacks caps (13 starts) between 2008 and
2012, Gear left New Zealand in 2013 for French club
Toulouse. The impressive Highlanders captain expressed
mild disappointment with the All Blacks inconsistent
selection policies, and cited the need to lock down his

KEVIN BOOTH/SPORTPIX

Hosea Gear talks about his time in France

and Japan and the return home to whnau
and Super Rugby with the Chiefs.

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HOSEA GEAR

whnaus financial future as reasons for

his departure overseas.
But Gears passion for the most famous
jersey of them all clearly remains strong.
After Toulouse and an off-season playing for
Honda in Japan, the pride of Ngti Porou is
back. Hes between the white chalk lines on
the wing for the Chiefs, back-to-back Super
Rugby champions 2012-2013. In person,
hes a modest, good-humoured and very
personable man.
Toulouse is the Crusaders of French
rugbyhistorically, the most successful
French team. The All Blacks have had no
greater nemesis at Rugby World Cup tournaments than Toulouses African-French
captain Thierry Dusautoir. During the All
Blacks shock 2007 RWC quarterfinal loss in
Wales, the ferocious flanker-skipper made
38 tackles, reportedly the biggest ever recorded tackle count in a test. Two more
tackles than the All Blacks collective total.
One Dusautoir hit maimed enforcer Jerry
Collins (who had to hobble off the turf ).
Dusautoir also scored a crucial try and
very nearly won the nail-biting 2011 final
for the French.
So when Dusautoir farewells Gear with:
It was a great pleasure to play with you...
hope to see you back to Toulouse, you know
Gears still got something.
Gear says playing with Dusautoir was
special. It was awesome. I heard a lot
about him from over here in New Zealand;
hes renowned for his attitude and his approach and his game. It was pretty cool to
get around him. Man doesnt talk much but
when he does, hes pretty much got everyones undivided attention. Hes a pretty
cool dude, too.
Gear learnt some more about balance. He
reminded me of switching on and switching off, knowing when its business time...
that rubs off on everyone else. Hes such a
gentle guy, softly spoken, pretty quiet. But
then as soon as its game day and were in that
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MANA MAGAZINE

team huddle, hes pretty much a machine.

He says Dusautoir, like Richie McCaw,
gives complete commitment to the game
when hes playing. He empties the tank,
Gear says emphatically, he puts his body on
the line. I think he was playing sort of still
half-injured. He tore his bicep over there
and he was out. He missed four months,
but then he came back and his arm probably still wasnt one hundred per cent, but he
was still going about and doing the damage
on the field.
Gears incredible 2010 try against the
English, which gave the Mori team a threenil whitewash, marked one hundred years
of Mori rugby. Following the Sevens gold
medal victory at the Delhi Commonwealth
Games, recalled Gear was a star of the All
Blacks grand slam Northern Tour. 2010
was capped by winning Mori Sportsman
of the Year. A few months later he featured
in Auckland Museums exhibition Ake
Ake Kia Kaha: The Spirit of Maori Rugby.
Gear holds the record for most tries in a
provincial season with 14
for Wellington in the 2008
Air New Zealand Cup (He
could climb Mt Everest in
his slippers, All Black great
Stu Wilson said at the time),
and is part of the elite group
of players who have over 100
Super Rugby caps.
Go on Youtube, and you
can watch a number of compilations of 1.88m, 104kg Gear
going about demolishing opposition defences and attacks.
But what first captivated this writers attention in 2007, was a shirtless, arrestingly
tattooed Gear leading the Mori All Blacks
into battle versus Ireland A in the Churchill
Cup performing Timatanga; visceral invocations of whenua and wairua.
Gear is one of the mightiest All Blacks
haka leaders, like Tana Umaga and Buck

GETTY IMAGES

Whenever Im performing, Im always thinking of my whnau and my ancestors and the

boys that have gone before me with the jersey. Its a pretty overwhelming feeling. You need
to bring yourself back down afterwards because youre quite pumped up.

Hosea Gear leading the New Zealand Rugby

Sevens team after their Commonwealth Games
gold medal win in Delhi, 2010. Gear says haka
helps him bring his tpuna up through the
ground and into his body. Im always thinking
of my whnau and my ancestors.

Shelford. He says haka

means a lot to him, bringing his tpuna up through
the ground, into his body.
The boys have their own
views on it. Whenever Im
performing, Im always
thinking of my whnau and
my ancestors and the boys
that have gone before me
with the jersey. Its a pretty
overwhelming feeling. You
need to bring yourself back
down afterwards because youre quite
pumped up. So youll see the boys come
into a little huddle after theyve finished
doing the haka and its about regrouping and
trying to bring the levels down a little bit.
Chiefs captain Liam Messam nearly collapsed once after leading a haka. Yeah!
Gear reflects. You probably dont notice

youve given it so much until youre bloody

on here in the Chiefs.
out of breath and youre just about to faint.
One reason the Chiefs have been so sucIt happens sometimes.
cessful, led by coach Dave Rennie, is theyre
Derek Lardelli (also Ngti Porou), comemploying more tikanga Mori for all players
poser of All Blacks haka Kapo O Pango,
and aspects of the game. I think its quite
made the striking tattoo on Gears forearm.
strong here, with the Kingitanga movement
That one represents my brother Rico and
here in Tainui and in Hamilton. I think its
I, reflects our relationship. Youll see he has
really important for any side to have someone very similar. The dynamic All Black
thing that defines them, things that they
duo are the only brothers to both score 100
can live by and aspire to. Its pretty cool,
first class tries.
all the boys buy into it, they become a part
Lardelli also crafted the ta moko on his
of it, Gear says.
shoulder and arm. That represents the iwi
Rennie returned the compliments on
from both my mother and fathers side, consigning Gear: Hosea ticks all the boxes.
necting and making who I am today.
Hes a good man, very profesI definitely draw a lot of inspiration
sional and experienced. Hes also
from my cultural heritage and my Whenua land
a hell of a player, powerful, quick
ancestors and everything. I think Wairua spirit
and a quality finisher.
Tpuna ancestors
being in the New Zealand Mori Tikanga customs and
The Chiefs whnau envicustomary
environment helps bring it out, and procedures;
ronment was an attraction for
system of values and
weve got something similar going practices.
Gear coming home, doing some

waka ama down the river, speaking about a

bit of the [Kingitanga] history and all that
sort of stuff.
His wife Kate and three children getting
to spend more time with their whnau
provided further motivation. Uncle Rico
is now assistant coach and development
manager for Hoseas former union, Poverty
Bay. Obviously Rico knows that Im quite
tied up. Ill probably get back to Gisborne
on the Chiefs next bye. Usually whenever
I go home I get into the mix of the Boys
High First 15.
At school, basketball was his preferred
sport till sixth form (year 12). Foreshadowing
his lofty vertical leap training scores during
his Hurricanes years, Hosea represented
New Zealand at basketball through under16 and under-18 sides. It was either rugby
or basketball; obviously rugby being the
number one sport in New Zealand took
control of that.
He says South African players and crowds
are the hardest to play against. They probably give out a bit more sh*t than the Aussies.
I must say the atmosphere over in France
was pretty awesome. I think definitely the
South African crowds are tough to play in
front of, he laughs.
Gear hopes fans will be at the parks for
the Chiefs games this year. When youre at
the game you feel a part of it. You can hear
the hits made out in the field. You can hear
the boys talking and yelling and screaming.
Though hes clearly passionate about the
black jerseyhe last wore it in 2012, monstering Irish defences Gear isnt thinking
about that final comeback now. Obviously
its a goal and a reasonnot the only reason
for why I came back. But I have to focus on
my job here at the Chiefs and if things dont
go well here, then obviously its not going
to be looking too good further on down the
track. Its one small step at a time. I still
need to find myself on the field here, theres
a few things I still need to learn within the
team here.
Echoing shades of Dusautoir, his says
his pre-game routine is about being calm.
When you do take the field, sometimes
the excitement and everything can overtake what youre supposed to be doing.
Sometimes those emotions take control,
so its about being able to control them.
WATCH Beast Mode Hosea Gear on YouTube.

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