For a noted All Blacks strongman in a Covid-19 lockdown, not many options present themselves for scrummaging practice.
As tighthead prop Ofa Tuungafasi says: “I had to think outside the box”.
The solution was parked in his driveway, a Ford Everest SUV, weighing about 2400kg or nearly three times the respective pack weights for Sunday’s Bledisloe Cup test in Wellington. Plus some welding gear, a sled, and hey presto, a one-man scrum machine.
Tuungafasi delighted his Instagram followers back in May when Super Rugby was on ice, posting video of his heavy duty training methods. With assistance from two-year-old daughter Lamara, who calmly went along for the ride. “My little future Black Ferns tighthead prop,” Tuungafasi wrote.
Tuungafasi either pulled along the heavy vehicle with help from a harness, or shoved it in perfect scrummaging technique with the sled.
“I had no one to scrum against so lucky I did a bit of welding during school and my brother had some materials left over, so I went into his garage and took some and welded a single sled that could go on the back of the car. Just thinking outside the box,” he said, after being named to start for the All Blacks against the Wallabies.